GitHub CLI setup

Signup to GitHub

Sign up for a free GitHub account if you haven’t already. I recommend that you use a permanent, personal email.

Install the GitHub CLI

Let’s install the GitHub CLI, which will make working with remote GitHub repositories easier.

On MacOS

1. Install Homebrew if you do not have it already. Run the following in the Terminal and follow the on-screen instructions:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Run brew install gh and follow the on-screen instructions.

On your personal Windows computer

Download and install https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/download/v2.81.0/gh_2.81.0_windows_amd64.msi

On a Lab computer

1. Make a directory in your HOME directory named gh. For example, C:\Users\laymanl\gh
2. Download and unzip https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/download/v2.81.0/gh_2.81.0_windows_amd64.zip
3. Open the new directory. Click until you find the bin directory inside. Drag that bin directory to the C:\Users\YOUR_ID\gh\ directory you created.
4. Hit the Windows key and search for user environment variables. Select the program Edit the user environment variables for this account
5. Click the New button, then Browse
6. A File Explorer will appear. Navigate inside the C:\Users\YOUR_ID\gh\bin directory. Click “Okay”.
7. Now open a new Terminal window. Run the command gh and you should see a list of available commands.

Login with the GitHub CLI

Run gh auth login and follow the onscreen instructions to register your computer with GitHub.

• Leave the default options selected in the CLI. You will hit Enter to open a web browser. Sign into GitHub with your GitHub credentials.

  

  • If the browser does not open: manually open a browser to https://github.com/login/device. Sign into GitHub with your GitHub credentials if needed.
• Enter the code shown in the Terminal window.

  

• Complete the authorization and leave the default options as-is.

Once you have finished, your Terminal and Browser should look like this:

That’s it. We are now ready to work with Git and GitHub.