# GitHub Trending Scraper (`deriverge/github-trending-scraper`) Actor

Today's trending repositories on GitHub for any programming language, with rank, total stars, stars gained today, forks and description. Filter by keyword or star count, or schedule a daily run that returns only repositories new to the list.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/deriverge/github-trending-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [deriverge s.r.o.](https://apify.com/deriverge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.40 / 1,000 repositories

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 Trending Scraper

GitHub Trending Scraper reads today's trending page on GitHub for each programming language you list and returns one row per repository: its place, owner and name, description, language, total stars, stars gained today and forks. Type language slugs such as `python` or `rust` and click **Start**; two lists took 7 seconds on 28 October 2026. Only the daily list is available, because GitHub's robots.txt asks automated clients to stay off the weekly and monthly pages. It costs $0.80 per 1,000 repositories on the Free plan ($0.40 on Business), and the $5 of monthly credit in Apify's Free plan covers about 6,200 repositories.

### What data does it return?

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `rank`, `list` | Place on the page, from 1, and the list it comes from: the language slug such as `python`, or `all` for the page across all languages. |
| `owner`, `name`, `fullName`, `url` | The repository as in its address, for example `HKUDS`, `DeepTutor`, `HKUDS/DeepTutor` and `https://github.com/HKUDS/DeepTutor`. |
| `description` | The repository's short description as GitHub shows it on the page, or `null` when it has none. |
| `language` | Main language GitHub detected for the repository, such as `Python`. On the `all` list it varies from row to row. |
| `stars`, `forks` | Total stars and forks at the time of the run, such as `47886` and `5944`. |
| `starsInPeriod`, `period` | Stars the repository gained today, such as `2376`, and `daily`. |
| `contributorsShown` | How many contributor avatars the page shows under "Built by", up to 5. Who they are is not collected. |
| `key`, `checkedAt` | Row ID such as `repo:python:daily:HKUDS/DeepTutor`, compared by the new-only mode, and the time of the run in UTC. |

### How to scrape GitHub trending repositories

1. In **Languages**, add one slug per line as it appears in the trending address: `python`, `typescript`, `go`, `c++`, `jupyter-notebook`. Leave the field empty for the list across all languages.
2. Optionally set **Spoken language** to a two-letter code such as `zh` or `en` to keep repositories written in that language.
3. Narrow the rows with **Keywords (any of)**, **Minimum total stars** or **Minimum stars gained in the period**. Repositories these filters remove are not charged.
4. Click **Start**. The repositories appear in the **Output** tab, where you can download them as CSV, Excel or JSON. The `SUMMARY` record in the key-value store says how many each filter removed.

To read the Rust and Go lists and keep only repositories about agents with at least 500 stars:

```json
{
  "languages": ["rust", "go"],
  "keywords": ["agent", "agents"],
  "minStars": 500
}
```

### Example output

The first repository on the Python list in a run on 28 October 2026:

```json
{
  "type": "repo",
  "key": "repo:python:daily:HKUDS/DeepTutor",
  "rank": 1,
  "list": "python",
  "period": "daily",
  "owner": "HKUDS",
  "name": "DeepTutor",
  "fullName": "HKUDS/DeepTutor",
  "url": "https://github.com/HKUDS/DeepTutor",
  "description": "DeepTutor: Lifelong Personalized Tutoring. https://deeptutor.info/.",
  "language": "Python",
  "stars": 47886,
  "forks": 5944,
  "starsInPeriod": 2376,
  "contributorsShown": 4,
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-28T23:00:29.417Z"
}
```

### How much does it cost to scrape GitHub trending?

| | Free plan | Starter | Scale | Business |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 repositories | $0.80 | $0.64 | $0.52 | $0.40 |

You pay only for the events in the table. There is no start fee, and compute time and proxies are included.

A daily run over 10 language lists returns at most 250 repositories, $0.20 on the Free plan and $0.10 on Business, so a month of daily runs costs at most $6.00. In new-only mode, repositories returned by an earlier run are not charged again.

