update-repo-meta ยท diff
git:20260408.a08708c to git:20260530.d3be4dd
21 added, 2 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: update-repo-meta
- description: Update GitHub repo metadata. Topics, description, homepage, and visibility via gh CLI. Use when updating repo settings.
- allowed-tools: Bash
+ description: >-
+ Update GitHub repository metadata via the gh CLI: add or remove repo topics, set the
+ description, set the homepage URL, and change visibility (public/private). Reads current
+ state and shows before/after. Use when updating repo settings, retagging topics, fixing a
+ repo description or homepage, or making a repo public or private. Do NOT use to edit local
+ repo files, branch protection, or release metadata; this only touches repo-level settings
+ exposed by gh repo edit.
+ allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash(gh *)
user-invocable: true
arguments:
- name: args
description: "Free-form instructions like 'add topic X' or 'set description to Y'"
required: false
---
# Update Repo Meta
Update GitHub repository metadata.
## Steps
1. **Read current state**: `gh repo view --json name,description,homepageUrl,repositoryTopics,visibility`
2. **Determine changes**: Based on the user's argument or conversation context, figure out what to update. Common operations:
- **Topics**: `gh repo edit --add-topic <topic>` or `--remove-topic <topic>`
- **Description**: `gh repo edit --description "<text>"`
- **Homepage**: `gh repo edit --homepage "<url>"`
- **Visibility**: `gh repo edit --visibility public|private`
3. **Apply changes**: Run the appropriate `gh repo edit` commands.
4. **Verify**: Run `gh repo view --json name,description,homepageUrl,repositoryTopics,visibility` again and show the updated state.
## Rules
- Show the before/after so the user can confirm the changes.
- If no specific instructions are given, show the current metadata and ask what to change.
- Topics should be lowercase, hyphenated (e.g., `cli-tool`, `go`, `mcp-server`).
+
+ ## Gotchas
+
+ - **Topic cap is 20.** GitHub caps a repo at 20 topics; `gh repo edit --add-topic` past
+ that limit fails. Check the current count before adding in bulk.
+ - **Server-side normalization is authoritative.** GitHub lowercases topics and replaces
+ spaces/invalid characters with hyphens on its end. Normalizing client-side first is only
+ cosmetic; the server has the final say, so verify with `gh repo view` rather than assuming
+ your input string was stored verbatim.
+ - **Visibility changes can be blocked.** `gh repo edit --visibility` may require an explicit
+ consent flag (e.g. `--accept-visibility-change-consequences`), and an org policy can block
+ going public or private entirely. If the command errors, surface the policy/consent reason
+ to the user rather than retrying blindly.