ghfs

ghfs is a desktop developer tool that turns GitHub Issues into ordinary local files. It mounts issue content through FUSE and places a link inside each registered repository, so a developer or coding agent can open, search, and process issues with familiar filesystem commands. The practical problem is small but persistent. An agent that needs issue context often has to call the GitHub CLI or an integration during a task, remember the right arguments, wait for a response, and sometimes fetch the same material again. ghfs moves that retrieval before the work starts. Its background service keeps a local cache, and the issue text is already available when a task begins.

Setup follows a command-line workflow. After installation, `ghfs init` signs the user in to GitHub and installs the background service. Running ghfs in a repository registers that project, creates a `.ghfs` symlink to the mounted data, and offers to keep that path out of version control. Open and closed issues are represented as Markdown files organized by provider and state. The files include useful issue data such as the number, title, author, URL, timestamps, labels, body, and comments. Because the representation is just text on disk, tools such as `cat`, `grep`, `find`, and scripts can work with it directly. Developers can search several issues at once, extract frontmatter for a report, or let an editor index the content alongside the code. No special reader or agent-side integration is required once the files are mounted.

The product is particularly aimed at people who use GitHub Issues as the unit of work for AI-assisted development. ghfs can write project rules for Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, GitHub Copilot, Aider, and tools that follow `AGENTS.md`. Those rules tell the assistant where issue files live and encourage it to read them instead of reaching for a remote command. This does not lock the workflow to one coding agent. Every assistant sees the same local representation, which makes the context portable across tools and easier for humans to inspect. It also suits conventional command-line work when someone wants to browse issue bodies, labels, and comments without moving between a browser and terminal.

Read-only behavior is a central design choice. The mounted filesystem rejects changes, and ghfs says it contains no GitHub API calls that write, delete, or modify issues. That gives an agent access to issue context without creating a path back to edit the tracker through the mount. There is an important authentication detail, though. The convenient GitHub device flow requests the broad classic `repo` scope because GitHub does not offer a classic scope limited to reading private issues. ghfs does not use that scope to write, but GitHub does not enforce the restriction on the token itself. Teams that want platform-enforced limits can configure a fine-grained token with read-only Issues and Metadata permissions. Issue caches and operational records stay on the local machine, and the product says it contains no telemetry SDK.

Sync is scheduled rather than real-time. A background daemon checks GitHub on an interval, while `ghfs refresh` can fetch updates on demand. That model makes issue access dependable during a task, but the copy on disk is only as current as the most recent fetch. Platform support is also deliberately narrow at present. Linux builds are available for x86_64 and ARM64 and require libfuse3. macOS support is for Apple Silicon and requires macFUSE, with the download page listing macOS 26 or later. Windows users can run it inside WSL 2, while native Windows support remains on the roadmap. The source is not public, and the security page says the software has not received a third party audit.

Pricing is freemium. The free plan needs no credit card and covers Issues, background sync, and one repository. The Hobby plan is listed at $5 per month or $48 per year and removes the repository limit. A $15 monthly Pro tier is presented for future sources such as Projects, Discussions, and Pull Requests, but those sources are marked as coming soon rather than current capabilities. Enterprise access is contact based, with team license management also marked as forthcoming. Paid charges carry a 14 day refund window, and yearly billing is discounted. That makes the free tier useful for testing a real repository, while the current paid value is clearest for individual developers who need the same read-only issue workflow across many repositories.