diff --git a/configs/templates/skylab-dev/spack.yaml b/configs/templates/skylab-dev/spack.yaml
index 0336fa93a..9444c4b1f 100644
--- a/configs/templates/skylab-dev/spack.yaml
+++ b/configs/templates/skylab-dev/spack.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ spack:
     - esmf@=8.6.1 snapshot=none
     - esmf@=8.7.0b11 snapshot=b11
 
+    # Add the github-cli as a top-level package for users that do not have
+    # a user-space or platform install.
     - gh@2.50.0
 
   specs:
diff --git a/configs/templates/unified-dev/spack.yaml b/configs/templates/unified-dev/spack.yaml
index 46a6f3037..f773df5b3 100644
--- a/configs/templates/unified-dev/spack.yaml
+++ b/configs/templates/unified-dev/spack.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ spack:
     # MADIS for WCOSS2 decoders.
     - madis@4.5
 
+    # Add the github-cli as a top-level package for users that do not have
+    # a user-space or platform install.
+    - gh@2.50.0
+
   specs:
   - matrix:
     - [$packages]