---
name: use
description: Reference docs for the `tea` CLI — Gitea's command-line client. Load when the user asks about Gitea repos, issues, pulls, releases, actions, or other Gitea entities, to look up the right `tea` command and flags. Always write the login as the literal placeholder --login "$GITEA_LOGIN" — the tea-guard hook substitutes the operator-pinned login; set it with /tea:login.
---

# /tea:use — tea CLI reference

Reference material for the `tea` CLI (Gitea's official command-line client).
Use these docs to look up commands, flags, filters, and output fields before
running `tea` via Bash.

## Login: always write the placeholder, never a name (enforced)

Every `tea` invocation that touches Gitea MUST carry the login as the **literal
placeholder** `--login "$GITEA_LOGIN"` (or `-l "$GITEA_LOGIN"`). Do **not**
substitute an actual login name yourself.

The **`tea-guard`** PreToolUse hook enforces this and resolves it:

- no `--login` → blocked.
- `--login "$GITEA_LOGIN"` → the hook reads the operator's pinned login from
  `.claude/settings.local.json` (`env.GITEA_LOGIN`) **at call time** and
  rewrites the command to use that literal before it runs.
- `--login <some-name>` or any other variable → blocked. You may not choose the
  login; only the operator does (via `/tea:login`).
- no login pinned → blocked with a pointer to run `/tea:login`.

Why: without an explicit login `tea` silently falls back to the machine's
default (possibly the user's personal account), and a login *you* pick may be
the wrong identity. Pinning is the operator's decision; the hook guarantees it.
The pin takes effect immediately — no restart. Only `tea logins list` and
`tea --version/--help` are exempt from the guard.

## How to use

1. Identify the entity in the request: issues, pulls, labels, milestones,
   releases, times, repos, branches, actions, webhooks, comments,
   notifications, etc.
2. Find the matching command in the index below.
3. Run it via Bash with the placeholder login, e.g.
   `tea issues list --login "$GITEA_LOGIN" --repo owner/repo --state open`.
   (The hook rewrites `"$GITEA_LOGIN"` to the operator-pinned login.)

`tea` auto-detects owner/repo from `$PWD` inside a git repo; otherwise pass
`--repo owner/repo` (or `-r`). Login is **not** auto-detected — it is pinned
per-project by the operator (see `/tea:login`) and injected by the guard.
Config lives in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tea`.

## Index

- [tea CLI overview](references/tea/index.md) — global flags, common options, output formats
- [ENTITIES](references/tea/entities.md) — issues, pulls, labels, milestones, releases, times, repos, branches, actions, webhooks, comment
- [HELPERS](references/tea/helpers.md) — open, notifications, clone, api
- [MISC](references/tea/misc.md) — whoami, admin
- [SETUP](references/tea/setup.md) — logins, logout, ssh-keys

## Rich payloads — write to `$PWD/tmp/` first, then `tea api`

Entity subcommands (`tea comment`, `tea issues create`, `tea pulls create`, …)
are built for humans at a TTY. With a large or formatted body they can hang
silently — an empty-looking positional arg triggers `$EDITOR` fallback, or a
scope/confirm prompt waits on a TTY that doesn't exist. The harness eventually
kills the process (e.g. exit 144 = 128 + SIGURG on macOS).

**Rule:** for any non-trivial body (multi-line, or containing markdown / code
fences / backticks / pipes / tables), bypass entity commands. Save the full
request payload to `$PWD/tmp/` first, then POST via `tea api`.

### Procedure

1. Ensure the target dir exists: `mkdir -p tmp/{kind}` where `{kind}` is
   `comment`, `issue`, `pull`, `release`, etc.
2. Write the **complete request body as JSON** to `$PWD/tmp/{kind}/<slug>.json`.
   One file = one request. Use a quoted heredoc to avoid shell expansion:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p tmp/comment
   cat > tmp/comment/issue-60.json <<'EOF'
   {"body": "## Heading\n\nMulti-line markdown with `code`, | tables |, and ```fences```."}
   EOF
   ```
   Newlines inside the body must be encoded as `\n` in the JSON string. If
   composing programmatically, pipe through
   `jq -Rs '{body: .}' < body.md > tmp/comment/issue-60.json`.
3. POST with `tea api`, passing the file with `-d @<path>`:
   ```bash
   tea api --login "$GITEA_LOGIN" \
     -X POST -d @tmp/comment/issue-60.json \
     repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/60/comments
   ```
4. Keep the file. `tmp/` should be gitignored; the saved payload is useful for
   retries, edits (`PATCH`), and debugging failed posts.

### Common endpoints

| Action | Method + endpoint |
|---|---|
| Comment on issue/PR | `POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{n}/comments` |
| Edit comment | `PATCH repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/comments/{id}` |
| Create issue | `POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues` |
| Edit issue/PR body or title | `PATCH repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{n}` |
| Create PR | `POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls` |
| Create release | `POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases` |

Short single-line bodies (e.g. `tea comment 42 "lgtm" --login "$GITEA_LOGIN"`)
are still fine via entity commands. Always the placeholder, never a login name.

## Tips

- Pass `-o json` for structured output when parsing programmatically.
- Use `--fields, -f` to narrow columns.
- Pagination: `--page, -p <n>` and `--limit, --lm <n>` (defaults 1 / 30).
- If a `tea` command is blocked by `tea-guard`: either you forgot
  `--login "$GITEA_LOGIN"`, you wrote a literal login name instead of the
  placeholder (not allowed — let the guard substitute), or no login is pinned
  (run `/tea:login`).