Ask HN: When did GitHub replace standard Git commands with the “GitHub CLI?”

55 points

3 years ago

Today I went to check out a colleague's branch, and noticed the standard `git` one-liner has been replaced with a `gh` one-liner: `gh pr checkout 1234`. Underneath, there's some subtle advertising: "Work fast with our official CLI. _Learn more._"

This is of course useless to me, and to any other developer who prefers to use standard tooling rather than proprietary lock-in stuff.

I don't begrudge Microsoft shipping a GH CLI as an optional thing, but shifting workflows away from the standard client is one of those changes that doesn't serve users, but rather serves some PM's KPIs.

EDIT: based on the "not on my machine" responses here, it's clear that I'm on some branch of an A/B test. These are the only three options now presented in my GH web UI - all the rest have disappeared (https://imgur.com/P7llsVo):

1. Checkout with the GitHub CLI

2. Checkout with GitHub Desktop

3. An ad for buying Codespaces for this public repo

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