Description

Powerful Apify Actor for scraping GitHub commit data. Extracts detailed info on authors, messages, timestamps, and OIDs for project analysis. Features robust batch processing, JSON output, error handling, and seamless integration for developers and researchers.

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Git Commit Parser Spider

Introduction

The Git Commit Parser Spider is a powerful Apify Actor designed to scrape and extract detailed commit data from GitHub repositories. It efficiently parses commit histories, providing structured information on authors, committers, messages, and timestamps for in-depth analysis. This tool is ideal for developers, researchers, and organizations needing to monitor code contributions and project evolution programmatically.

Features

• Comprehensive Data Extraction: Captures full commit details including OIDs, URLs, dates, messages, and author/committer profiles.
• Flexible URL Input: Supports multiple GitHub commit page URLs for batch processing.
• High Reliability: Handles GitHub's dynamic content with robust scraping techniques to ensure data accuracy.
• Structured Output: Delivers clean JSON data, easily integrable with databases or analytics tools.
• Performance Optimized: Processes commits quickly with minimal resource usage, suitable for large repositories.
• Error Handling: Includes built-in mechanisms to manage rate limits and network issues gracefully.
• Apify Integration: Seamlessly runs on the Apify platform with real-time logging and export options.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description	Example
Urls	array	Yes	An array of GitHub commit page URLs to scrape. Each URL should point to a commits page (e.g., /commits/branch). Minimum 1 URL required.	["https://github.com/imazen/resizer/commits/develop/"]

Example Usage

Input JSON

{
  "Urls": [
    "https://github.com/imazen/resizer/commits/develop/"
  ]
}

Output JSON

[
  {
    "title": "Jun 26, 2025",
    "oid": "5adf09d270018d95542f3535538f9b653758bf82",
    "url": "https://github.com/imazen/resizer/commit/5adf09d270018d95542f3535538f9b653758bf82",
    "committedDate": "2025-06-25T22:59:57.000-06:00",
    "shortMessage": "For all projects, enable binding redirects",
    "authors": [
      {
        "login": "lilith",
        "displayName": "Lilith River",
        "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
        "path": "/lilith",
        "profileName": "Lilith River",
        "isGitHub": false
      }
    ],
    "committer": {
      "login": "lilith",
      "displayName": "Lilith River",
      "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
      "path": "/lilith",
      "profileName": "Lilith River",
      "isGitHub": false
    },
    "actor_id": "Ysu3uukP9uT2lWylM",
    "run_id": "Ks5vtxGWFYdlheohW"
  },
  {
    "title": "Jun 26, 2025",
    "oid": "6fd4171b013ba54ab7695c5092615596c07b6e6a",
    "url": "https://github.com/imazen/resizer/commit/6fd4171b013ba54ab7695c5092615596c07b6e6a",
    "committedDate": "2025-06-25T22:59:28.000-06:00",
    "shortMessage": "Fix duplicate reference to imageflow.net",
    "authors": [
      {
        "login": "lilith",
        "displayName": "Lilith River",
        "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
        "path": "/lilith",
        "profileName": "Lilith River",
        "isGitHub": false
      }
    ],
    "committer": {
      "login": "lilith",
      "displayName": "Lilith River",
      "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
      "path": "/lilith",
      "profileName": "Lilith River",
      "isGitHub": false
    },
    "actor_id": "Ysu3uukP9uT2lWylM",
    "run_id": "Ks5vtxGWFYdlheohW"
  },
  {
    "title": "Jun 26, 2025",
    "oid": "40231895ef0463113a61e2114c601667c2a70b47",
    "url": "https://github.com/imazen/resizer/commit/40231895ef0463113a61e2114c601667c2a70b47",
    "committedDate": "2025-06-25T22:54:32.000-06:00",
    "shortMessage": "Fix: License info now shows on diagnostic page, and watermarks happen in both imageflow and regular pipelines.",
    "authors": [
      {
        "login": "lilith",
        "displayName": "Lilith River",
        "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
        "path": "/lilith",
        "profileName": "Lilith River",
        "isGitHub": false
      }
    ],
    "committer": {
      "login": "lilith",
      "displayName": "Lilith River",
      "avatarUrl": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/107935?v=4",
      "path": "/lilith",
      "profileName": "Lilith River",
      "isGitHub": false
    },
    "actor_id": "Ysu3uukP9uT2lWylM",
    "run_id": "Ks5vtxGWFYdlheohW"
  }
]

Use Cases

• Project Development Analysis: Track commit frequency and patterns to assess development velocity in open-source projects.
• Contributor Tracking: Monitor individual or team contributions over time for performance reviews or credit attribution.
• Code Audit Preparation: Extract commit histories to identify changes related to security fixes or feature additions.
• Research on Software Evolution: Analyze commit messages and dates for academic studies on software maintenance trends.
• Automated Reporting: Generate reports on repository activity for stakeholders or integration into CI/CD pipelines.
• Competitive Intelligence: Compare commit activity across similar projects to gauge innovation pace.

Installation and Usage

1. Search for "Git Commit Parser Spider" in the Apify Store
2. Click "Try for free" or "Run"
3. Configure input parameters
4. Click "Start" to begin extraction
5. Monitor progress in the log
6. Export results in your preferred format (JSON, CSV, Excel)

Output Format

The Actor outputs an array of JSON objects, each representing a single commit. Key fields include:

• title: Human-readable date of the commit.
• oid: Unique commit hash.
• url: Direct link to the commit on GitHub.
• committedDate: ISO 8601 timestamp of the commit.
• shortMessage: Brief commit message.
• authors: Array of author objects with login, display name, avatar, etc.
• committer: Similar to authors, for the committer.
• actor_id and run_id: Internal Apify identifiers for the run.

This structured format ensures easy parsing and integration.

Support

For custom/simplified outputs or bug reports, please contact:

• Email: support@getdataforme.com
• Subject line: "custom support"
• Contact form: https://getdataforme.com/contact/

We're here to help you get the most out of this Actor!