How do I extract issues from a repo?

[Rod-at-DOH]

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I've been asked to extract the open issues in a repo, which is in one of our GitHub Enterprise's Organizations. I've searched for a way of doing this and came across this page. However, when I clicked on that link it just took me back to that same page.

I need a way of exporting the open issues in this repo into a .CSV file. I also came cross this suggestion:

curl -i https://api.github.com/repos/<repo-owner>/<repo-name>/issues --header "Authorization: token <token>" > issues.json

I tried going to just the GitHub API's URL, but I'm now sure how to specify that for our organization. The above command line is for an individual's repo, not an enterprise repo. I'd appreciate help, please.

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• I have read the above statement and can confirm my post is relevant to the GitHub feature areas Issues and/or Projects.

[jonattasmoraes]

Hey there!

You can export issues from a GitHub Enterprise repo using the same API endpoint as normal, just include your Enterprise domain and the org name:

curl -s -H "Authorization: token <TOKEN>" "https://YOUR-GHE-DOMAIN/api/v3/repos/ORG/REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=100" \> issues.json

Enterprise always uses /api/v3/.

If you want a CSV, you can convert the JSON afterward:

jq -r '.[] | [.number, .title, .state, .html_url] | @csv' issues.json > issues.csv

[jonattasmoraes]

The URL you’re using is only the Enterprise profile on github.com, not your actual GitHub Enterprise Server domain.

A real GHE domain looks like:

https://github.mycompany.com
https://ghe.mycompany.internal

If your repos all live under github.com, then you are using Enterprise Cloud, not Enterprise Server, and there is no GHE domain.

In that case the correct API is simply:

https://api.github.com/repos/<org>/<repo>/issues

Your IT or DevOps team can confirm which one your company uses.

[Rod-at-DOH]

We are using the Enterprise Cloud; no Enterprise Server is involved.

I put https://api.github.com/repos/<org>/<repo>/issues (substituting our organization and the rename name), but I still get an HTTP 404 error. 😢

[jonattasmoraes]

Ok, let’s try to fix this.

If you're still getting a 404, it's usually one of these:

1. Your token doesn’t have the required permissions

For private repos, your PAT must include:

repo
or
read:org + read:repo

Without a token, GitHub returns 404 so it doesn't leak repo existence.

curl -H "Authorization: token <TOKEN>" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/<ORG>/<REPO>/issues

2. SSO not authorized

If your organization uses SAML SSO, go to:

Settings → Applications → Personal access tokens → Authorize

3. Wrong org/repo name

Any mismatch (case, hyphens, spelling) will result in 404.

If the token is correct and SSO is authorized, the endpoint works for Enterprise Cloud.

[Rod-at-DOH]

I've looked both at our Enterprise and Organization levels, but I cannot find any Settings -> Applications -> Personal access tokens -> Authorize in either. At the Organization level, I can find under Third-party Access, but the rest of it doesn't look like the path you've given. I thought we had SSO, but now I'm not so sure. I'm going to check into that.

[Rod-at-DOH]

@jonattasmoraes thank you for your assistance. I've got more information.

I thought we did use SSO, because of one of the steps I have to go through in order to add someone to our GitHub Organization. However, as I said in the previous message 3 hours ago, I don't see the navigation that you referenced. So, I checked with someone else at work and he tells me we don't have SSO. 😮 I don't understand.

I'll try to create a PAT against the internal repo in our GH Organization.

Later

I've created a PAT with repo privileges. Then I took your curl command and converted it to PowerShell (I don't know curl and I don't have curl). Then I ran it, but I got this error message:

{ "message": "Resource protected by organization SAML enforcement. You must grant your Personal Access token
| access to an organization within this enterprise.", "documentation_url":
| "https://docs.github.com/articles/authenticating-to-a-github-organization-with-saml-single-sign-on/",
| "status": "403" }

I went to that link and once again I was told I have to have SSO. ARGH!!!!

Networking isn't in my wheelhouse. I do the best I can, but when I'm told I both have SSO and don't have SSO, and it seems like I really don't have SSO, then I'm stuck.

I've talked with one of our network administrators. He told me that I could try to get an App Registration through a sister state governmental department, then get the network admin an owner, etc. I could pursue that course of action, but at this point I'm really frustrated. I've dealt with that sister department in the past. They literally can take months before they do anything about a request. At this point I think I stand a better chance of getting the additional GitHub Seats I've requested, rather than wait for the sister department to get around to it.

[andriiafanasiev]

Since you’re using GitHub Enterprise Cloud, the 404 happens because you’re trying to access a private repo without a token. You’ll need a personal access token (PAT) with repo scope (or read:org + read:repo for read-only) and, if your org uses SAML SSO, you must authorize the token under Settings → Applications. Once that’s set, the endpoint https://api.github.com/repos///issues?state=open&per_page=100 should work. You can then convert the JSON to CSV using jq

[TMBilalTM]

Hi @Rod-at-DOH,

I saw that you are trying to export all open issues from your organization repository into a CSV file. Here are some simple steps that might help:

1. Use the GitHub API to fetch open issues:

   curl -H "Authorization: token <YOUR_TOKEN>"
   "https://api.github.com/repos/<ORG_NAME>/<REPO_NAME>/issues?state=open&per_page=100"
   > issues.json

Just replace <YOUR_TOKEN>, <ORG_NAME>, and <REPO_NAME> with your own values.

2. Make sure your token has the correct scopes:

• repo
• read:org
  (Some enterprise setups require additional organization-level permissions.)

3. Convert the JSON output to CSV. Example with Python:

   import pandas as pd
   import json

   with open("issues.json") as f:
   data = json.load(f)

   df = pd.json_normalize(data)
   df.to_csv("issues.csv", index=False)

This will give you a clean CSV with issue title, state, labels, creation date, and more.

4. Optional filters:

• labels=
• since=
• state=all

If you'd like, I can also prepare a full script that handles pagination and automatically generates the CSV.

Hope this helps!