plugin/skills/github-repo-ops/SKILL.md

metadata

name: github-repo-ops
description: >
  This skill should be used for any direct read or write operation against a
  GitHub repository — when the user asks to "commit this", "push this file",
  "create a branch", "open a PR", "read the repo", "what's in this repo",
  "update the README", "delete this file", "merge that PR", "create a repo",
  "add a collaborator", "check CI status", "list branches", "tag a release", or
  names a repository and asks for a change to it. Also triggers on "github-ops",
  "repo ops", "full repo access", and any request that would modify files,
  branches, issues, or pull requests on GitHub.
metadata:
  version: 0.1.0

GitHub Repo Ops

Perform read and write operations against GitHub through the github-ops MCP server, which is authenticated with a Personal Access Token and therefore has write access — unlike the read-only OAuth GitHub connector.

Before the first operation in a session

Confirm which server is answering. Call get_me on the github-ops server. If it fails with a 401, the GITHUB_OPS_PAT environment variable is missing or expired — stop and point the user at SETUP-PAT.md rather than silently falling back to the read-only connector.

If both the read-only GitHub connector and this plugin's server are active, always prefer the github-ops tools for writes. The read-only connector returns 403 Resource not accessible by integration on any mutation.

Resolve the target before acting

Never guess an owner/repo pair. Resolve it in this order:

1. An explicit owner/repo in the user's message.
2. A repo named in the current session's earlier turns.
3. search_repositories with user:<login> or org:<org> — note that a bare MADHAT style keyword search returns nothing useful; owner-qualified queries do.
4. Ask, once, if still ambiguous. Do not fan out writes across candidate repos.

Confirm the default branch (default_branch from the repo object) before any commit. Do not assume main — several repos use master.

Write operations: the safe sequence

Writes are irreversible from this session's perspective (there is no branch-delete or force-push tool). Follow this order every time:

1. Read before write. get_file_contents on the target path. A blind create_or_update_file on an existing path without its current SHA fails; with a stale SHA it clobbers.
2. Branch, never commit to default. create_branch from the default branch. Name it <type>/<short-slug> — feat/, fix/, chore/, docs/, refactor/.
3. Commit. Use push_files for multi-file changes in one commit — it is atomic and produces a clean history. Use create_or_update_file only for genuine single-file edits.
4. Open a PR with create_pull_request. Search the repo for .github/pull_request_template.md or .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ first and fill that structure if present.
5. Report the URL. Always hand back the PR or commit URL. The user cannot see the API response.

Never merge_pull_request without explicit instruction in the current turn. "Open a PR" is not permission to merge it.

Commit message format

<type>(<scope>): <imperative summary under 72 chars>

<why the change was needed — not what the diff shows>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Types: feat, fix, chore, docs, refactor, test, perf, build, ci. Scope is the package or contract name.

Reading efficiently

Repo reads burn context fast. Discipline:

• get_file_contents with path: "/" to map structure before pulling files.
• search_code with repo:owner/name to locate a symbol instead of reading directories.
• list_commits with perPage: 10 — never the default page size on an active repo.
• Set minimal_output: true on searches unless a specific field is needed.
• For a broad sweep across many files, stage the repo into the session workspace with git clone over HTTPS and grep locally. One clone beats fifty API reads.

Workflow files are a separate permission

Any commit touching .github/workflows/* requires the workflow scope on a classic PAT (or Workflows: write on a fine-grained PAT). repo/Contents alone returns 403 with a message about workflow permissions. If that error appears, say so plainly — it is a token scope problem, not a code problem.

Repository creation and settings

create_repository defaults matter. Set private: true unless the user says public. Initialize with a README only when there is no local content to push. For a first push into an empty repo, push_files against the auto-created default branch works; create_branch does not, because there is no ref to branch from yet.

Collaborator and settings changes (Administration permission) are not in this token's default scope. If list_repository_collaborators returns 403 Resource not accessible by integration, the PAT lacks admin read — report it rather than retrying.

Project conventions

For MAD Gambit repositories, load the mad-gambit-context skill before writing anything user-facing. Canonical values that must never be altered in committed content: platform fee 1.88%, community profit share 28.8%, creator revenue share 40%, seed raise $1–2M at $12M pre-money. The platform is "MAD Gambit"; the card game is "MADHAT's Gambit". Never write "MADHATs Gambit" as a platform name.

Solidity work: pair with the solidity-foundry skill. Never commit contract changes without forge build and forge test passing locally in the session workspace first — CI catching it after the PR is open wastes a round trip.

Verification step

After any write, verify rather than assume:

• Commit: get_commit on the returned SHA, confirm the file list matches intent.
• PR: pull_request_read to confirm it targets the right base branch.
• CI: list_workflow_runs or the Actions toolset to confirm the run started.

Report what was verified, not what was attempted.