GitHub Repo Create

Create a new public repository on GitHub with proper metadata configured for discoverability.

Tools

| Tool | Method | Docs | |------|--------|------| | GitHub CLI (gh) | gh repo create | https://cli.github.com/manual/gh_repo_create | | GitHub REST API | POST /user/repos | https://docs.github.com/en/rest/repos/repos#create-a-repository-for-the-authenticated-user | | GitLab API | POST /projects | https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/projects.html#create-project | | Gitea API | POST /user/repos | https://gitea.io/en-us/api/ | | Bitbucket API | POST /repositories/{workspace}/{repo_slug} | https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/bitbucket/rest/api-group-repositories/ |

Authentication

• GitHub CLI: gh auth login — uses OAuth device flow or a personal access token
• GitHub API: Pass Authorization: Bearer <PAT> header. Token needs repo scope (or public_repo for public repos only)

Instructions

Option A: GitHub CLI (preferred)

gh repo create <org>/<repo-name> \
  --public \
  --description "<one-line summary that includes primary keyword>" \
  --license MIT \
  --clone

After creation, add topics:

gh repo edit <org>/<repo-name> --add-topic "<topic1>" --add-topic "<topic2>"

Option B: GitHub REST API

curl -X POST https://api.github.com/user/repos \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "<repo-name>",
    "description": "<one-line summary>",
    "private": false,
    "auto_init": true,
    "license_template": "mit",
    "has_issues": true,
    "has_projects": false,
    "has_wiki": false
  }'

Then set topics:

curl -X PUT https://api.github.com/repos/<org>/<repo-name>/topics \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -d '{"names": ["topic1", "topic2", "topic3"]}'

Response Format (API)

{
  "id": 123456,
  "full_name": "org/repo-name",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/org/repo-name",
  "clone_url": "https://github.com/org/repo-name.git",
  "default_branch": "main"
}

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Fix | |-------|-------|-----| | 422 name already exists | Repo with that name exists under the org | Choose a different name or delete the existing repo first | | 401 Bad credentials | Token expired or invalid | Re-authenticate with gh auth login or refresh PAT | | 403 forbidden | Token lacks repo scope | Create a new token with correct scopes |

Validation

After creation, verify the repo is accessible and metadata is set:

gh repo view <org>/<repo-name> --json name,description,url,repositoryTopics