github-commit-status 1.4.0

A simple command line for updating a commit's status on GitHub

github_commit_status

A simple command line for updating a commit's status in GitHub. This can be a useful demo when teaching a course on Git/GitHub.

Project and Build Status

---

Alert: PEP 517 and the --no-use-pep517 Flag

Temporarily, please use pip versions less than 25.3 (pip install "pip<25.3"). Issue comes from external library pip-tools. Details:

PEP 517 is the standard specification for how Python packages are built. Historically, pip included a --no-use-pep517 flag that bypassed this standard and used the older setuptools-based build method directly.

pip-tools (the tool we use to lock dependencies) internally calls pip with the --no-use-pep517 flag by default. This was an implementation detail of how pip-tools compiled dependency trees.

In pip 25.3 (released November 2025), pip removed the --no-use-pep517 flag entirely. Since PEP 517 is now finalized and the standard, pip no longer provides an escape hatch to avoid it. This is the correct behavior -- pip now requires all packages to be PEP 517 compliant.

However, pip-tools 7.5.1 (the latest version) still tries to use this removed flag, causing an TypeError: RequirementCommand.make_resolver() got an unexpected keyword argument 'use_pep517'.

Temporary Workaround

Until pip-tools is patched to work with pip 25.3+, we are constraining pip to version <25.3 by running:

pip install "pip<25.3"

This is temporary. Once pip-tools releases a fixed version, this constraint can be removed.

• GitHub repo
• Online Documentation
• Free Software

How to Use

Background and Purpose

In GitHub, Pull Requests can have some checks against the code in question. This is a great way to check for things such as white space, coding standards, etc. Continuous Integration tools, like Travis, use this to update the status of the commit that you see in Pull Requests in GitHub.

This is a fairly simple integration and you can also place your own checks here. In the following example, I made the status pending with a yellow circle with the phrase "You know you can change this, right?"

This command line tool will allow you to update the status of any commit that you have access to in GitHub. It was built to be a teaching tool for a course on Source Control Management (Git) and GitHub integrations. However, it is stable and can be used in production seamlessly -- especially environments where it makes sense to use a command line instead of your own library.

Gather the info that you need

To update the status of a commit in a Pull Request, you will need to provide some basic information:

1. The name of the GitHub repository which has your Pull Request

2. The commit SHA that is to be updated (e.g., the last commit in a pull request)

3. The desired status of the commit:

   • "success" (GitHub displays a green checkmark)
   • "pending" (GitHub displays a yellow circle)
   • "error" or "failure" (GitHub displays a red 'X')

4. Description (e.g., "You know you can change this, right?" was the description used in the example above)

5. Authorization token. This will allow the command to act like you. Instructions on how to create this token follow.

Personal Access Token

This tool is intended to change the status of a GitHub Pull Request. That is something that should only be allowed by someone who is authorized. You wouldn't want someone that you hadn't authorized updating your Pull Request statuses.

You will need to generate a Personal Access Token so that this command line can act like you. Keep this token safe -- it is like a password.

This is done in your account settings configuration. Don't confuse the project's settings with your settings for your account.

Profile Settings

In the upper right hand corner, you will see your avatar photo (or a default avatar image). When you click the avatar, there will be a drop down menu with menu options. Choose the Settings option.

Developer Settings

On the next page that is loaded, the Profile settings page, you will see another menu to the left. It is a longer menu where the bottom looks similar to the following. Choose Developer settings:

Create a Personal Access Token

On the next page, the Developer Settings page, you will see one final menu. Choose Personal access tokens:

1. Press the button to Generate new token.

2. In the Token description enter "github_commit_status". This way we remember the purpose of this token.

3. Select the repo:status scope checkbox. Anyone who has this token could update your GitHub account. So, keep the scope of this token so that it can only update or access the commit status.

   

4. Scroll to the bottom of click the green Generate token button.

5. Your token should now be displayed. This token will only display this time. You won't be able to see it again and it cannot be recovered.

6. Keep your token safe so that you can use it with this program. Remember, if someone else can access this token, they can update your GitHub statuses -even if you don't want them to.

Example: Prompt mode

If you only need to use this command line rarely, there's no need to worry about getting the command line arguments correct - you will be prompted for any required arguments that are missing. This is ideal for students in my class who only need to update a Pull Requests a few times for a homework assignment. See the next section for a more scriptable mode and example.

1. Install:

   pip install github_commit_status
   

2. Run:

   github_commit_status prompt
   

3. Enter the data that you have collected (e.g., Personal Access Token, commit SHA, etc.)

   Here is an example that I used for one of my projects. Remember, don't let your Personal Access Token get published like I intentionally did here. I ensured this token was deleted before I published this:

   $ github_commit_status prompt
   
   GitHub Token [26fee6a5d440111a2648312d458b6b4e44c20c1d]:
   Name of the GitHub repository []: my_target_repo
   Commit SHA []: 2dd5f9ce1108d69e863444ee6486e64e0299868f
   Status: pending
   Description: Tests have started
   
   GitHub has been updated.
   

Example: For scripting

This command can also be used for shell scripts that need to update GitHub.

For security reasons, this mode/subcommand does not provide an option for:

--github-token

as this is preserved in most shell histories. Instead, the environment variable GITHUB_COMMIT_STATUS_TOKEN should already be set. For example, in a bash shell:

export GITHUB_COMMIT_STATUS_TOKEN=26fee6a5d440111a2648312d458b6...

1. Install:

   pip install github_commit_status
   

2. To see command line options that can be provided:

   $ github_commit_status update --help
   Usage: github_commit_status update [OPTIONS]
   
     If all options are provided, update GitHub
   
   Options:
     --repo TEXT                     Name of the GitHub repository  [required]
     --commit TEXT                   The 40 character SHA1 string for the commit.
                                     [required]
     --status [error|failure|pending|success]
                                     The status of the commit  [required]
     --description TEXT              Description for the test  [required]
     --help                          Show this message and exit.
   

3. Here is an example usage. Remember, your Personal Access Token needs to be pre-set in environment variable GITHUB_COMMIT_STATUS_TOKEN:

   $ github_commit_status update --repo=my_target_repo \
       --commit="2dd5f9ce1108d69e863444ee6486e64e0299868f" \
       --status=pending \
       --description="Tests are running."
   

Make this better by Contributing

This is an Open Source project and contributions are always welcome, and they are greatly appreciated! Every little bit helps, and credit will always be given.

You can contribute in many ways:

• Report bugs
• Write Documentation
• Fix bugs

To maximize the chance that your hard work gets merged, we have these guidelines to guide you along the way to a successfully merged Pull Request:

• Contributing