What is PyGithub

PyGithub is a Python library that allows developers to interact with the GitHub API in a straightforward manner. With PyGithub, developers can automate many of the tasks they would normally perform manually through the GitHub web interface, such as creating and deleting repositories, managing pull requests, and accessing user and organization data.

The library provides a high-level interface that abstracts away many of the details of working with the GitHub API, making it easy to use for both beginners and experienced developers alike. The PyGithub library is open source, with a permissive license that allows for free use and modification.

Getting Started with PyGitHub

To get started with PyGitHub, you will need to follow a few basic steps:

Installing PyGitHub

The first step is to install the PyGitHub library on your system. This can be done using pip, the Python package manager. To install PyGitHub, simply open a command prompt or terminal window and type the following command:

$ pip install PyGitHub

This will install the latest version of PyGitHub on your system, along with any required dependencies.

Creating a GitHub API Token

Next, you will need to create a personal access token on the GitHub platform. This token will be used to authenticate your PyGitHub scripts and allow them to interact with the GitHub API on your behalf.

To create a new personal access token, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your GitHub account
2. Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen, and select "Settings" from the dropdown menu
3. Click on "Developer settings" in the left-hand sidebar, and then select "Personal access tokens"
4. Click on the "Generate new token" button
5. Give your token a name, and then select the permissions you wish to grant it. For most PyGitHub scripts, you will need to select the "repo" and "user" permissions, but you may also need to select additional permissions depending on your specific use case.
6. Click on the "Generate token" button to create your new token.

Once you have created your personal access token, be sure to copy it to a safe location, as you will not be able to view it again once you leave the token creation screen.

PyGitHub Basics

PyGitHub is a Python library that allows developers to interact with the GitHub API in a straightforward manner. In this article, I will explore the basics of PyGitHub, including how to authenticate with the GitHub API, create repositories, issues, pull requests, comments, and work with branches.

Authenticating with PyGitHub

To authenticate with the GitHub API using PyGitHub, you will need to provide your personal access token. You can do this by creating an instance of the Github class and passing in your access token as a parameter:

from github import Github

# Create an instance of the Github class
g = Github("<personal-access-token>")

Once you have authenticated, you can use the g object to interact with the GitHub API.

Creating a Repository

To create a new repository on GitHub using PyGitHub, you can use the create_repo method of the Github object:

# Create a new repository
repo = g.get_user().create_repo("new-repo")

This will create a new repository on GitHub with the name "new-repo".

Creating an Issue

To create a new issue on a repository using PyGitHub, you can use the create_issue method of the Repository object:

# Create a new issue on the repository
issue = repo.create_issue("Issue title", "Issue body")

This will create a new issue on the repository with the given title and body.

Creating a File

To create a new file on a repository with PyGithub, you can use the create_file method of the Repository object:

from github import Github

# Authenticate to GitHub using a personal access token
g = Github("<personal-access-token>")

# Get the repository
repo = g.get_repo("<username>/<repository>")

# Create a new file
file_content = "Hello, world!"
file_path = "example.txt"
file_message = "Add example.txt"
repo.create_file(file_path, file_message, file_content)

This code will create a new file called example.txt with the content "Hello, world!" in the root directory of the repository.

Updating a File

To update an existing file on a repository with PyGithub, you can use the update_file method of the Repository object:

from github import Github

# Authenticate to GitHub using a personal access token
g = Github("<personal-access-token>")

# Get the repository
repo = g.get_repo("<username>/<repository>")

# Get the existing file
file = repo.get_contents("example.txt")

# Update the file
file_content = "Hello, PyGithub!"
file_path = "example.txt"
file_message = "Update example.txt"
repo.update_file(file_path, file_message, file_content, file.sha)

This code will update the existing file example.txt with the content "Hello, PyGithub!".

Deleting a File

To delete an existing file on a repository with PyGithub, you can use the delete_file method of the Repository object:

from github import Github

# Authenticate to GitHub using a personal access token
g = Github("<personal-access-token>")

# Get the repository
repo = g.get_repo("<username>/<repository>")

# Get the existing file
file = repo.get_contents("example.txt")

# Delete the file
file_message = "Delete example.txt"
repo.delete_file(file.path, file_message, file.sha)

This code will delete the existing file example.txt from the repository.

Committing Changes

To commit changes to a repository with PyGithub, you can use the commit method of the GitAuthor object:

from github import Github
from github import InputGitAuthor

# Authenticate to GitHub using a personal access token
g = Github("<personal-access-token>")

# Get the repository
repo = g.get_repo("<username>/<repository>")

# Create a new file
file_content = "Hello, world!"
file_path = "example.txt"
file_message = "Add example.txt"
repo.create_file(file_path, file_message, file_content)

# Commit the changes
author = InputGitAuthor("<Your Name>", "<your.email@example.com>")
repo.get_git_ref("heads/master").commit(
    "New commit",
    repo.get_contents(file_path).sha,
    author=author,
    committer=author,
    tree=repo.get_git_tree("master").sha
)

This code will create a new commit with the message "New commit" and the author and committer information set to <Your Name> and <your.email@example.com>. The changes made to the file example.txt will be included in this commit.

