> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://agpt.co/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://agpt.co/docs/integrations/block-integrations/repo_branches.md).

# GitHub Repo Branches

Blocks for creating, listing, deleting, and comparing branches in GitHub repositories.

## Github Compare Branches

### What it is

This block compares two branches or commits in a GitHub repository.

### How it works

This block compares two branches or commits using the GitHub Compare API (`/compare/base...head`). It returns the comparison status (ahead, behind, diverged, or identical), commit counts, and a list of changed files with their diffs.

The block also builds a unified diff string from the patches of all changed files, making it easy to review the full set of changes at once.

### Inputs

| Input     | Description                                       | Type | Required |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ---- | -------- |
| repo\_url | URL of the GitHub repository                      | str  | Yes      |
| base      | Base branch or commit SHA                         | str  | Yes      |
| head      | Head branch or commit SHA to compare against base | str  | Yes      |

### Outputs

| Output         | Description                                              | Type              |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| error          | Error message if comparison failed                       | str               |
| status         | Comparison status: ahead, behind, diverged, or identical | str               |
| ahead\_by      | Number of commits head is ahead of base                  | int               |
| behind\_by     | Number of commits head is behind base                    | int               |
| total\_commits | Total number of commits in the comparison                | int               |
| diff           | Unified diff of all file changes                         | str               |
| file           | A changed file with its diff                             | Changed File      |
| files          | List of changed files with their diffs                   | List\[FileChange] |

### Possible use case

**Pre-Merge Review**: Compare a feature branch against main to see all changes before creating a pull request.

**Drift Detection**: Check whether a long-lived branch has diverged from the base branch and needs rebasing.

**Release Diffing**: Compare two release tags or branches to generate a summary of changes between versions.

***

## Github Delete Branch

### What it is

This block deletes a specified branch.

### How it works

This block deletes a branch by sending a DELETE request to the GitHub Git Refs API at `/git/refs/heads/{branch}`. The branch name is URL-encoded to handle special characters.

The operation is permanent and cannot be undone. The block returns a success status message or an error if the deletion fails.

### Inputs

| Input     | Description                  | Type | Required |
| --------- | ---------------------------- | ---- | -------- |
| repo\_url | URL of the GitHub repository | str  | Yes      |
| branch    | Name of the branch to delete | str  | Yes      |

### Outputs

| Output | Description                                 | Type |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------- | ---- |
| error  | Error message if the branch deletion failed | str  |
| status | Status of the branch deletion operation     | str  |

### Possible use case

**Post-Merge Cleanup**: Automatically delete feature branches after their pull requests have been merged.

**Stale Branch Removal**: Delete branches that are no longer active to keep the repository organized.

**CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup**: Remove temporary branches created by automated build or test processes.

***

## Github List Branches

### What it is

This block lists all branches for a specified GitHub repository.

### How it works

This block retrieves branches from a GitHub repository using the Branches API. It supports pagination with the `per_page` parameter to control how many branches are returned per request.

Each branch entry includes its name and a URL to browse the repository file tree at that branch.

### Inputs

| Input     | Description                                     | Type | Required |
| --------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ---- | -------- |
| repo\_url | URL of the GitHub repository                    | str  | Yes      |
| per\_page | Number of branches to return per page (max 100) | int  | No       |
| page      | Page number for pagination                      | int  | No       |

### Outputs

| Output   | Description                                                | Type              |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| error    | Error message if listing branches failed                   | str               |
| branch   | Branches with their name and file tree browser URL         | Branch            |
| branches | List of branches with their name and file tree browser URL | List\[BranchItem] |

### Possible use case

**Branch Inventory**: List all branches to get an overview of active development streams in a repository.

**Stale Branch Detection**: Enumerate branches to identify those that may need cleanup or deletion.

**Branch Validation**: Verify that expected branches exist before running automated workflows.

***

## Github Make Branch

### What it is

This block creates a new branch from a specified source branch.

### How it works

This block creates a new branch by first fetching the latest commit SHA from the source branch via the Git Refs API, then creating a new git reference pointing to that same commit. This effectively branches off from the current tip of the source branch.

The block returns a success status message or an error if the branch creation fails.

### Inputs

| Input          | Description                  | Type | Required |
| -------------- | ---------------------------- | ---- | -------- |
| repo\_url      | URL of the GitHub repository | str  | Yes      |
| new\_branch    | Name of the new branch       | str  | Yes      |
| source\_branch | Name of the source branch    | str  | Yes      |

### Outputs

| Output | Description                                 | Type |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------- | ---- |
| error  | Error message if the branch creation failed | str  |
| status | Status of the branch creation operation     | str  |

### Possible use case

**Feature Branch Creation**: Automatically create feature branches from the main branch when starting new tasks.

**Release Branching**: Create release branches from development branches as part of a release workflow.

**Hotfix Isolation**: Spin up hotfix branches from production branches to isolate urgent fixes.

***


---

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