gist-neko

CLI for syncing gists from a specified GitHub user.

Installation

Via PyPI (Recommended)

With pip (Basic)

pip install gist-neko

With pipx (Isolated)

pipx install gist-neko

With uv (Best)

The most efficient way to install or run gist-neko.

# Permanent isolated installation
uv tool install gist-neko

# Run once without installing
uvx gist-neko -u <github-username>

# Run in scripts or ad-hoc environments
uv run --with gist-neko gist-neko -u <github-username> -t <github-personal-access-token>

From Source (Development)

# Clone the repository and navigate to it
git clone git@github.com:NecRaul/gist-neko.git
cd gist-neko

# Install environment and all development dependencies (mandatory and optional)
uv sync --dev

# Install pre-commit hook
uv run pre-commit install

# Optional: Run all linters and type checkers manually
uv run pre-commit run --all-files

# Run the local version
uv run gist-neko -u <github-username> --git

Usage

gist-neko acts as a sync tool. If a gist folder doesn't exist, it clones it, if it does, it updates it.

# Sync public gists with `requests`
gist-neko -u <github-username>

# Sync public and private gists with `requests` (using a personal access token)
gist-neko -u <github-username> -t <github-personal-access-token>

# Use 'git clone/pull' instead of 'requests' (preserves history, branches and submodules)
gist-neko -u <github-username> -g

# Use 'git' with a personal access token for private gist syncing
gist-neko -u <github-username> -t <github-personal-access-token> --git

# Sync gists to a specific directory
gist-neko -u <github-username> -d /path/to/gists

# Include only public gists
gist-neko -u <github-username> --visibility public

# Exclude forked gists
gist-neko -u <github-username> --fork no

# Include only forked gists
gist-neko -u <github-username> --fork yes

# Combine filters: public non-fork gists to a specific directory
gist-neko -u <github-username> -d /path/to/gists --visibility public --fork no

Options

-h, --help                             Display usage information and exit
-v, --version                          Show program version and exit

    --config          FILE             Load configuration from file
    --no-config                        Ignore configuration file
    --init-config     [FILE]           Create a default configuration file
    --show-config                      Show effective configuration and exit

-u, --username       USERNAME          GitHub username to fetch gists from
-t, --token          TOKEN             GitHub personal access token for private gists

-e, --environment                      Read username and token from environment variables
    --no-environment                   Do not read username and token from environment variables

-g, --git                              Download gists using git instead of archive downloads
    --no-git                           Download gists using archive downloads instead of git

    --visibility      VIS [...]        Visibility levels to include:
                                       public, private, both

    --fork            {yes,no,both}    Filter fork gists

Configuration

gist-neko supports a JSON configuration file to set defaults for all options. You can create a default config, inspect the effective configuration, and override or ignore the config file at runtime.

• Default path
  • Linux/BSD: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/necraul/gist-neko.json or ~/.config/necraul/gist-neko.json
  • MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/necraul/gist-neko.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%/necraul/gist-neko.json
• Basic structure
  • github: credentials and whether to read from environment variables.
  • download: target directory and git engine settings including extra args for clone and pull.
  • filters: control which gists are included by visibility and fork status.

{
  "github": {
    "username": null,
    "token": null,
    "environment": false
  },
  "download": {
    "directory": ".",
    "git": {
      "enabled": true,
      "clone_args": ["--recursive"],
      "pull_args": ["--recurse-submodules"]
    }
  },
  "filters": {
    "visibility": ["public", "private"],
    "fork": "both"
  }
}

# Create a default configuration file at the default path
gist-neko --init-config

# Create a default configuration file at a custom path
gist-neko --init-config config.json

# Show the effective configuration (defaults merged with the config file)
gist-neko --show-config

# Create a default configuration file at the default path and print it
gist-neko --init-config --show-config

# Create a default configuration file at a custom path and print it
gist-neko --init-config /path/to/config.json --show-config

# Show the effective configuration using a custom config file
gist-neko --config config.json --show-config

# Use a custom configuration file
gist-neko --config /path/to/config.json

# Ignore the configuration file and use only CLI flags
gist-neko --no-config -u <github-username>

# Override config's directory at runtime
gist-neko -d /path/to/gists

Environment Variables

You can save your credentials to environment variables to avoid passing them manually in every command.

For persistence, add these exports to your shell configuration file (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.bash_profile).

# Set your credentials as environment variables
export GITHUB_USERNAME="NecRaul"
export GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN="ghp_necraul"
export GITHUB_GISTS_DIRECTORY="/path/to/gists"

# Run using the stored environment variables
gist-neko --environment

# Run without using environment variables
gist-neko --no-environment

# Run using the git engine
gist-neko --git

# Run without using the git engine
gist-neko --no-git

# Run using environment variables with the git engine
gist-neko -e --git

# Run using environment variables without the git engine
gist-neko -e --no-git

# Run without environment variables with the git engine
gist-neko --no-environment --git

# Run without environment variables without the git engine
gist-neko --no-environment --no-git

# Pass the GitHub username and personal access token environment variables directly within the command
GITHUB_USERNAME="NecRaul" GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN="ghp_necraul" gist-neko --environment

# Pass the directory environment variable directly within the command
GITHUB_GISTS_DIRECTORY="/path/to/gists" gist-neko --environment

Tip

--environment and --git enable a feature, while --no-environment and --no-git disable it.

Dependencies

• requests: fetch data from the GitHub API and handle downloads.

How it works

The tool queries the https://api.github.com/users/{username}/gists endpoint. It retrieves public Gists when unauthenticated, or both public and private Gists when an authentication token is provided.

Once the gist list is retrieved, gist-neko automates the synchronization process using one of two engines:

• Requests Engine (via --no-git): Fetches the gist as a compressed snapshot. This is fast but does not include history, branches or submodules.
• Git Engine (via -g or --git flag): Uses your local git installation to perform a full clone or pull. This preserves the complete history, branches and submodules.

The Manual Way

Without this tool, you would need to manually parse JSON responses, manage authentication headers, and write logic to differentiate between new clones and existing updates:

# A simplified version of the logic gist-neko automates
# It fetches the id and description, then loops through them
curl -s -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN" https://api.github.com/users/NecRaul/gists |
    jq -r '.[] | "\(.description // .id) \(.id)"' | while read -r name id; do
    if [ ! -d "$name" ]; then
        git clone --recursive "git@gist.github.com:$id.git" "$name"
    else
        echo "Pulling '$name'..."
        git -C "$name" pull --recurse-submodules
    fi
done

The gist-neko way

• Dynamic API Routing: Automatically identifies the correct GitHub endpoint. It uses /users/{username}/gists for browsing, ensuring that when authenticated, you get the full list of both public and private gists you have permission to view.
• State-Aware Syncing: Instead of a simple download, it checks your local file system using the gist's description or ID as the folder name. If a gist already exists, it intelligently switches to an "update" mode (using git pull or overwriting via requests) to keep your local mirror current.
• Hybrid Engine Support:
  • Lightweight Mode: Uses requests to pull gist snapshots quickly without needing git installed or SSH keys configured.
  • Developer Mode (--git): Interfaces directly with your local git binary to handle full history, branch tracking, and submodule recursion.
• Gist Filtering: Supports fine-grained control over which gists are synced, filtering by visibility and fork status.
• Subprocess Management: Uses Python's subprocess module to provide a robust bridge between the GitHub API and your local shell, handling directory navigation and command execution automatically.