diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index c393a627e..38ca1db84 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(2)
 	}
 
-	if prompt, _ := cfg.Get("", "prompt"); prompt == config.PromptsDisabled {
+	if prompt, _ := cfg.Get("", "prompt"); prompt == "disabled" {
 		cmdFactory.IOStreams.SetNeverPrompt(true)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/config/config_type.go b/internal/config/config_type.go
index a28521f0e..1a179c41d 100644
--- a/internal/config/config_type.go
+++ b/internal/config/config_type.go
@@ -10,11 +10,41 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
-const (
-	defaultGitProtocol = "https"
-	PromptsDisabled    = "disabled"
-	PromptsEnabled     = "enabled"
-)
+type ConfigOption struct {
+	Key           string
+	Description   string
+	DefaultValue  string
+	AllowedValues []string
+}
+
+var configOptions = []ConfigOption{
+	{
+		Key:           "git_protocol",
+		Description:   "the protocol to use for git clone and push operations",
+		DefaultValue:  "https",
+		AllowedValues: []string{"https", "ssh"},
+	},
+	{
+		Key:          "editor",
+		Description:  "the text editor program to use for authoring text",
+		DefaultValue: "",
+	},
+	{
+		Key:           "prompt",
+		Description:   "toggle interactive prompting in the terminal",
+		DefaultValue:  "enabled",
+		AllowedValues: []string{"enabled", "disabled"},
+	},
+	{
+		Key:          "pager",
+		Description:  "the terminal pager program to send standard output to",
+		DefaultValue: "",
+	},
+}
+
+func ConfigOptions() []ConfigOption {
+	return configOptions
+}
 
 var configValues = map[string][]string{
 	"git_protocol": {"ssh", "https"},
@@ -183,7 +213,7 @@ func NewBlankRoot() *yaml.Node {
 					},
 					{
 						Kind:  yaml.ScalarNode,
-						Value: PromptsEnabled,
+						Value: "enabled",
 					},
 					{
 						HeadComment: "A pager program to send command output to, e.g. \"less\". Set the value to \"cat\" to disable the pager.",
@@ -525,13 +555,10 @@ func (c *fileConfig) parseHosts(hostsEntry *yaml.Node) ([]*HostConfig, error) {
 }
 
 func defaultFor(key string) string {
-	// we only have a set default for one setting right now
-	switch key {
-	case "git_protocol":
-		return defaultGitProtocol
-	case "prompt":
-		return PromptsEnabled
-	default:
-		return ""
+	for _, co := range configOptions {
+		if co.Key == key {
+			return co.DefaultValue
+		}
 	}
+	return ""
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
index 0fb02eb9d..72dbb6955 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
@@ -12,18 +12,21 @@ import (
 )
 
 func NewCmdConfig(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
+	longDoc := strings.Builder{}
+	longDoc.WriteString("Display or change configuration settings for gh.\n\n")
+	longDoc.WriteString("Current respected settings:\n")
+	for _, co := range config.ConfigOptions() {
+		longDoc.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("- %s: %s", co.Key, co.Description))
+		if co.DefaultValue != "" {
+			longDoc.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(" (default: %q)", co.DefaultValue))
+		}
+		longDoc.WriteRune('\n')
+	}
+
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "config",
 		Short: "Manage configuration for gh",
-		Long: heredoc.Doc(`
-			Display or change configuration settings for gh.
-	
-			Current respected settings:
-			- git_protocol: "https" or "ssh". Default is "https".
-			- editor: if unset, defaults to environment variables.
-			- prompt: "enabled" or "disabled". Toggles interactive prompting.
-			- pager: terminal pager program to send standard output to.
-		`),
+		Long:  longDoc.String(),
 	}
 
 	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
@@ -77,7 +80,7 @@ func NewCmdConfigSet(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
 		Example: heredoc.Doc(`
 			$ gh config set editor vim
 			$ gh config set editor "code --wait"
-			$ gh config set git_protocol ssh
+			$ gh config set git_protocol ssh --host github.com
 			$ gh config set prompt disabled
 		`),
 		Args: cobra.ExactArgs(2),
@@ -88,6 +91,18 @@ func NewCmdConfigSet(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
 			}
 
 			key, value := args[0], args[1]
+			knownKey := false
+			for _, configKey := range config.ConfigOptions() {
+				if key == configKey.Key {
+					knownKey = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if !knownKey {
+				iostreams := f.IOStreams
+				warningIcon := iostreams.ColorScheme().WarningIcon()
+				fmt.Fprintf(iostreams.ErrOut, "%s warning: '%s' is not a known configuration key\n", warningIcon, key)
+			}
 			err = cfg.Set(hostname, key, value)
 			if err != nil {
 				var invalidValue *config.InvalidValueError
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/config/config_test.go b/pkg/cmd/config/config_test.go
index 20c7dd543..3a3d9c83a 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/config/config_test.go
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ func TestConfigSet(t *testing.T) {
 		config    configStub
 		args      []string
 		expectKey string
+		expectVal string
 		stdout    string
 		stderr    string
 	}{
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ func TestConfigSet(t *testing.T) {
 			config:    configStub{},
 			args:      []string{"editor", "vim"},
 			expectKey: "editor",
+			expectVal: "vim",
 			stdout:    "",
 			stderr:    "",
 		},
@@ -133,9 +135,19 @@ func TestConfigSet(t *testing.T) {
 			config:    configStub{},
 			args:      []string{"editor", "vim", "-h", "github.com"},
 			expectKey: "github.com:editor",
+			expectVal: "vim",
 			stdout:    "",
 			stderr:    "",
 		},
+		{
+			name:      "set key",
+			config:    configStub{},
+			args:      []string{"unknownKey", "someValue"},
+			expectKey: "unknownKey",
+			expectVal: "someValue",
+			stdout:    "",
+			stderr:    "! warning: 'unknownKey' is not a known configuration key\n",
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -158,7 +170,7 @@ func TestConfigSet(t *testing.T) {
 
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.stdout, stdout.String())
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.stderr, stderr.String())
-			assert.Equal(t, "vim", tt.config[tt.expectKey])
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectVal, tt.config[tt.expectKey])
 			assert.Equal(t, "true", tt.config["_written"])
 		})
 	}