Disable auth check for gh extension install#13176
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Allow installing extensions without being authenticated. The install command can work with public repositories and local directories without requiring a login, so the auth gate is unnecessary. Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>
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Pull request overview
Removes the root-level authentication gate for gh extension install so extensions can be installed without being logged in (e.g., enabling unauthenticated installs when GITHUB_TOKEN is unset to avoid SAML-scoped token 403s).
Changes:
- Disables the global auth check for the
extension installsubcommand viacmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd).
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| pkg/cmd/extension/command.go | Marks gh extension install to skip the root PersistentPreRunE auth requirement. |
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| cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&forceFlag, "force", false, "Force upgrade extension, or ignore if latest already installed") | ||
| cmd.Flags().StringVar(&pinFlag, "pin", "", "Pin extension to a release tag or commit ref") | ||
| cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd) |
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This change alters root-level auth gating behavior for gh extension install, but there isn't a test that exercises the root PersistentPreRunE path to ensure the command runs when unauthenticated (no hosts and no env token). Consider adding a regression test (likely under pkg/cmd/root) that executes gh extension install … with a blank config and asserts it does not fail with AuthError / auth help output.
williammartin
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Apr 16, 2026
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Just copying something I wrote internally to here:
For me it's never been just as obvious as "is going to happen unauthenticated whether we make it easier or not". The core problem has always been that unauthenticated requests are limited to 60 req/hr per IP, and by supporting an easy path for extension installation like this we risk people rate limiting others.
In practice I have to imagine there are lots of people out there doing unauthenticated requests to the API via curl in Codespaces or Actions so like...maybe it's not a real issue. We've faffed around on this question for so long and it causes so much friction in some cases that we should just do it and see whether that ever actually becomes a real problem. Thanks for taking the initiative.
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This MR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [cli/cli](https://github.com/cli/cli) | minor | `v2.89.0` → `v2.90.0` | MR created with the help of [el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot](https://gitlab.com/el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot). **Proposed changes to behavior should be submitted there as MRs.** --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>cli/cli (cli/cli)</summary> ### [`v2.90.0`](https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.90.0): GitHub CLI 2.90.0 [Compare Source](cli/cli@v2.89.0...v2.90.0) #### Manage agent skills with `gh skill` (Public Preview) [Agent skills](https://agentskills.io) are portable sets of instructions, scripts, and resources that teach AI coding agents how to perform specific tasks. The new `gh skill` command makes it easy to discover, install, manage, and publish agent skills from GitHub repositories - right from the CLI. ``` # Discover skills gh skill search copilot # Preview a skill without installing gh skill preview github/awesome-copilot documentation-writer # Install a skill gh skill install github/awesome-copilot documentation-writer # Pin to a specific version gh skill install github/awesome-copilot documentation-writer --pin v1.2.0 # Check installed skills for updates gh skill update --all # Validate and publish your own skills gh skill publish --dry-run ``` Skills are automatically installed to the correct directory for your agent host. `gh skill` supports GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, and Antigravity. Target a specific agent and scope with `--agent` and `--scope` flags. `gh skill publish` validates skills against the [Agent Skills specification](https://agentskills.io/specification) and checks remote settings like tag protection and immutable releases to improve supply chain security. Read the full announcement on the [GitHub Blog](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-04-16-manage-agent-skills-with-github-cli/). `gh skill` is launching in public preview and is subject to change without notice. #### Official extension suggestions When you run a command that matches a known official extension that isn't installed (e.g. `gh stack`), the CLI now offers to install it instead of showing a generic "unknown command" error. This feature is available for [github/gh-aw](https://github.com/github/gh-aw) and [github/gh-stack](https://github.com/github/gh-stack). When possible, you'll be prompted to install immediately. When prompting isn't possible, the CLI prints the `gh extension install` command to run. #### `gh extension install` no longer requires authentication `gh extension install` previously required a valid auth token even though it only needs to download a public release asset. The auth check has been removed, so you can install extensions without being logged in. #### What's Changed ##### ✨ Features - Add `gh skill` command group: install, preview, search, update, publish by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13165](cli/cli#13165) - Suggest and install official extensions for unknown commands by [@​BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#​13175](cli/cli#13175) - `gh skill publish`: auto-push unpushed commits before publish by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13171](cli/cli#13171) - Disable auth check for `gh extension install` by [@​BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#​13176](cli/cli#13176) ##### 🐛 Fixes - Fix infinite loop in `gh release list --limit 0` by [@​Bahtya](https://github.com/Bahtya) in [#​13097](cli/cli#13097) - Ensure `api` and `auth` commands record agentic invocations by [@​williammartin](https://github.com/williammartin) in [#​13046](cli/cli#13046) - Disable auth check for local-only skill flags by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13173](cli/cli#13173) - URL-encode parentPath in skills discovery API call