The GitHub CLI tool brings the power of GitHub right to your terminal. Since its release in September last year, it's become one of the most popular command-line tools for developers across the globe.

Almost a year later, GitHub is back with its second major iteration for GitHub CLI. What's new in this release, and should you get excited about it? Let's find out.

Say Hello to Extensions

Perhaps the most notable addition in this update is the support for extensions. These extensions are Git repositories that contain a single executable file. This script allows you to run custom commands, building upon the CLI functionality.

Related: What Is GitHub? An Introduction to Its Basic Features

This change should give birth to lots of open-source extensions that will further enhance the developer experience. Not sure where to start? The GitHub team has curated a list of extensions for you to try out. Here are some of the notable ones:

gh user-status

The user-status extension allows you to get and set your GitHub user status right from the terminal. You can use it to let others know when you're unavailable or in focus mode.

GitHuc CLI user-status extension

gh branch

This branch extension advertises itself to be a fuzzy finder branch switcher. It orders branches by recency and displays information about any associated pull requests.

Demonstration of gh branch extension

gh contribute

Finding open source projects to contribute to is much easier with the contribute extension. This extension searches for issues with help wanted. It also finds good first issue labels, less than a year old, without a pull request.

GitHub CLI contribute extension

The Core Features Remain

While extensions are fun to play around with, all the core functionalities of the GitHub CLI remain. Features including cloning repositories, creating pull requests, and creating gists are still available for you to manage your GitHub workflow without needing to leave the terminal.

Unlock the Possibilities of GitHub Right From Your Terminal

GitHub is making the lives of developers easier with tools like GitHub CLI. Another wonderful innovation by GitHub this year has been the introduction of GitHub Copilot. Copilot is an AI pair programmer that can revolutionize the way you write code.

Want to know more about this coding AI? Here's an overview of how it works and what it can do for you as a developer.