Add supports for terminal hyperlinks in output (v2) by xzfc · Pull Request #12682 · cli/cli

xzfc · 2026-02-14T01:51:24Z

This is a resurrection of #3309.

Why revisit this PR again

The previous PR got closed due to lack of support from terminals. Situation improved since then.

Chronology: In 2021 and 2022 the team decided not to merge it due to lack of support in terminal emulators. In 2024, @williammartin suggested that it could be revisited.

Referring to points from the original PR:

According to https://github.com/Alhadis/OSC8-Adoption, a lot of major terminal emulators support this OSC. Also, tmux. (tho requires configuration)
OSC 8 support in less seems to be actively maintained: https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Agwsw%2Fless+OSC+8&type=commits. I see no issues on my setup.

Details

In this PR, hyperlinks are enabled when GH_HYPERLINK is non-empty. When enabled, the following arbitrarily chosen¹ tables are updated:

gh pr checks: NAME is link to the job; URL is removed
gh issue/pr list: ID is link to the issue/pr
gh gist list: DESCRIPTION is link to the gist
gh repo list: NAME is link to the repo
gh search commits: REPO and SHA are links to the repo and commit
gh search issues/prs: ID is link to the issue/pr
gh search repos: REPO is link to the repo

I think there are still a lot of remaining tables that could be augmented by hyperlinks. ↩

In supporting terminals (e.g. iTerm), the identifier field of table-based output like `issue/pr list` and `pr checks` is now a link that can be followed in a browser by Cmd-clicking it. This commit is a modernized version of cli#3309/ ca3f730. The following commands have updated: - `gh pr checks`: `NAME` is link to the job; `URL` is removed - `gh issue/pr list`: `ID` is link to the issue/pr Co-authored-by: Mislav Marohnić <[email protected]>

The following commands have updated: - `gh gist list`: `DESCRIPTION` is link to the gist - `gh repo list`: `NAME` is link to the repo - `gh search commits`: `REPO` and `SHA` are links to the repo and commit - `gh search issues/prs`: `ID` is link to the issue/pr - `gh search repos`: `REPO` is link to the repo

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds opt-in OSC 8 terminal hyperlink support across several table-based command outputs, gated by the GH_HYPERLINK environment variable.

Changes:

Introduces linkEnabled on IOStreams / ColorScheme and adds hyperlink helper methods.
Updates multiple table renderers (PR checks, PR/issue list, repo list, search results, gist list) to render key columns as hyperlinks and, in some cases, remove redundant URL columns.
Extends gist GraphQL query mapping to include the gist URL for hyperlinking.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go	Adds `linkEnabled` to IOStreams, getter, and wires env var `GH_HYPERLINK` into system IOStreams.
pkg/iostreams/color.go	Adds OSC 8 hyperlink rendering helpers to `ColorScheme`.
pkg/cmd/search/shared/shared.go	Makes issue/PR IDs clickable in search results when enabled.
pkg/cmd/search/repos/repos.go	Makes repo names clickable in repo search results.
pkg/cmd/search/commits/commits.go	Makes repo and SHA clickable in commit search results.
pkg/cmd/repo/list/list.go	Makes repo names clickable in `gh repo list` and conditionally fetches `url`.
pkg/cmd/pr/list/list.go	Makes PR IDs clickable in `gh pr list`.
pkg/cmd/pr/checks/output.go	Makes check NAME clickable and drops URL column in TTY output when enabled.
pkg/cmd/issue/shared/display.go	Makes issue IDs clickable in issue list output.
pkg/cmd/gist/shared/shared.go	Fetches gist URL via GraphQL for hyperlinking in list output.
pkg/cmd/gist/list/list.go	Makes gist description clickable in `gh gist list`.

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Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:48Z

pkg/iostreams/color.go

+		// Call c.Hyperlink first, then colorize.
+		// Otherwise space-trimming logic in c.Hyperlink wouldn't work.
+		return colorize(c.Hyperlink(text, url))


WithHyperlink currently calls Hyperlink before invoking the provided colorize function. This is unsafe for colorizers that transform the input based on string indices/content (e.g., highlightMatch in gist list), because the injected OSC 8 bytes will shift indices and can corrupt both highlighting and the hyperlink escape sequence. Consider restructuring so you first split/truncate trailing padding from the original text, then apply colorize to the non-padding portion, and finally wrap that result in the OSC 8 sequence while appending the original trailing spaces outside the link.

Suggested change

// Call c.Hyperlink first, then colorize.

// Otherwise space-trimming logic in c.Hyperlink wouldn't work.

return colorize(c.Hyperlink(text, url))

// Make trailing spaces not to be part of the link as it looks ugly, ...

link_text := strings.TrimRight(text, " ")

trailing_spaces := text[len(link_text):]

if link_text == "" {

// ... but still allow spaces-only text to be clickable.

link_text = text

trailing_spaces = ""

}

// Apply colorization only to the part that will be inside the hyperlink,

// so index-based colorizers operate on the original, unmodified text.

colored_link_text := colorize(link_text)

// https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda

return fmt.Sprintf("\x1b]8;;%s\x1b\\%s\x1b]8;;\x1b\\%s", url, colored_link_text, trailing_spaces)

Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:48Z

pkg/iostreams/color.go

+	link_text := strings.TrimRight(text, " ")
+	trailing_spaces := text[len(link_text):]
+	if link_text == "" {
+		// ... but still allow spaces-only text to be clickable.
+		link_text = text
+		trailing_spaces = ""
+	}
+
+	// https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda
+	return fmt.Sprintf("\x1b]8;;%s\x1b\\%s\x1b]8;;\x1b\\%s", url, link_text, trailing_spaces)


Go style in this package uses camelCase for local variables; link_text and trailing_spaces stand out and make the new logic harder to read/grep consistently. Please rename to linkText / trailingSpaces (and similar) for idiomatic Go.