by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13172](cli/cli#13172) - Fix: use target directory remotes in skills publish by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13169](cli/cli#13169) - Fix: preserve namespace in skills search deduplication by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13170](cli/cli#13170) ##### 📚 Docs & Chores - docs: include PGP key fingerprints by [@​babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#​13112](cli/cli#13112) - docs: add sha/md5 checksums of keyring files by [@​babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#​13150](cli/cli#13150) - docs: fix SHA512 checksum for GPG key by [@​timsu92](https://github.com/timsu92) in [#​13157](cli/cli#13157) - docs(skill): polish skill commandset docs by [@​babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#​13183](cli/cli#13183) - Document dependency CVE policy in SECURITY.md by [@​BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#​13119](cli/cli#13119) - Replace github.com/golang/snappy with klauspost/compress/snappy by [@​thaJeztah](https://github.com/thaJeztah) in [#​13048](cli/cli#13048) - chore: bump to go1.26.2 by [@​babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#​13116](cli/cli#13116) - chore: delete experimental script/debian-devel by [@​babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#​13127](cli/cli#13127) - Suggest first party extensions by [@​williammartin](https://github.com/williammartin) in [#​13182](cli/cli#13182) - Add cli/skill-reviewers as CODEOWNERS for skills packages by [@​BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#​13189](cli/cli#13189) - Add [@​cli/code-reviewers](https://github.com/cli/code-reviewers) to all CODEOWNERS rules by [@​BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#​13190](cli/cli#13190) - Address post-merge review feedback for skills commands by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13185](cli/cli#13185) - Fix skills-publish-dry-run acceptance test error message mismatch by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13187](cli/cli#13187) - Skills: replace real git in publish tests with CommandStubber by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13188](cli/cli#13188) - Remove redundant nil-client fallback in skills publish by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13168](cli/cli#13168) - Publish: use shared discovery logic instead of requiring skills/ directory by [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) in [#​13167](cli/cli#13167) #####Dependencies - chore(deps): bump github.com/klauspost/compress from 1.18.4 to 1.18.5 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13071](cli/cli#13071) - chore(deps): bump github.com/yuin/goldmark from 1.7.16 to 1.8.2 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13045](cli/cli#13045) - chore(deps): bump charm.land/bubbles/v2 from 2.0.0 to 2.1.0 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13051](cli/cli#13051) - chore(deps): bump github.com/sigstore/timestamp-authority/v2 from 2.0.3 to 2.0.6 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13152](cli/cli#13152) - chore(deps): bump github.com/google/go-containerregistry from 0.21.3 to 0.21.4 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13129](cli/cli#13129) - chore(deps): bump github.com/sigstore/protobuf-specs from 0.5.0 to 0.5.1 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13128](cli/cli#13128) - chore(deps): bump github.com/in-toto/attestation from 1.1.2 to 1.2.0 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13044](cli/cli#13044) - chore(deps): bump advanced-security/filter-sarif from 1.0.1 to 1.1 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​12918](cli/cli#12918) - chore(deps): bump google.golang.org/grpc from 1.79.3 to 1.80.0 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13076](cli/cli#13076) - chore(deps): bump github.com/hashicorp/go-version from 1.8.0 to 1.9.0 by [@​dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#​13065](cli/cli#13065) #### New Contributors - [@​thaJeztah](https://github.com/thaJeztah) made their first contribution in [#​13048](cli/cli#13048) - [@​Bahtya](https://github.com/Bahtya) made their first contribution in [#​13097](cli/cli#13097) - [@​timsu92](https://github.com/timsu92) made their first contribution in [#​13157](cli/cli#13157) - [@​SamMorrowDrums](https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums) made their first contribution in [#​13173](cli/cli#13173) **Full Changelog**: <cli/cli@v2.89.0...v2.90.0> </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: (UTC) - Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined) - Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined) 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever MR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this MR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] <!-- rebase-check -->If you want to rebase/retry this MR, check this box --- This MR has been generated by [Renovate Bot](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate). <!--renovate-debug:eyJjcmVhdGVkSW5WZXIiOiI0My4xMjMuNiIsInVwZGF0ZWRJblZlciI6IjQzLjEyMy42IiwidGFyZ2V0QnJhbmNoIjoibWFpbiIsImxhYmVscyI6WyJSZW5vdmF0ZSBCb3QiLCJhdXRvbWF0aW9uOmJvdC1hdXRob3JlZCIsImRlcGVuZGVuY3ktdHlwZTo6bWlub3IiXX0=-->
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Remove the authentication gate for
gh extension install, allowing users to install extensions without being logged in.Motivation
The global auth check blocks
gh extension installfrom running at all when a user isn't authenticated. This is unnecessarily restrictive since installing extensions from public repositories or local directories doesn't inherently require authentication.This is especially painful in Codespaces environments where SAML-scoped tokens trigger 403 errors when installing public extensions (#6675). Users currently have to
unset GITHUB_TOKENas a workaround.Why this is OK
Look at what
gh awneeds to do today to make extension installation reliable: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/install-gh-aw.shWhat this says is that extension installation is going to happen unauthenticated whether we make it easier or not. We might as well make it easier and keep people installing through our core commands.
Related: #2680 (allow certain requests to be unauthenticated).
What this changes
Adds
cmdutil.DisableAuthCheckto theextension installsubcommand, bypassing the pre-execution login gate. This does not make unauthenticated API requests all the time. If a token is available it will still be used. It simply removes the requirement to be logged in before the command can run.