# GitHub Repo Health Lookup: Stars, Activity, License, Releases (`accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup`) Actor

Check any public GitHub repository's health in one row: stars, forks, last push, license, archived flag, contributor count and release cadence. Misses free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Adriana Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.75 / 1,000 repository checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## GitHub Repo Health Lookup: Stars, Activity, License, Releases

Check a public GitHub repository's health in one row: stars, forks, last push, license, archived flag, contributor count and release cadence. Paste `owner/repo` or a github.com URL; a repository that does not exist comes back as a free miss row.

**Who uses it:** engineers vetting a dependency before adopting it, open-source program offices and investors scoring a list of projects, and recruiters or developer-relations teams sizing up a tool's community. Run it on a schedule to track a watchlist's stars and activity over time.

### How to use

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `repos` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~github-repo-health-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"repos":["octocat/Hello-World","facebook/react"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "octocat/Hello-World",
    "facebook/react"
  ]
}
```

One per line: owner/repo (facebook/react) or a github.com URL. Public repositories only. Accepted formats: facebook/react, https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World, git@github.com:vercel/next.js.git.

Add your own free GitHub token in the optional token field if you check more than about 20 repositories an hour: without one, GitHub allows 60 requests per hour per IP and each repository takes 3 requests (repository, contributors, releases). A row whose contributor or release lookup was refused still returns the repository facts, leaves those fields empty and says why in `partialReason`.

### Output

One row per repository. Missing values are empty, never 0. `openIssuesAndPrs` is GitHub's own open count, which includes open pull requests. `activityStatus` is ACTIVE (pushed in the last 90 days), SLOWING (91-365 days), STALE (over a year) or ARCHIVED. Release fields use stable releases only (no drafts or pre-releases) from GitHub's 30 newest.

| query | found | status | repo | repoUrl | description | homepage | primaryLanguage | topics | stars | forks | watchers | openIssuesAndPrs | license | archived | isFork | defaultBranch | createdAt | pushedAt | daysSinceLastPush | activityStatus | contributorCount | latestReleaseTag | latestReleaseAt | daysSinceLastRelease | releasesLast365d | releasesLast365dIsLowerBound | medianDaysBetweenReleases | partialReason | sourceUrl | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| octocat/Hello-World | true | OK | <repository> | <repository url> | <description> | <homepage> | <primary language> | <topics> | <stars> | <forks> | <watchers> | \<open issues + prs> | <license> | <archived> | <is a fork> | <default branch> | <created> | <last push> | <days since last push> | <activity status> | <contributors> | <latest release> | <latest release date> | <days since last release> | \<releases, last 365 days> | <release count is a minimum> | <median days between releases> | <partial data note> | <source url> | 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z |

A miss comes back as a row with `"found": false` and is never charged.

### What it costs

You pay per repository returned, about $1.50 per 1,000 on the Free plan and less on higher Apify plans. A repository that is not found, private, rate-limited or malformed is never charged.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event. A flat per-run fee covers session/proxy warmup; you're billed
per item only when data is actually found and returned — see
`.actor/pay_per_event.json` for exact prices. A miss is never charged.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~github-repo-health-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"repos":["octocat/Hello-World","facebook/react"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~github-repo-health-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"repos":["octocat/Hello-World","facebook/react"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~github-repo-health-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"repos":["{{repository}}"]}`, mapping the row's repository into the `repos` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "github repo stats scraper" — the agent will find and run this actor.

### Example runs

All three below come from one keyless run (no token, no proxy) on 2026-10-11 with the input `{"repos":["octocat/Hello-World","facebook/react"]}`; it finished in 5 seconds.

**1. A quiet, unlicensed repo (`octocat/Hello-World`).** Stars 3,820, forks 7,068, 3 contributors, last push 2024-08-20 (781 days ago), so `activityStatus` is `STALE`. It has no license, no topics and no stable releases, so `license` and `latestReleaseTag` are empty while `releasesLast365d` is a real 0.

**2. A busy library (`facebook/react`).** Resolves to its current name `react/react`: 250,872 stars, 2,020 contributors, MIT license, last push 2 days earlier (`ACTIVE`), latest release `v19.3.0` (32 days earlier) and 27 stable releases in the last 365 days. The median gap between releases rounds to 0 days because back-port releases ship on the same day.

**3. A watchlist in one call.** The input above returns both rows in one dataset, each with a `sourceUrl`, ready for a spreadsheet or a scheduled monitor. A repository that does not exist adds a free `"found": false` row with status `NOT_FOUND`.

# Actor input Schema

## `repos` (type: `array`):

One per line: owner/repo (facebook/react) or a github.com URL. Public repositories only. Accepted formats: facebook/react, https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World, git@github.com:vercel/next.js.git. You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `githubToken` (type: `string`):

Optional. Leave empty to call GitHub's public API without login (about 60 requests/hour per IP, roughly 20 repositories). Paste your own free personal access token (public-repo read is enough) for 5,000 requests/hour. The token is never written to the dataset or logs.

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Stop the run once this many results have been found — useful for a quick, cheap sample. Leave blank for no limit.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "octocat/Hello-World",
    "facebook/react"
  ],
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "columns": [
    "repo",
    "repoUrl",
    "description",
    "homepage",
    "primaryLanguage",
    "topics",
    "stars",
    "forks",
    "watchers",
    "openIssuesAndPrs",
    "license",
    "archived",
    "isFork",
    "defaultBranch",
    "createdAt",
    "pushedAt",
    "daysSinceLastPush",
    "activityStatus",
    "contributorCount",
    "latestReleaseTag",
    "latestReleaseAt",
    "daysSinceLastRelease",
    "releasesLast365d",
    "releasesLast365dIsLowerBound",
    "medianDaysBetweenReleases",
    "partialReason",
    "sourceUrl"
  ],
  "maxConcurrency": 2
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "repos": [
        "octocat/Hello-World",
        "facebook/react"
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "repos": [
        "octocat/Hello-World",
        "facebook/react",
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "repos": [
    "octocat/Hello-World",
    "facebook/react"
  ],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/github-repo-health-lookup"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/TDZopqFaAKorvS8ZD/builds/2D6K9Ca3T0XQ2yZG8/openapi.json