Suggested change

link_text := strings.TrimRight(text, " ")

trailing_spaces := text[len(link_text):]

if link_text == "" {

// ... but still allow spaces-only text to be clickable.

link_text = text

trailing_spaces = ""

}

// https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda

return fmt.Sprintf("\x1b]8;;%s\x1b\\%s\x1b]8;;\x1b\\%s", url, link_text, trailing_spaces)

linkText := strings.TrimRight(text, " ")

trailingSpaces := text[len(linkText):]

if linkText == "" {

// ... but still allow spaces-only text to be clickable.

linkText = text

trailingSpaces = ""

}

// https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda

return fmt.Sprintf("\x1b]8;;%s\x1b\\%s\x1b]8;;\x1b\\%s", url, linkText, trailingSpaces)

Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:48Z

pkg/iostreams/color.go

+func (c *ColorScheme) Hyperlink(text, url string) string {
+	if !c.linkEnabled {
+		return text
+	}
+
+	// Make trailing spaces not to be part of the link as it looks ugly, ...
+	link_text := strings.TrimRight(text, " ")
+	trailing_spaces := text[len(link_text):]
+	if link_text == "" {
+		// ... but still allow spaces-only text to be clickable.
+		link_text = text
+		trailing_spaces = ""
+	}
+
+	// https://gist.github.com/egmontkob/eb114294efbcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda
+	return fmt.Sprintf("\x1b]8;;%s\x1b\\%s\x1b]8;;\x1b\\%s", url, link_text, trailing_spaces)
+}
+
+func (c *ColorScheme) WithHyperlink(url string, colorize func(string) string) func(string) string {
+	if colorize == nil {
+		colorize = func(s string) string { return s }
+	}
+	if !c.linkEnabled {
+		return colorize
+	}
+	return func(text string) string {
+		// Call c.Hyperlink first, then colorize.
+		// Otherwise space-trimming logic in c.Hyperlink wouldn't work.
+		return colorize(c.Hyperlink(text, url))
+	}
+}


New hyperlink rendering logic in Hyperlink/WithHyperlink isn’t covered by unit tests. Since pkg/iostreams/color_test.go already exists, please add tests for: links disabled (returns input), links enabled (OSC 8 wrapper), and the trailing-space handling (spaces excluded from link but preserved in output).

Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:49Z

pkg/cmd/gist/list/list.go

 		tp.AddField(gist.ID)
 		tp.AddField(
 			text.RemoveExcessiveWhitespace(description),
-			tableprinter.WithColor(highlightDescription),
+			tableprinter.WithColor(cs.WithHyperlink(gist.HTMLURL, highlightDescription)),
 		)


highlightDescription uses highlightMatch (regex + index-based slicing) to produce colored output. Passing it to cs.WithHyperlink means the hyperlink escape sequence is injected before highlighting runs, which can break match highlighting and may corrupt the OSC 8 sequence. After adjusting WithHyperlink, ensure this call site highlights the plain description first (or otherwise avoids running index-based transforms on already-escaped text).

Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:49Z

pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go

+func (s *IOStreams) IsLinkEnabled() bool {
+	return s.linkEnabled
+}
+


IsLinkEnabled is currently read-only, and iostreams.Test() doesn’t set linkEnabled from GH_HYPERLINK. That makes it difficult for command-level tests (outside the iostreams package) to enable and assert hyperlink output. Consider adding a SetLinkEnabled(bool) helper (similar to SetColorEnabled) or having Test() honor the env var so the new behavior can be exercised in existing command tests.

Suggested change

func (s *IOStreams) SetLinkEnabled(enabled bool) {

s.linkEnabled = enabled

}

Copilot · 2026-02-14T01:59:49Z

pkg/cmd/pr/checks/output.go

 func printTable(io *iostreams.IOStreams, checks []check) error {
 	var headers []string
 	if io.IsStdoutTTY() {
-		headers = []string{"", "NAME", "DESCRIPTION", "ELAPSED", "URL"}
+		headers = []string{"", "NAME", "DESCRIPTION", "ELAPSED"}
+		if !io.IsLinkEnabled() {
+			headers = append(headers, "URL")
+		}
 	} else {
 		headers = []string{"NAME", "STATUS", "ELAPSED", "URL", "DESCRIPTION"}
 	}


When IsLinkEnabled() is true, the TTY table drops the URL column and turns NAME into a hyperlink. There are extensive tests for the TTY output in this command, but none cover the link-enabled header/row shape; please add a test case that enables hyperlinks and asserts the URL column is omitted and NAME contains the OSC 8 sequence.

xzfc and others added 3 commits February 14, 2026 01:46

Add WithHyperlink helper and trim spaces

9f9274a

xzfc requested a review from a team as a code owner February 14, 2026 01:51

xzfc requested review from Copilot and williammartin February 14, 2026 01:51

xzfc temporarily deployed to cli-automation February 14, 2026 01:51 — with GitHub Actions Inactive

cliAutomation added the external pull request originating outside of the CLI core team label Feb 14, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of xzfc February 14, 2026 01:51 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 14, 2026

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Add supports for terminal hyperlinks in output (v2)#12682

Add supports for terminal hyperlinks in output (v2)#12682
xzfc wants to merge 3 commits intocli:trunkfrom
xzfc:terminal-hyperlinks

xzfc commented Feb 14, 2026 •

edited

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+func (s *IOStreams) SetLinkEnabled(enabled bool) {
+	s.linkEnabled = enabled
+}

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xzfc commented Feb 14, 2026 •

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