# GitHub Releases and Changelog Sentinel (`adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar`) Actor

Monitor new software releases, semver tags, release notes, changelogs, and binary asset download metrics across GitHub repositories without API keys.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar.md
- **Developed by:** [Darim Quraishi](https://apify.com/adaptive_nightmare) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Open source, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.85 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 Releases and Changelog Sentinel

Track new software releases, semantic version tags, changelog release notes, author information, and compiled binary download counts across GitHub repositories.

### Features

- Scrapes official GitHub releases for any public repository specified in owner/repo syntax.
- Captures semantic version tags, release titles, complete changelog text, and author usernames.
- Inspects attached binary release assets including file names, byte sizes, and download counts.
- Allows optional filtering to include or exclude experimental pre-release candidate versions.
- Queries GitHub public REST endpoints without requiring personal access tokens or proxies.

### Input parameters

- GitHub Repository: The target repository specified as owner/repo (for example: facebook/react, vercel/next.js). Default is facebook/react.
- Maximum Releases: Number of recent releases to extract. Default is 25, maximum is 100.
- Include Pre-releases: Toggle to include alpha, beta, and release candidate versions. Default is false.

### Output dataset fields

Each dataset record contains:

- repository: Source GitHub repository path.
- releaseId: Unique GitHub release identifier.
- name: Release title headline.
- tagName: Git tag name (for example: v19.3.1).
- isPrerelease: Boolean indicating whether the release is tagged as pre-release.
- body: Markdown text containing the full release notes and changelog.
- author: GitHub username of the release publisher.
- publishedAt: ISO formatted UTC timestamp when the release was made public.
- assetsCount: Total count of compiled binary assets attached.
- assets: Array of asset objects with download URLs and download statistics.
- htmlUrl: Direct link to the release on github.com.
- tarballUrl: Source code tarball archive URL.
- zipballUrl: Source code zip archive URL.
- scrapedAt: UTC timestamp when the record was extracted.

### Use cases

- Changelog monitoring: Build automated release notification feeds into Discord, Slack, or internal developer wikis.
- Software dependency alerts: Trigger automated package update pipelines as soon as upstream libraries publish stable tags.
- Download analytics: Track asset download velocity for open-source desktop applications and developer utilities.
- DevSecOps compliance: Maintain historical records of version release notes and security patches.

# Actor input Schema

## `repository` (type: `string`):

GitHub repository in owner/repo format (for example: facebook/react, vercel/next.js, or vuejs/core).

## `maxReleases` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of recent releases to retrieve.

## `includePrereleases` (type: `boolean`):

Include alpha, beta, and release candidate (RC) tags.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "repository": "facebook/react",
  "maxReleases": 25,
  "includePrereleases": false
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar").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 '{}' |
apify call adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,adaptive_nightmare/github-release-radar"
        }
    }
}
```

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/Egp3NrPSv8DlwbBNq/builds/fAJ1hZZfoMI1btine/openapi.json