March 2, 2020

1025 words 5 mins read

GitHub Public API

GitHub Public API

This is just a quick self documentation for some GitHub API (Application Programming Interface) endpoints with which I have recently experimented.

GitHub provides APIs for accessing its data. GitHub developer documentation hints that some of those can be accessed without credentials. This is handy when you want to quickly test some ideas using GitHub data. Sure, there are more restrictions applied to unauthenticated services e.g. it is only allowable to request 60 API calls an hour. For my case this figure is acceptable.

For a comprehensive usage information, please refer to the official documentations:

All API access is over HTTPS, and accessed from https://api.github.com. All data is sent and received as JSON.

Users Endpoints

Example Request: curl -i https://api.github.com/users/eueung

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 06:12:39 GMT
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 1296
Server: GitHub.com
Status: 200 OK
X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 57
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1584857815
Cache-Control: public, max-age=60, s-maxage=60
Vary: Accept
ETag: "23977877a871e3d68730b97b5f8b8ed9"
Last-Modified: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 06:58:43 GMT
X-GitHub-Media-Type: github.v3; format=json
Access-Control-Expose-Headers: ETag, Link, Location, Retry-After, X-GitHub-OTP, X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, X-RateLimit-Reset, X-OAuth-Scopes, X-Accepted-OAuth-Scopes, X-Poll-Interval, X-GitHub-Media-Type, Deprecation, Sunset
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubdomains; preload
X-Frame-Options: deny
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
Referrer-Policy: origin-when-cross-origin, strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'none'
Vary: Accept-Encoding, Accept, X-Requested-With
X-GitHub-Request-Id: DD56:7AD2:1E9BAD9:25FED00:5E7701D7

{
  "login": "eueung",
  "id": 4231611,
  "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjQyMzE2MTE=",
  "avatar_url": "https://avatars0.githubusercontent.com/u/4231611?v=4",
  "gravatar_id": "",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/eueung",
  "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/followers",
  "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/following{/other_user}",
  "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/gists{/gist_id}",
  "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
  "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/subscriptions",
  "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/orgs",
  "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/repos",
  "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/events{/privacy}",
  "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/eueung/received_events",
  "type": "User",
  "site_admin": false,
  "name": "Eueung Mulyana",
  "company": "Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB)",
  "blog": "",
  "location": "Bandung, Indonesia",
  "email": null,
  "hireable": null,
  "bio": null,
  "public_repos": 45,
  "public_gists": 4,
  "followers": 106,
  "following": 8,
  "created_at": "2013-04-23T05:34:18Z",
  "updated_at": "2020-03-18T06:58:43Z"
}

This response gives the following list of other users endpoints.

https://api.github.com/users/eueung
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/repos
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/events{/privacy}

https://api.github.com/users/eueung/followers
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/following{/other_user}
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/gists{/gist_id}
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/starred{/owner}{/repo}
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/subscriptions
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/orgs
https://api.github.com/users/eueung/received_events

Orgs Endpoints

Example Request: curl https://api.github.com/orgs/google

Response:

{
  "login": "google",
  "id": 1342004,
  "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjEzNDIwMDQ=",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google",
  "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/repos",
  "events_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/events",
  "hooks_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/hooks",
  "issues_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/issues",
  "members_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/members{/member}",
  "public_members_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/google/public_members{/member}",
  "avatar_url": "https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/1342004?v=4",
  "description": "Google ❤️ Open Source",
  "name": "Google",
  "company": null,
  "blog": "https://opensource.google/",
  "location": null,
  "email": "opensource@google.com",
  "is_verified": true,
  "has_organization_projects": true,
  "has_repository_projects": true,
  "public_repos": 1697,
  "public_gists": 0,
  "followers": 0,
  "following": 0,
  "html_url": "https://github.com/google",
  "created_at": "2012-01-18T01:30:18Z",
  "updated_at": "2019-12-19T21:09:14Z",
  "type": "Organization"
}

This response gives the following list of other orgs endpoints.

https://api.github.com/orgs/google
https://api.github.com/orgs/google/repos
https://api.github.com/orgs/google/events

https://api.github.com/orgs/google/hooks
https://api.github.com/orgs/google/issues
https://api.github.com/orgs/google/members{/member}
https://api.github.com/orgs/google/public_members{/member}

