Navigating GitHub

Go from zero to GitHub in minutes, then learn git through hands-on lessons on your actual project.

This skill does two things:

1. Sets you up on GitHub — from installing the CLI to pushing your first commit
2. Teaches you git — 9 progressive lessons, each one hands-on with real commands

No slides. No docs. No assumed knowledge. Run a command, see what happens, then understand why. The AI adapts to your level automatically.

Setup — From Zero to GitHub

Say "set up my repo" or "help me with github" and the skill walks through everything:

1. Connect to GitHub — installs gh CLI, authenticates, configures git identity
2. Initialize your repo — git init, auto-generated .gitignore, first commit
3. Create the remote — gh repo create, push, shows the live URL

Skips anything already done. Complete beginners get full explanations ("GitHub is like Google Drive for code"). Experienced developers get it done in seconds.

Learn — 9 Hands-On Lessons

Say "teach me github" or run /github-learn to start. Every lesson runs on your real project using do-then-explain: run the command, see the result, then understand why.

Beginner

| Lesson | What You Do | |--------|------------| | GitHub 101 | Make changes, commit, push — guided step by step | | Branching Basics | Create a branch, make a change, switch back, see the difference | | Your First PR | Branch, push, create a PR, see the diff, merge it |

Intermediate

| Lesson | What You Do | |--------|------------| | Branch Workflows | Feature branches, naming conventions, keeping branches current | | PR Review Flow | Review a PR, leave comments, approve or request changes | | Team Git | Forking, upstream sync, co-authoring commits |

Advanced

| Lesson | What You Do | |--------|------------| | Rebase vs Merge | Interactive rebase, squash commits, clean history | | GitHub Actions | Write a CI workflow, push, watch it run | | Review Ecosystem | Set up CodeRabbit, understand automated review tools |

Each lesson checks understanding before moving on. After each lesson, you get a summary, a challenge to try solo, and a suggestion for what to learn next.

Adaptive Skill Level

The skill figures out your level from your environment — commit message quality, branch usage, auth state — not from a questionnaire. It only asks when signals are genuinely ambiguous.

| Level | What You Experience | |-------|-------------------| | Beginner | Analogies, zero jargon, full step-by-step. The AI does it and teaches as it goes. | | Intermediate | Light jargon with definitions, explains the "why." Handles it, asks you to confirm. | | Advanced | Standard git vocabulary, brief rationale. Suggests, you decide. | | Expert | Terse and technical. You drive, the AI assists. |

Install

# Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add jeremylongshore/navigating-github

# Manual
git clone https://github.com/jeremylongshore/navigating-github.git

Works with: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue — any AI coding tool with terminal access.

Safety (During All Lessons)

• Never pushes to main/master — always branches first
• Never force pushes without explicit confirmation
• Never commits secrets (.env, API keys, credentials)
• Never runs destructive operations without showing impact first

Contributing

PRs welcome. If you see a gap in the curriculum, a confusing explanation, or a missing lesson — open an issue or submit a PR.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Built by Jeremy Longshore / Intent Solutions for the Tons of Skills marketplace.