quick-repo

A CLI to quickly create a new github repo

This wraps the official GitHub CLI (gh) so the repository is created using the same account you have authenticated locally.

Prerequisites

Install and authenticate GitHub CLI before running this package:

gh auth login

If GitHub CLI is missing or not authenticated, quick-repo exits with an error that tells you to authenticate first.

Install and run

Run without installing:

npx @nocdn/quick-repo

Or with npm:

npm exec @nocdn/quick-repo

Usage

quick-repo [repo-name] [options]

You can answer the prompts interactively or pass values up front:

bunx @nocdn/quick-repo my-repo --private --description "My app" --init

When repo-name is omitted, the CLI defaults to the current folder name. Use owner/name to create the repository under an organization you can access.

The CLI asks for:

• repository name, if not provided as an argument
• description
• public or private visibility

It creates a blank GitHub repository: no README, license, or .gitignore is added remotely. After creation, it prints the commands to push your existing local repository:

If you'd like to push an existing repository from the command line:

git remote add origin https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Use --init to make an initial local commit before the GitHub repository is created:

npx @nocdn/quick-repo --init

That runs:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "init: initial file upload"

Use --push to add the new GitHub repository as origin, rename the local branch to main, and push:

bunx @nocdn/quick-repo --init --push

That runs these commands after creating the GitHub repository:

git remote add origin https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

--push needs an existing local commit. If you use --push without --init and the current folder is not a git repository (or has no commits yet), it exits with an error before creating anything on GitHub. Pair it with --init to create the commit for you.

The push authenticates through GitHub CLI, so it works even when git has no credential helper configured. Git is also run with GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 so it fails with a clear error instead of hanging on a credential prompt.

| argument | description | | --- | --- | | repo-name | optional repository name; defaults to the current folder name |

| flag | description | | --- | --- | | -d, --description <text> | use this repository description without prompting | | --public | create a public repository without prompting | | --private | create a private repository without prompting | | --init | run git init, git add ., and git commit -m "init: initial file upload" before creating the GitHub repo | | --push | add origin, rename the branch to main, and push after creating the GitHub repo | | -h, --help | show help | | -v, --version | show version |

Logs

Every run writes a detailed JSON-lines log (arguments, each gh/git command with its exit code, output, and duration, plus any error) so issues can be debugged after the fact. When a run fails, the log path is printed in the error output. The log lives at a platform-appropriate location:

| platform | path | | --- | --- | | macOS | ~/Library/Logs/quick-repo/quick-repo.log | | Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\quick-repo\logs\quick-repo.log | | Linux | $XDG_STATE_HOME/quick-repo/logs/quick-repo.log (defaults to ~/.local/state/...) |

Run quick-repo --help to print the exact path on your system. Logging is best-effort: if the log file can't be written, the CLI still runs normally.

Develop

npm install
npm start

The CLI entry point lives in bin/cli.js. The package is built with plain Node.js and npm for maximum runtime compatibility.

Publishing

This project includes a GitHub Actions workflow at .github/workflows/publish.yml that publishes the package to npm with trusted publishing on every push, as long as the version in package.json is not already on npm. package.json sets publishConfig.access to public, so the package is published publicly by default.

To enable it once:

1. Push the repository to GitHub.
2. On npmjs.com, configure the package as a trusted publisher pointing at the publish.yml workflow in this repository.
3. Bump the version in package.json and push - the workflow will publish.