Hunt Down Repositories with gh search repos

You need a Go library that is still maintained, not one archived three years ago, and GitHub's web search is fighting you. gh search repos gives you repeatable searches with owner, language, topic, activity and archive filters, plus machine-readable output for scripts. The examples use GitHub CLI 2.87.3, installed here on 24 September 2026, and take about ten minutes.

• You need: gh installed and a network connection.
• Private results: public searches work as they are, but private or internal results depend on the account and host you are using.
• Privileges: no command in this guide needs elevated privileges or changes local files.

1. Check the installed command

Confirm the version and read the option list from the same binary that will run your search:

$ gh --version
gh version 2.87.3 (2026-02-23)
$ gh search repos --help

The command is gh search repos [query] [flags]. The default is at most 30 repositories, sorted by best match. A search is read-only: it does not clone, edit, archive or delete a repository.

2. Search with words and phrases

Separate words are search terms. Quote a phrase so your shell passes it as one argument:

$ gh search repos cli shell --limit 5
$ gh search repos "vim plugin" --limit 5

The first search asks GitHub for repositories matching both words. The second passes one multi-word phrase. Search is not case sensitive. The human-readable output shows repository names and summary details, but the display is not a stable interface for a script.

GitHub's repository search also supports raw qualifiers. Put one in the query when the repository search syntax expresses the condition more directly:

$ gh search repos topic:github 'stars:>5000' --limit 10
$ gh search repos -- -topic:linux --limit 10

The -- before -topic:linux stops option parsing, so the leading hyphen reaches GitHub as a search term.

3. Add repository filters

Use flags when you want the command's named parameters to describe the search. This finds public repositories owned by an organisation:

$ gh search repos --owner=microsoft --visibility=public --limit 10

For a language and issue signal, use a quoted comparison:

$ gh search repos --language=go --good-first-issues='>=10' --limit 10

Other useful repository filters: --stars, --forks, --followers, --created, --updated, --license, --topic, --number-topics, --size and --match. The last one restricts matching to name, description or readme.

Archived repositories are included unless you say otherwise. Exclude them explicitly when you want an active starting point:

$ gh search repos --archived=false --limit 10

Forks are a separate trap. The --include-forks flag accepts false, true or only. Without an explicit fork choice, do not assume a result set contains every fork. For example:

$ gh search repos --topic=unix,terminal --include-forks=only --limit 10

4. Control ordering and result count

--limit sets the maximum number fetched, not a promise that many exist. Keep it small while refining a query:

$ gh search repos --language=rust --sort=updated --order=desc --limit 5

The installed command supports forks, help-wanted-issues, stars and updated for --sort. --order is ignored unless a sort is selected, and defaults to descending. Omit --sort and you get best match, not an activity ranking.

5. Request fields for a script

Use --json when another command needs structured data. Ask only for the fields you need:

$ gh search repos --language=go --archived=false --limit 5 \
    --json fullName,description,stargazersCount,url

Available fields include fullName, description, language, license, stargazersCount, forksCount, updatedAt, isArchived, isFork, isPrivate, visibility and url. Run gh search repos --help for the complete list in this installed release.

Pipe JSON to --jq for a simple projection. This prints one tab-separated name and URL per repository:

$ gh search repos --language=go --archived=false --limit 5 \
    --json fullName,url --jq '.[] | [.fullName, .url] | @tsv'

Keep the query, filters and limit explicit in automation. Do not parse the default table output, because presentation can change between CLI releases.

6. Diagnose an empty or unexpected result

Run the same search with a small limit and no optional filter, then add conditions one at a time. A query can be valid and still return nothing because the owner, language, topic or date condition is too narrow.

Check the usual boundaries:

• Quotes matter. A phrase in quotes is one term; unquoted words are separate terms.
• Quote comparisons. Something like >=10 should be quoted so the shell does not reinterpret it.
• Negative qualifiers. A leading one needs -- before it.
• Order needs sort. --order has no effect without --sort.
• Access. A private or internal result requires access through the current GitHub account and host.

To open the query in a browser rather than print results, add --web:

$ gh search repos --topic=terminal --web