diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/gist.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/gist.go
index e47f055db..612ef0bcf 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gist/gist.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/gist.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package gist
 import (
 	gistCreateCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/gist/create"
 	gistListCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/gist/list"
+	gistViewCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/gist/view"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ func NewCmdGist(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
 
 	cmd.AddCommand(gistCreateCmd.NewCmdCreate(f, nil))
 	cmd.AddCommand(gistListCmd.NewCmdList(f, nil))
+	cmd.AddCommand(gistViewCmd.NewCmdView(f, nil))
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/list/list_test.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/list/list_test.go
index 03266cdf2..5541a51bc 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gist/list/list_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/list/list_test.go
@@ -82,3 +82,5 @@ func TestNewCmdList(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// TODO execution tests
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/view/http.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/http.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..617fa2ec5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/http.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package view
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/cli/cli/api"
+)
+
+type GistFile struct {
+	Filename string
+	Type     string
+	Language string
+	Content  string
+}
+
+type Gist struct {
+	Description string
+	Files       map[string]GistFile
+}
+
+func getGist(client *http.Client, hostname, gistID string) (*Gist, error) {
+	gist := Gist{}
+	path := fmt.Sprintf("gists/%s", gistID)
+
+	apiClient := api.NewClientFromHTTP(client)
+	err := apiClient.REST(hostname, "GET", path, nil, &gist)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &gist, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be9ac4bde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package view
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/ghinstance"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/iostreams"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/utils"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+type ViewOptions struct {
+	IO         *iostreams.IOStreams
+	HttpClient func() (*http.Client, error)
+
+	Selector string
+	Raw      bool
+}
+
+func NewCmdView(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*ViewOptions) error) *cobra.Command {
+	opts := &ViewOptions{
+		IO:         f.IOStreams,
+		HttpClient: f.HttpClient,
+	}
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "view {<gist id> | <gist url>}",
+		Short: "View a gist",
+		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			opts.Selector = args[0]
+
+			if !opts.IO.IsStdoutTTY() {
+				opts.Raw = true
+			}
+
+			if runF != nil {
+				return runF(opts)
+			}
+			return viewRun(opts)
+		},
+	}
+
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&opts.Raw, "raw", "r", false, "do not try and render markdown")
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
+func viewRun(opts *ViewOptions) error {
+	gistID := opts.Selector
+
+	u, err := url.Parse(opts.Selector)
+	if err == nil {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(u.Path, "/") {
+			gistID = u.Path[1:]
+		}
+	}
+
+	client, err := opts.HttpClient()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	gist, err := getGist(client, ghinstance.OverridableDefault(), gistID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cs := opts.IO.ColorScheme()
+	if gist.Description != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(opts.IO.ErrOut, "%s\n", cs.Bold(gist.Description))
+	}
+
+	for filename, gistFile := range gist.Files {
+		fmt.Fprintf(opts.IO.ErrOut, "%s\n", cs.Gray(filename))
+		fmt.Fprintln(opts.IO.ErrOut)
+		content := gistFile.Content
+		if strings.Contains(gistFile.Type, "markdown") && !opts.Raw {
+			rendered, err := utils.RenderMarkdown(gistFile.Content)
+			if err == nil {
+				content = rendered
+			}
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(opts.IO.Out, "%s\n", content)
+		fmt.Fprintln(opts.IO.Out)
+	}
+
+	// TODO print gist files, possibly with rendered markdown
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view_test.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d77ab946d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/view/view_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package view
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/iostreams"
+	"github.com/google/shlex"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestNewCmdView(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		cli   string
+		wants ViewOptions
+		tty   bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "tty no arguments",
+			tty:  true,
+			cli:  "123",
+			wants: ViewOptions{
+				Raw:      false,
+				Selector: "123",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nontty no arguments",
+			cli:  "123",
+			wants: ViewOptions{
+				Raw:      true,
+				Selector: "123",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			io, _, _, _ := iostreams.Test()
+			io.SetStdoutTTY(tt.tty)
+
+			f := &cmdutil.Factory{
+				IOStreams: io,
+			}
+
+			argv, err := shlex.Split(tt.cli)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			var gotOpts *ViewOptions
+			cmd := NewCmdView(f, func(opts *ViewOptions) error {
+				gotOpts = opts
+				return nil
+			})
+			cmd.SetArgs(argv)
+			cmd.SetIn(&bytes.Buffer{})
+			cmd.SetOut(&bytes.Buffer{})
+			cmd.SetErr(&bytes.Buffer{})
+
+			_, err = cmd.ExecuteC()
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.Raw, gotOpts.Raw)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.Selector, gotOpts.Selector)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TODO execution tests