Accessing GitHub Repositories Git clone is blocked in containerized AI environments (egress proxy rejects CONNECT tunnel), but full repository access is available via GitHub REST API and raw file URLs. Quick Start Public Repos (no setup needed)

Individual file via raw URL

curl -sL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OWNER/REPO/BRANCH/path/file"

Directory tree via API

curl -sL "https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/git/trees/BRANCH?recursive=1" Private Repos or Write Access Requires GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT). See Setup section below. Setup Credential Configuration The skill automatically detects PATs from environment variables or project files: Environment Variables (checked in order): GITHUB_PAT GH_PAT GITHUB_TOKEN GH_TOKEN Project Files (Claude.ai): /mnt/project/.env /mnt/project/github.env Format: GITHUB_PAT = github_pat_11AAAAAA .. . Creating a GitHub PAT GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Fine-grained tokens Create token scoped to needed repositories Set permissions: Contents: Read - for private repo access Contents: Write - for pushing files Issues: Write - for issue management Pull requests: Write - for creating PRs Network Access (Claude.ai Projects) Add to network allowlist: api.github.com raw.githubusercontent.com Capabilities by Auth Level Capability No PAT (public only) PAT (read) PAT (write) Fetch public files ✅ ✅ ✅ Fetch private files ❌ ✅ ✅ Download tarball ✅ public ✅ ✅ Create/update files ❌ ❌ ✅ Create branches ❌ ❌ ✅ Manage issues ❌ ❌ ✅ Create PRs ❌ ❌ ✅ Python Helper Functions Credential Detection import os def get_github_auth ( ) : """Returns (token, source) or (None, None)"""

Check environment variables

for var in [ 'GITHUB_PAT' , 'GH_PAT' , 'GITHUB_TOKEN' , 'GH_TOKEN' ] : if token := os . environ . get ( var ) : return token , var

Check project .env files

env_paths

[ '/mnt/project/.env' , '/mnt/project/github.env' ] for path in env_paths : try : with open ( path ) as f : for line in f : if '=' in line and not line . startswith ( '#' ) : key , val = line . strip ( ) . split ( '=' , 1 ) if key in [ 'GITHUB_PAT' , 'GH_PAT' , 'GITHUB_TOKEN' ] : return val . strip ( ) , f' { path } : { key } ' except FileNotFoundError : continue return None , None Fetch Single File import base64 import urllib . request import json def fetch_file ( owner : str , repo : str , path : str , ref : str = 'main' , token : str = None ) -

str : """Fetch single file. Uses API if token provided, raw URL otherwise.""" if token :

Use API (works for private repos)

url

f'https://api.github.com/repos/ { owner } / { repo } /contents/ { path } ?ref= { ref } ' req = urllib . request . Request ( url , headers = { 'Authorization' : f'Bearer { token } ' , 'Accept' : 'application/vnd.github+json' } ) with urllib . request . urlopen ( req ) as resp : data = json . load ( resp ) return base64 . b64decode ( data [ 'content' ] ) . decode ( ) else :

Use raw URL (public repos only)

url

f'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ { owner } / { repo } / { ref } / { path } ' with urllib . request . urlopen ( url ) as resp : return resp . read ( ) . decode ( ) Fetch Repository Tarball def fetch_repo_tarball ( owner : str , repo : str , ref : str = 'main' , token : str = None ) -

bytes : """Download full repo as tarball. Requires token for private repos.""" url = f'https://api.github.com/repos/ { owner } / { repo } /tarball/ { ref } ' headers = { 'Accept' : 'application/vnd.github+json' } if token : headers [ 'Authorization' ] = f'Bearer { token } ' req = urllib . request . Request ( url , headers = headers ) with urllib . request . urlopen ( req ) as resp : return resp . read ( )

Usage:

tarball

fetch_repo_tarball ( 'owner' , 'repo' , 'main' , token ) with open ( '/tmp/repo.tar.gz' , 'wb' ) as f : f . write ( tarball )

