PyGitHub Examples
This is a list of example code snippets for interacting with the Github API in Python via the PyGitHub package.
Use PyGitHub for interacting with GitHub repositories, pull requests, branches, and metadata through the GitHub API. See GitPython Examples for local Git operations.
Authenticate and Get Repository
Input: GitHub token and repository name
Output: Authenticates and loads the repo object
from github import Github
g = Github("your_github_token")
repo = g.get_repo("octocat/Hello-World")
Get Repository Description and License
Input: None
Output: Displays repo description and license name
print("Description:", repo.description)
print("License:", repo.get_license().license.name)
stdout
Description: My first repo on GitHub!
License: MIT License
List Files in Root Directory
Input: None
Output: Lists paths of files in the root of the repository
contents = repo.get_contents("")
for content in contents:
print(content.path)
stdout
README.md
LICENSE
main.py
Get Tags
Input: None
Output: Lists Git tags in the repository
tags = repo.get_tags()
print([tag.name for tag in tags])
stdout
['v1.0.0', 'v1.1.0', 'v2.0.0']
Get Releases
Input: None
Output: Lists titles of published GitHub releases
releases = repo.get_releases()
print([release.title for release in releases])
stdout
['Initial Release', 'Bugfix Release', 'Major Update']
Create a Tag and Release
Input: Tag name, message, and commit SHA
Output: Creates both a Git tag and a GitHub release
repo.create_git_tag_and_release(
tag="v1.2.0",
tag_message="Release version 1.2.0",
release_name="v1.2.0",
release_message="Changelog:\n- New features\n- Fixes",
object=repo.get_commits()[0].sha,
type="commit"
)
List Branches
Input: None
Output: Lists all branches in the repository
branches = repo.get_branches()
for branch in branches:
print(branch.name)
stdout
main
dev
feature/login
Get Latest Commit Message for a Branch
Input: Branch name
Output: Latest commit message on that branch
branch = repo.get_branch("main")
commit = repo.get_commit(branch.commit.sha)
print(commit.commit.message)
stdout
Refactor authentication middleware
Compare Two Branches
Input: Base and head branch names
Output: Shows commit distance between branches
comparison = repo.compare("main", "feature/login")
print("Ahead by:", comparison.ahead_by)
print("Behind by:", comparison.behind_by)
stdout
Ahead by: 3
Behind by: 1
Create a Pull Request
Input: PR title, description, head branch, base branch
Output: Creates a pull request on GitHub
repo.create_pull(
title="Add login feature",
body="Implements login using JWT",
head="feature/login",
base="main"
)
Merge a Pull Request (Squash)
Input: Pull request number
Output: Merges the PR using squash strategy
pr = repo.get_pull(42)
pr.merge(merge_method="squash")
List All Repos for a User
Input: GitHub username
Output: Lists all public repos owned by the user
user = g.get_user("octocat")
repos = user.get_repos()
for r in repos:
print(r.full_name)
stdout
octocat/Hello-World
octocat/Spoon-Knife
octocat/octo-app
View .gitmodules File (if present)
Input: None
Output: Shows raw content of .gitmodules file
gitmodules = repo.get_contents(".gitmodules")
print(gitmodules.decoded_content.decode())
stdout
[submodule "libs/foo"]
path = libs/foo
url = https://github.com/example/foo.git