Install the GitHub CLI

Philipp Acsany
Claude Code for Python Developers: Hands-On Agentic Coding Philipp Acsany 05:30
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Next, you need to install the GitHub Command Line Interface (CLI) on your system. You can follow the official installation guide to install the GitHub CLI your preferred way. Alternatively, you can follow the steps below.

Install the GitHub CLI

The installation steps differ a bit depending on your operating system:

  1. Visit https://cli.github.com/ in your browser and click the Download button
  2. Locate the .msi GitHub CLI installer in your download folder
  3. Double-click the .msi file
  4. Follow the installation wizard instructions

On Debian and Ubuntu, you can install the GitHub CLI using apt:

Shell 
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install gh

If gh isn’t found in your default package sources, follow the official Linux installation guide for instructions on adding the GitHub CLI repository first.

On Fedora, CentOS, and Red Hat, use dnf:

Shell 
$ sudo dnf install gh

The most convenient way to install the GitHub CLI on macOS is with Homebrew. If you don’t have Homebrew installed yet, open your terminal and run:

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

Follow the prompts to complete the Homebrew installation. Make sure to also follow any instructions that Homebrew prints at the end — you may need to run a command to add Homebrew to your PATH.

Once Homebrew is ready, install the GitHub CLI:

Shell 
$ brew install gh

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Avatar image for Brannen Taylor

Brannen Taylor on April 10, 2026

Is installing the GitHub CLI necessary? Can’t we just normal git commands as needed? Or does Claude need the GH?

Avatar image for Philipp Acsany

Philipp Acsany RP Team on April 10, 2026

Yes, you’ll use the GitHub CLI to let Claude Code communicate with a remote GitHub repository. You’ll also use the normal git command for local actions and gh for the remote actions.

(Technically, you could also interact with the GitHub API, but the GitHub CLI makes the interaction way more convenient.)

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