Remote Repository Analysis

Fetch files and analyze repositories without cloning them locally.

Fetch Files Without Cloning

Get directory listing

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/PATH

Returns JSON array with file/directory metadata.

Fetch file content

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/path/file.ts | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d

The API returns base64-encoded content, so decode it with base64 -d.

Get entire file tree recursively

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/git/trees/main?recursive=1

Returns complete tree structure in one request.

Useful Remote Analysis Patterns

Check if file exists

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/path/file.ts 2>/dev/null && echo "exists" || echo "not found"

Get latest commit for specific file

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/commits?path=src/index.ts | jq -r '.[0].sha'

Compare file across branches

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/file.ts?ref=main | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d > main.ts
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/file.ts?ref=dev | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d > dev.ts
diff main.ts dev.ts

Get file from specific commit

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/file.ts?ref=abc123 | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d

Use any commit SHA, branch name, or tag as the ref parameter.

Working with Large Repositories

For large repos, use the Git Trees API instead of Contents API:

# Get full tree
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/git/trees/main?recursive=1 | jq '.tree[] | select(.type == "blob") | .path'

This is more efficient for listing many files.

Common Use Cases

Inspect configuration files

gh api repos/vercel/next.js/contents/package.json | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d | jq '.dependencies'

Check documentation

gh api repos/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-python/contents/README.md | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d

Analyze project structure

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/git/trees/main?recursive=1 | jq -r '.tree[] | select(.type == "tree") | .path'

Shows all directories in the repository.

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