GitHub Pages Deploy

Deploy static content to GitHub Pages using a dedicated Pages branch in a GitHub repository.

This skill is similar in spirit to zero-config preview deploy skills, but GitHub Pages has different constraints:

• Authentication is required. Use GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN.
• The deployment is tied to a GitHub repository you control.
• Publish latency is usually slower than Vercel. Expect build time.
• The skill manages a dedicated branch, gh-pages by default.

Use when

• The user wants a durable static URL under github.io
• The content is plain HTML, CSS, JS, or a prebuilt static directory
• The user wants repository-backed hosting instead of a claimable preview deployment

Requirements

• pwsh
• git
• GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN

Token requirements:

• Classic PAT: repo
• Fine-grained PAT: repository Contents: write, Administration: write, Pages: write

Usage

pwsh {{skill_dir}}/scripts/deploy.ps1 -Path ./site -Repo owner/repo

pwsh {{skill_dir}}/scripts/deploy.ps1 -Path ./diagram.html -Repo my-diagram

Arguments

• -Path Required. A static site directory or a single .html file.
• -Repo Required. Either owner/repo or just repo. If only repo is provided, the authenticated user becomes the owner.
• -Owner Optional override when -Repo is only a repository name.
• -Branch Optional. Defaults to gh-pages.
• -CName Optional custom domain. The script also writes a CNAME file.
• -NoWait Optional. Return immediately after push and Pages configuration.

Behavior

1. Resolves GitHub auth from GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN
2. Stages the input into a temp directory
3. If the input is a single HTML file, renames it to index.html
4. Ensures .nojekyll exists so GitHub Pages serves assets literally
5. Creates the target repository if it does not exist
6. Updates the dedicated Pages branch without touching the caller's working tree
7. Configures GitHub Pages to serve from that branch root
8. Waits for the latest Pages build unless -NoWait is set
9. Prints a human-readable summary and one JSON object on stdout

Output

The script prints progress to stderr and emits a JSON object to stdout:

{"siteUrl":"https://owner.github.io/repo/","repoUrl":"https://github.com/owner/repo","owner":"owner","repo":"repo","branch":"gh-pages","createdRepo":true,"pagesStatus":"built","buildStatus":"built","commitSha":"abc123..."}

Operational Notes

• This skill is not anonymous. There is no claimable deploy model.
• The target branch is deployment-managed content. Do not point it at a branch you edit manually unless that is intentional.
• Existing Pages configuration on the same repository will be updated to the selected branch and root path.
• A repository named owner.github.io publishes at the user or org root domain. Other repositories publish under /repo/.

Failure Modes

• Missing token: export GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN
• Missing permissions: ensure the token can create repos and manage Pages
• Private Pages limitations: use a public repository unless your plan supports private Pages
• Build delay: use -NoWait if you only need the target URL and will verify later