Repos Endpoints

Example Request: curl https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter

Response:

{
  "id": 31792824,
  "node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkzMTc5MjgyNA==",
  "name": "flutter",
  "full_name": "flutter/flutter",
  "private": false,
  "owner": {
    "login": "flutter",
    "id": 14101776,
    "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjE0MTAxNzc2",
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/14101776?v=4",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/flutter",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/received_events",
    "type": "Organization",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "html_url": "https://github.com/flutter/flutter",
  "description": "Flutter makes it easy and fast to build beautiful mobile apps.",
  "fork": false,
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter",
  "forks_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/forks",
  "keys_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/keys{/key_id}",
  "collaborators_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/collaborators{/collaborator}",
  "teams_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/teams",
  "hooks_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/hooks",
  "issue_events_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues/events{/number}",
  "events_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/events",
  "assignees_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/assignees{/user}",
  "branches_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/branches{/branch}",
  "tags_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/tags",
  "blobs_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/blobs{/sha}",
  "git_tags_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/tags{/sha}",
  "git_refs_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/refs{/sha}",
  "trees_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/trees{/sha}",
  "statuses_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/statuses/{sha}",
  "languages_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/languages",
  "stargazers_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/stargazers",
  "contributors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contributors",
  "subscribers_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/subscribers",
  "subscription_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/subscription",
  "commits_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/commits{/sha}",
  "git_commits_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/commits{/sha}",
  "comments_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/comments{/number}",
  "issue_comment_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues/comments{/number}",
  "contents_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contents/{+path}",
  "compare_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/compare/{base}...{head}",
  "merges_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/merges",
  "archive_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/{archive_format}{/ref}",
  "downloads_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/downloads",
  "issues_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues{/number}",
  "pulls_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/pulls{/number}",
  "milestones_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/milestones{/number}",
  "notifications_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/notifications{?since,all,participating}",
  "labels_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/labels{/name}",
  "releases_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/releases{/id}",
  "deployments_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/deployments",
  "created_at": "2015-03-06T22:54:58Z",
  "updated_at": "2020-03-22T04:11:43Z",
  "pushed_at": "2020-03-22T00:07:49Z",
  "git_url": "git://github.com/flutter/flutter.git",
  "ssh_url": "git@github.com:flutter/flutter.git",
  "clone_url": "https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git",
  "svn_url": "https://github.com/flutter/flutter",
  "homepage": "https://flutter.dev",
  "size": 95886,
  "stargazers_count": 88732,
  "watchers_count": 88732,
  "language": "Dart",
  "has_issues": true,
  "has_projects": true,
  "has_downloads": true,
  "has_wiki": true,
  "has_pages": false,
  "forks_count": 11758,
  "mirror_url": null,
  "archived": false,
  "disabled": false,
  "open_issues_count": 7366,
  "license": {
    "key": "bsd-3-clause",
    "name": "BSD 3-Clause \"New\" or \"Revised\" License",
    "spdx_id": "BSD-3-Clause",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/bsd-3-clause",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZTU="
  },
  "forks": 11758,
  "open_issues": 7366,
  "watchers": 88732,
  "default_branch": "master",
  "temp_clone_token": null,
  "organization": {
    "login": "flutter",
    "id": 14101776,
    "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjE0MTAxNzc2",
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/14101776?v=4",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/flutter",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/flutter/received_events",
    "type": "Organization",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "network_count": 11758,
  "subscribers_count": 2732
}

This response gives the following list of other repos endpoints.

https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/forks
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/keys{/key_id}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/collaborators{/collaborator}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/teams
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/hooks
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues/events{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/events
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/assignees{/user}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/branches{/branch}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/tags
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/blobs{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/tags{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/refs{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/trees{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/statuses/{sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/languages
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/stargazers
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contributors
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/subscribers
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/subscription
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/commits{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/commits{/sha}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/comments{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues/comments{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contents/{+path}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/compare/{base}...{head}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/merges
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/{archive_format}{/ref}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/downloads
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/issues{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/pulls{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/milestones{/number}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/notifications{?since,all,participating}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/labels{/name}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/releases{/id}
https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/deployments

