The Problem
Running gh issue view <number> or gh pr view <number> without --json triggers a GraphQL error about the deprecated projectCards field (classic Projects sunset), causing exit code 1 even when the issue data is perfectly accessible. This breaks silently and wastes retries.
Always Use This Pattern
When reading an issue:
gh issue view <number> --json title,body,state,labels,assignees,comments,number,url,author,createdAt,updatedAt
When reading a PR:
gh pr view <number> --json title,body,state,labels,assignees,comments,number,url,author,createdAt,updatedAt,mergeable,mergeStateStatus,headRefName,baseRefName,reviews
Never use bare gh issue view <number> or gh pr view <number> without --json — they will fail.
Repo Detection
If not already in a git repo with a GitHub remote, or if the user specifies a repo:
gh issue view <number> --repo owner/repo --json title,body,state,...
To auto-detect the current repo:
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner -q .nameWithOwner 2>/dev/null
If auto-detect fails (not a GitHub repo), ask the user for owner/repo.
Presenting the Output
After fetching, present:
- Title and #number (with URL as a link)
- State (open/closed) and Labels
- Author and Created date
- Body — render as markdown
- Comments — show each with author + timestamp + body; collapse threads longer than 5 comments and offer to expand
Don't dump raw JSON at the user — parse and display it clearly.
Listing Issues / PRs
For listing, same rule applies — avoid fields that touch projectCards:
gh issue list --json number,title,state,labels,assignees,author,createdAt,url
gh pr list --json number,title,state,labels,assignees,author,createdAt,url,headRefName,baseRefName