Creating a Pull Request

To create a new pull request on a repository using PyGitHub, you can use the create_pull method of the Repository object:

# Create a new pull request
pull_request = repo.create_pull(
    title="Pull Request Title",
    body="Pull Request Body",
    head="my-feature-branch",
    base="master"
)

This will create a new pull request on the repository with the given title, body, and branch information.

Creating a Comment

To create a new comment on an issue or pull request using PyGitHub, you can use the create_comment method of the Issue or PullRequest object:

# Create a new comment on an issue
comment = issue.create_comment("Comment text")

# Create a new comment on a pull request
comment = pull_request.create_comment("Comment text")

This will create a new comment on the given issue or pull request with the given text.

Working with Branches

To work with branches in PyGitHub, you can use the create_git_ref method of the Repository object:

# Create a new branch
ref = repo.create_git_ref("refs/heads/my-feature-branch", "master")

This will create a new branch called "my-feature-branch" that is based on the "master" branch.

Merging Pull Requests

To merge a pull request using PyGitHub, you can use the merge method of the PullRequest object:

# Merge the pull request
pull_request.merge()

This will merge the pull request into the target branch.

Editing Multiple Files

Editing multiple files in a Github repository is a common task in software development projects. PyGithub is a Python library that can be used to interact with the Github API, making it easy to perform these tasks. In this article, I will cover how to edit multiple files using PyGithub and commit the changes to a new branch in a Github repository.

To edit multiple files in a Github repository using PyGithub, we need to perform the following steps:

1. Create an instance of the Github class and authenticate with the Github API.
2. Retrieve the repository object using the Github instance and the repository name.
3. Retrieve the branch object using the get_branch method of the Repository object.
4. Retrieve the tree object using the get_git_tree method of the Repository object and passing the SHA of the branch.
5. Retrieve the blob objects of the files using the get_contents method of the Repository object and passing the file path.
6. Edit the file contents.
7. Create a new blob object using the create_git_blob method of the Repository object and passing the new file contents.
8. Update the file paths and blob SHAs in the tree object.
9. Create a new tree object using the create_git_tree method of the Repository object and passing the updated file paths and blob SHAs.
10. Create a new commit object using the create_git_commit method of the Repository object and passing the commit message, the updated tree SHA, and the parent commit SHA.
11. Create a new branch using the create_git_ref method of the Repository object and passing the new branch name and the new commit SHA.

Here's an example code snippet to edit multiple files in a repository:

from github import Github
import base64

# authenticate with Github API
g = Github('<GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN>')

# retrieve the repository object
repo = g.get_repo('<OWNER>/<REPO>')

# retrieve the branch object
branch = repo.get_branch('master')

# retrieve the tree object
tree = repo.get_git_tree(branch.commit.sha)

# retrieve the blob objects of the files
file1 = repo.get_contents('file1.txt')
file2 = repo.get_contents('file2.txt')

# edit the file contents
file1_content = "This is a new content for file1"
file2_content = "This is a new content for file2"

# create new blob objects
blob1 = repo.create_git_blob(file1_content, 'utf-8')
blob2 = repo.create_git_blob(file2_content, 'utf-8')

# update the file paths and blob SHAs in the tree object
tree_new = []
for item in tree.tree:
    if item.path == 'file1.txt':
        tree_new.append({'path': 'file1.txt', 'mode': item.mode, 'type': item.type, 'sha': blob1.sha})
    elif item.path == 'file2.txt':
        tree_new.append({'path': 'file2.txt', 'mode': item.mode, 'type': item.type, 'sha': blob2.sha})
    else:
        tree_new.append({'path': item.path, 'mode': item.mode, 'type': item.type, 'sha': item.sha})

# create new tree object
new_tree = repo.create_git_tree(tree_new)

# create new commit object
commit_message = 'Updated multiple files'
commit = repo.create_git_commit(commit_message, new_tree.sha, [branch.commit.sha])

# create new branch
new_branch = repo.create_git_ref(f'refs/heads/new-branch', commit.sha)

This code snippet updates the contents of two files ('file1.txt' and 'file2.txt') and creates a new commit with the updated files in a new branch named 'new-branch'. The updated files are saved as new blob objects using the create_git_blob method, and the tree object is updated with the new blob SHAs. Finally, a new tree object and commit object are created, and a new branch is created using the create_git_ref method.

References

https://github.com/PyGithub/PyGithub