Miscellaneous

The following snippet shows request and the corresponding response for starred repositories.

curl https://api.github.com/users/eueung/starred?per_page=1&page=1

[
  {
    "id": 247289496,
    "node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkyNDcyODk0OTY=",
    "name": "cv19index",
    "full_name": "closedloop-ai/cv19index",
    "private": false,
    "owner": {
      "login": "closedloop-ai",
      "id": 48066451,
      "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjQ4MDY2NDUx",
      "avatar_url": "https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/48066451?v=4",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/closedloop-ai",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/followers",
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/orgs",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/repos",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/events{/privacy}",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/closedloop-ai/received_events",
      "type": "Organization",
      "site_admin": false
    },
    "html_url": "https://github.com/closedloop-ai/cv19index",
    "description": "COVID-19 Vulnerability Index",
    "fork": false,
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index",
    "forks_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/forks",
    "keys_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/keys{/key_id}",
    "collaborators_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/collaborators{/collaborator}",
    "teams_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/teams",
    "hooks_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/hooks",
    "issue_events_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/issues/events{/number}",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/events",
    "assignees_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/assignees{/user}",
    "branches_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/branches{/branch}",
    "tags_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/tags",
    "blobs_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/git/blobs{/sha}",
    "git_tags_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/git/tags{/sha}",
    "git_refs_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/git/refs{/sha}",
    "trees_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/git/trees{/sha}",
    "statuses_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/statuses/{sha}",
    "languages_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/languages",
    "stargazers_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/stargazers",
    "contributors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/contributors",
    "subscribers_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/subscribers",
    "subscription_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/subscription",
    "commits_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/commits{/sha}",
    "git_commits_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/git/commits{/sha}",
    "comments_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/comments{/number}",
    "issue_comment_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/issues/comments{/number}",
    "contents_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/contents/{+path}",
    "compare_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/compare/{base}...{head}",
    "merges_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/merges",
    "archive_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/{archive_format}{/ref}",
    "downloads_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/downloads",
    "issues_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/issues{/number}",
    "pulls_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/pulls{/number}",
    "milestones_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/milestones{/number}",
    "notifications_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/notifications{?since,all,participating}",
    "labels_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/labels{/name}",
    "releases_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/releases{/id}",
    "deployments_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/closedloop-ai/cv19index/deployments",
    "created_at": "2020-03-14T14:15:02Z",
    "updated_at": "2020-03-22T00:13:14Z",
    "pushed_at": "2020-03-20T18:04:11Z",
    "git_url": "git://github.com/closedloop-ai/cv19index.git",
    "ssh_url": "git@github.com:closedloop-ai/cv19index.git",
    "clone_url": "https://github.com/closedloop-ai/cv19index.git",
    "svn_url": "https://github.com/closedloop-ai/cv19index",
    "homepage": "https://cv19index.com",
    "size": 3160,
    "stargazers_count": 33,
    "watchers_count": 33,
    "language": "Python",
    "has_issues": true,
    "has_projects": true,
    "has_downloads": true,
    "has_wiki": true,
    "has_pages": false,
    "forks_count": 12,
    "mirror_url": null,
    "archived": false,
    "disabled": false,
    "open_issues_count": 3,
    "license": {
      "key": "other",
      "name": "Other",
      "spdx_id": "NOASSERTION",
      "url": null,
      "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZTA="
    },
    "forks": 12,
    "open_issues": 3,
    "watchers": 33,
    "default_branch": "master"
  }
]

The following snippet shows request and the corresponding response for repositories content (partially truncated).

curl https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contents

[
  ...,
  {
    "name": "AUTHORS",
    "path": "AUTHORS",
    "sha": "aa9535c024323cdbf65cd43a3ec45dd0504337a8",
    "size": 2029,
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/contents/AUTHORS?ref=master",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/AUTHORS",
    "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/flutter/flutter/git/blobs/aa9535c024323cdbf65cd43a3ec45dd0504337a8",
    "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flutter/flutter/master/AUTHORS",
    "type": "file",
    "_links": {
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