Introduction

Last week, I was helping a friend debug some Python, and she asked me to send her a code snippet. I almost copied and pasted it into Slack, then caught myself. The formatting would be awful, and the indentation would be broken entirely. You know, the Python indentations horror story?

Instead, I threw it into a GitHub Gist and sent the link. Clean code and proper highlighting allowed her to make changes easily, even by forking it. “I didn’t know GitHub did this,” she said.

If you’ve never used Gists, you’re missing one of the most valuable features GitHub offers. I use them constantly now.

What Are GitHub Gists?

A Gist is basically GitHub’s version of Pastebin, but much better. You can share code snippets or text without creating a whole repository. You still get version control and all that, just for small projects that don’t need their own repository.

I used to email code around or paste it into chat apps. Terrible formatting, lost indentation, and no way to update anything. Gists fix all these problems. Yes!

Public vs Private Gists

When you create a Gist, you choose between public and private (they refer to it as “secret,” but this term is misleading).

Public Gists appear in search results and on your profile. Suitable for code examples you want to share openly, tutorials, and config files that aren’t sensitive.

Private Gists are unlisted, but anyone with the URL can still see them. They just don’t appear in searches. I use these for work-related tasks, personal notes, or code I’m sharing with specific individuals.

Be cautious! Don’t put passwords or API keys in any Gist. Even private ones can be accessed if someone has the link.

Using Gists

Creating a Gist

Go to gist.github.com, add a description, name your file with the correct extension (.py for Python, .js for JavaScript), paste your code, and select public or private. Done.

The file extension matters because it determines syntax highlighting. GitHub recognizes most programming languages automatically.

Embedding Gists

This is my favourite feature. You can embed any Gist in a webpage with a simple script tag:

<script src="https://gist.github.com/username/gist-id.js"></script>

The embedded gist appears with full syntax highlighting and links back to the original. Perfect for blog posts where you want code examples that stay updated if you change the original.

I do this all the time in my posts. Instead of copying code that becomes outdated, I embed Gists, which I can update independently.

Sharing and Working Together

Sharing is just copying the URL. But you can also:

• Comment on public Gists to discuss improvements
• Fork someone’s Gist to make your own version
• Get raw URLs for curl commands or plain text
• Download as zip files

Revisions Save Your Life

Every edit creates a new revision. GitHub keeps a complete history with timestamps, showing you exactly what changed between versions.

This has saved me on numerous occasions. I’ll modify a script, break something, and easily revert to the working version. Or I’ll want to see how my approach evolved.

Privacy Reality Check

“Secret” Gists aren’t actually secret. They’re unlisted, like private YouTube videos. Anyone with the URL can view them.

Never put sensitive stuff in Gists:

• Passwords or API keys
• Database connections
• Personal information
• Proprietary code

For truly confidential code, use private repositories.

How I Use Gists

I keep gist.github.com bookmarked. When I solve something interesting or write a helpful function, I immediately create a Gist while it’s fresh.

I maintain a few “living” Gists that I update regularly, such as bash aliases and common SQL queries. They become my personal reference library.

For blog posts, I often prototype code examples as Gists first, then embed them.

Another recent find is that I use Gists for storing GPT output, as you can see in my previous post An Impossible Task for Generative AI yet? on AI self-reflection and self-correction skills. This way, my blog posts are not cluttered with lengthy AI output, and the AI content, which is indeed detectable, is not overpowering my human content, which is critical for the SEO of my blog and better ranking :)

Moreover, Gists solved real problems I had with code sharing. No more broken formatting in chat apps. No more outdated code examples in blog posts. No more losing useful snippets, I wrote months ago.

The version history alone makes them a worthwhile investment. How many times have you wished you could see the previous version of some code snippet? With Gists, you can.

Best Practices

Use descriptive names instead of “Untitled.” Write “Python CSV header parser” or “Nginx SSL config.”

Add comments explaining what the code does, any dependencies, and how to use it. You’ll forget otherwise.

Keep one purpose per Gist. Don’t cram multiple unrelated functions together.

Update existing Gists rather than creating new ones when you improve code. The history feature exists for this reason.

Use proper file extensions for syntax highlighting.

Since you can’t organize Gists into folders, make descriptions searchable.

When to Use Gists vs Repositories

Gists work for:

• Single-file utilities
• Configuration examples
• Tutorial code snippets
• Quick prototypes
• Personal notes
• Test data samples

Use full repos when you have:

• Multi-file projects
• Need issue tracking
• Want pull request workflows
• Require extensive documentation

Conclusion

This post provided you with everything you need to know about GitHub Gists, from the basics of creating your first snippet to advanced features like embedding code in blog posts and managing revisions. I’ve explained the difference between public and private Gists (and why “secret” doesn’t mean what you think), as well as shared best practices I’ve learned from using them daily. It is easy to decide now when to choose Gists over full repositories. Think of it as your complete roadmap to cleaner code sharing and better collaboration.

Ever used GitHub Gists? Let me know what you use them for - I’m curious about other workflows.

And if this was helpful, bookmark the site or subscribe so you don’t have to remember this complicated domain name.

References

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