Extract: tar -xzf /tmp/repo.tar.gz

Create or Update File def push_file ( owner : str , repo : str , path : str , content : str , message : str , token : str , sha : str = None ) -

dict : """Create/update file via API. Returns commit info. Args: sha: Required when updating existing file (get via contents API) """ url = f'https://api.github.com/repos/ { owner } / { repo } /contents/ { path } ' payload = { 'message' : message , 'content' : base64 . b64encode ( content . encode ( ) ) . decode ( ) } if sha :

Update existing file

payload [ 'sha' ] = sha req = urllib . request . Request ( url , data = json . dumps ( payload ) . encode ( ) , headers = { 'Authorization' : f'Bearer { token } ' , 'Accept' : 'application/vnd.github+json' , 'Content-Type' : 'application/json' } , method = 'PUT' ) with urllib . request . urlopen ( req ) as resp : return json . load ( resp ) Get File SHA (for updates) def get_file_sha ( owner : str , repo : str , path : str , token : str , ref : str = 'main' ) -

str : """Get file SHA needed for updates.""" url = f'https://api.github.com/repos/ { owner } / { repo } /contents/ { path } ?ref= { ref } ' req = urllib . request . Request ( url , headers = { 'Authorization' : f'Bearer { token } ' , 'Accept' : 'application/vnd.github+json' } ) with urllib . request . urlopen ( req ) as resp : data = json . load ( resp ) return data [ 'sha' ] Bash Examples Fetch Public File curl -sL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/owner/repo/main/path/file.py" Fetch Private File (with PAT) curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_PAT " \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/contents/path/file.py" | \ python3 -c "import sys,json,base64; print(base64.b64decode(json.load(sys.stdin)['content']).decode())" Download Repo Tarball

Public repo

curl -sL "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/tarball/main" -o repo.tar.gz

Private repo

curl -sL -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_PAT " \ "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/tarball/main" -o repo.tar.gz tar -xzf repo.tar.gz Create/Update File

Encode content

CONTENT

$( cat file.txt | base64 -w0 )

Push (new file)

curl -X PUT \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_PAT " \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/contents/path/file.txt" \ -d "{ \" message \" : \" Add file \" , \" content \" : \" $CONTENT \" }"

Push (update existing - need SHA first)

SHA

$(

curl

-s

-H

"Authorization: Bearer

$GITHUB_PAT

"

\

"https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/contents/path/file.txt"

|

\

python3

-c

"import sys,json

;

print

(

json.load

(

sys.stdin

)

[

'sha'

]

)

"

)

curl

-X

PUT

\

-H

"Authorization: Bearer

$GITHUB_PAT

"

\

-H

"Accept: application/vnd.github+json"

\

"https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/contents/path/file.txt"

\

-d

"{

\"

message

\"

:

\"

Update file

\"

,

\"

content

\"

:

\"

$CONTENT

\"

,

\"

sha

\"

:

\"

$SHA

\"

}"

List Directory Tree

curl

-sL

"https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/git/trees/main?recursive=1"

|

\

python3

-c

"import json, sys; [print(f['path']) for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['tree'] if f['type']=='blob']"

Why git clone Doesn't Work

The container's egress proxy blocks git protocol operations:

HTTPS clone

Proxy returns 401 on CONNECT tunnel

SSH

No ssh binary in container

git:// protocol

DNS resolution blocked

The GitHub REST API uses standard HTTPS and routes through the proxy normally.

Do Not

Never

attempt

git clone

(wastes time, always fails)

Never

suggest workarounds requiring git protocol

Never

retry with different git flags or SSH URLs

Never

recommend git submodules, git archive, or other git-protocol operations

Rate Limits

Authenticated

5,000 requests/hour

Unauthenticated

60 requests/hour

For heavy usage, always provide a PAT.

When This Skill Does Not Apply

Native development environments

Have direct git access, use standard git commands

Local machines

git clone works normally

Environments with MCP GitHub server

Use MCP tools instead