diff --git a/api/client_test.go b/api/client_test.go
index 1701a17a9..d961b05dc 100644
--- a/api/client_test.go
+++ b/api/client_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/httpmock"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/iostreams"
+	"github.com/cli/go-gh/v2/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -255,3 +256,79 @@ func TestHTTPHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	assert.Equal(t, "", stderr.String())
 }
+
+func TestGenerateScopeErrorForGQL(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		gqlError *api.GraphQLError
+		wantErr  bool
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "missing scope",
+			gqlError: &api.GraphQLError{
+				Errors: []api.GraphQLErrorItem{
+					{
+						Type:    "INSUFFICIENT_SCOPES",
+						Message: "The 'addProjectV2ItemById' field requires one of the following scopes: ['project']",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: true,
+			expected: "error: your authentication token is missing required scopes [project]\n" +
+				"To request it, run:  gh auth refresh -s project",
+		},
+
+		{
+			name: "ignore non-scope errors",
+			gqlError: &api.GraphQLError{
+				Errors: []api.GraphQLErrorItem{
+					{
+						Type:    "NOT_FOUND",
+						Message: "Could not resolve to a Repository",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := GenerateScopeErrorForGQL(tt.gqlError)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				assert.NotNil(t, err)
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, err.Error())
+			} else {
+				assert.Nil(t, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRequiredScopesFromServerMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		msg      string
+		expected []string
+	}{
+		{
+			msg:      "requires one of the following scopes: ['project']",
+			expected: []string{"project"},
+		},
+		{
+			msg:      "requires one of the following scopes: ['repo', 'read:org']",
+			expected: []string{"repo", "read:org"},
+		},
+		{
+			msg:      "no match here",
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.msg, func(t *testing.T) {
+			output := requiredScopesFromServerMessage(tt.msg)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, output)
+		})
+	}
+}