GISTs

Gists are a feature on the GitHub platform that provides a simple way to share snippets and small pieces of code or text. Each gist is a Git repository that contains one or more files, and it can be public or secret. Public gists are visible to anyone, while secret gists are not discoverable by searching and require a direct URL to access.

Gists support standard Git workflows: you can clone them, push changes, and view version history. They can be forked to create new gists based on existing content, and they can be embedded in websites using a small script provided by GitHub. Gists have unique identifiers and can be accessed via the Git protocol or the GitHub REST and GraphQL APIs.

Authors typically use gists to share code examples, configuration snippets, notes, or small projects. They are lightweight compared to full repositories and are convenient for collaboration, quick sharing, or archiving pieces of text or code across machines.

Limitations and considerations: gists are intended for small, citable pieces of content; they are not designed to replace repositories for larger projects. Privacy semantics depend on public or secret status; secret gists are not immune to discovery if the URL is leaked. The API requires authentication for private or user-specific operations.