### Limits

- Only today's list can be read. GitHub's robots.txt disallows the weekly and monthly trending pages, so the actor never requests them. An input or saved task that asks for `weekly` or `monthly` gets today's list, with a warning in the log and in `SUMMARY`.
- GitHub shows at most 25 repositories per list, and often fewer: at 23:00 UTC on 28 October 2026 the Python list had 10, TypeScript 14, Rust 12 and Go 18.
- The page lists repositories only. Trending developers, issues and topics are not covered, and neither are the people under "Built by".
- A language slug GitHub does not know returns an empty list, and the run says so in its notes. Use the slug from the address of the trending page, for example `c++` or `jupyter-notebook`.

### Daily trending alerts

Turn on **Return only new entrants since the last run**, give the run a **Watch name** such as `rust-daily` or save it as a task, and schedule it every day. Each run returns and charges only repositories that the watch has not returned before. The `CHANGES` record also lists repositories that dropped off the list and every change of rank, free of charge.

### FAQ

#### Is it legal to scrape GitHub trending?

The trending page is public, needs no account, and GitHub's robots.txt allows the daily list. The actor reads that page only, at most four lists at a time, and returns what the page shows about each repository. The owner in each row is the account name in the repository's public address; the people shown as contributors are not collected. You are responsible for how you use the data.

#### How do keywords match?

As whole words or phrases, ignoring case, in the repository name and description. Parts of a name count as words, so `tutor` matches DeepTutor, `llm` matches awesome_llm and `node.js` matches Node.js, while `ai` does not match `email`. A plural is a different word: add `agent` and `agents` to get both.

### Related scrapers

- [Hacker News Scraper](https://apify.com/deriverge/hacker-news-scraper)
- [YC Companies Scraper](https://apify.com/deriverge/yc-companies-scraper)
- [Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/deriverge/tech-stack-detector)

### Support

This actor is built and maintained by deriverge s.r.o., a software company based in the Czech Republic. If a run fails or a field you need is missing, please open an issue in the **Issues** tab or write to us at info@deriverge.com. We respond in English and Czech. Runs can be scheduled in Apify Console or started from the **API** tab, which has examples for Python, JavaScript and cURL and works with Make, Zapier, n8n and the Apify MCP server. If the actor saves you time, a short review helps other people find it.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/deriverge/github-trending-scraper/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `languages` (type: `array`):

GitHub language slugs as in the trending URL: python, typescript, rust, go, c++, jupyter-notebook and so on. Leave empty for the overall list across all languages. One list per language, 25 repositories each.

## `since` (type: `string`):

Only today's list can be read: GitHub's robots.txt disallows the weekly and monthly trending pages. Weekly and monthly are still accepted so saved tasks keep working, and they return today's list with a warning.

## `spokenLanguage` (type: `string`):

Optional two-letter code such as en, zh, ja, de to limit trending to repositories written in that language.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Keep only repositories whose name or description contain at least one of these words or phrases as whole words, case-insensitive. Parts of a repository name count as words, so `tutor` matches DeepTutor and `llm` matches awesome_llm. Dropped repositories are never charged.

## `minStars` (type: `integer`):

Drop repositories with fewer stars in total.

## `minStarsInPeriod` (type: `integer`):

Drop repositories that gained fewer stars today, this week or this month.

## `newOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keeps a snapshot per watch name (or per saved task) and returns only repositories that were not on the list before. Schedule it daily and you have a trending alert that bills only for newcomers; the CHANGES record lists rank moves and drop-outs for free.

## `watchName` (type: `string`):

Name of the snapshot used by the new-only mode, for example "python-daily". Runs from a saved task get a snapshot automatically even without a name.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on returned repositories.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "languages": [
    "python",
    "typescript"
  ],
  "since": "daily",
  "newOnly": false,
  "maxItems": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `rows` (type: `string`):

One row per repository and list with rank, description, language, total stars, stars gained in the period and forks.

## `changes` (type: `string`):

New entrants, drop-outs and rank moves compared with the previous snapshot of the same watch name or task.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Lists read, what filters dropped and notes.

# 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 = {
    "languages": [
        "python",
        "typescript"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("deriverge/github-trending-scraper").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 = { "languages": [
        "python",
        "typescript",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("deriverge/github-trending-scraper").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 '{
  "languages": [
    "python",
    "typescript"
  ]
}' |
apify call deriverge/github-trending-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/kifIEeQbww4KIBXkn/builds/c7PTkhhrsiG2I6Dh5/openapi.json