# GitHub Stars Tracker (`glassventures/github-stars-tracker`) Actor Track GitHub repository stars, forks, and metadata. Extract repo stats, stargazer data, and search repositories by keywords. - **URL**: https://apify.com/glassventures/github-stars-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [Glass Ventures](https://apify.com/glassventures) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## GitHub Stars Tracker Track GitHub repository stars, forks, and metadata using the GitHub REST API. Extract detailed stats for any public repository or search for repos by keyword. ### What does GitHub Stars Tracker do? GitHub Stars Tracker is an Apify actor that collects detailed metadata from GitHub repositories using the public GitHub REST API. It extracts star counts, fork counts, watchers, language, topics, license information, and more. You can provide specific repository URLs to track, or use search terms to discover repositories. The actor supports sorting search results by stars, forks, or recent updates. It is ideal for developers, researchers, and analysts who need structured GitHub repository data at scale. ### Use Cases - **Market researchers** -- Compare open source project popularity and adoption trends across categories - **Data analysts** -- Build datasets of GitHub repositories for technology landscape analysis - **Business owners** -- Monitor competitor open source projects and their community traction - **Developers** -- Track repositories of interest and discover trending projects in specific languages or topics ### Features - Extract detailed repository metadata from any public GitHub repo - Search GitHub repositories by keywords with sorting options - Optional GitHub token support for higher API rate limits (5,000 vs 60 requests/hour) - Proxy support with automatic rotation - Handles pagination and large datasets automatically - Exports to JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect via API ### How much will it cost? GitHub Stars Tracker uses the free GitHub REST API, so the main cost is Apify platform compute time. | Results | Estimated Cost | |---------|---------------| | 100 | ~$0.01 | | 1,000 | ~$0.05 | | 10,000 | ~$0.25 | | Cost Component | Per 1,000 Results | |----------------|-------------------| | Platform compute | ~$0.05 | | Proxy (optional) | ~$0.00 | | **Total** | **~$0.05** | ### How to use 1. Go to the GitHub Stars Tracker page on Apify Store 2. Click "Start" or "Try for free" 3. Enter GitHub repository URLs or search terms 4. Set the maximum number of items 5. Click "Start" and wait for the results ### Input parameters | Parameter | Type | Description | Default | |-----------|------|-------------|---------| | startUrls | array | GitHub repository URLs to track | - | | searchTerms | array | Search queries to find repos | - | | sortBy | string | Sort search results (stars/forks/updated) | stars | | maxItems | number | Max results to return | 100 | | githubToken | string | GitHub personal access token (optional) | - | | proxyConfig | object | Proxy settings | Apify Proxy | ### Output The actor produces a dataset with the following fields: ```json { "name": "crawlee", "fullName": "apify/crawlee", "owner": "apify", "description": "Crawleeβ€”A web scraping and browser automation library for Node.js...", "stars": 15000, "forks": 600, "watchers": 15000, "language": "TypeScript", "topics": ["web-scraping", "crawler", "nodejs"], "license": "Apache License 2.0", "createdAt": "2022-07-13T08:06:38Z", "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z", "url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee", "homepage": "https://crawlee.dev", "openIssuesCount": 120, "isArchived": false, "scrapedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z" } ```` | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | name | string | Repository name | | fullName | string | Owner/repo format | | owner | string | Repository owner | | description | string | Repository description | | stars | integer | Number of stargazers | | forks | integer | Number of forks | | watchers | integer | Number of watchers | | language | string | Primary programming language | | topics | array | Repository topics/tags | | license | string | License name | | createdAt | string | Repository creation date (ISO 8601) | | updatedAt | string | Last update date (ISO 8601) | | url | string | GitHub repository URL | | homepage | string | Project homepage URL | | openIssuesCount | integer | Number of open issues | | isArchived | boolean | Whether the repository is archived | | scrapedAt | string | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp | ### Integrations Connect GitHub Stars Tracker with other tools: - **Apify API** -- REST API for programmatic access - **Webhooks** -- get notified when a run finishes - **Zapier / Make** -- connect to 5,000+ apps - **Google Sheets** -- export directly to spreadsheets #### API Example (Node.js) ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('YOUR_USERNAME/github-stars-tracker').call({ startUrls: [{ url: 'https://github.com/apify/crawlee' }], maxItems: 100, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); ``` #### API Example (Python) ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_TOKEN') run = client.actor('YOUR_USERNAME/github-stars-tracker').call(run_input={ 'startUrls': [{'url': 'https://github.com/apify/crawlee'}], 'maxItems': 100, }) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items ``` #### API Example (cURL) ```bash curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/YOUR_USERNAME~github-stars-tracker/runs" \ -X POST \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \ -d '{"startUrls": [{"url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee"}], "maxItems": 100}' ``` ### Tips and tricks - Start with a small `maxItems` (10-20) to test before running large scrapes - Use a GitHub personal access token to increase rate limits from 60 to 5,000 requests per hour - The actor works without proxies since GitHub API is publicly accessible ### FAQ **Q: Does this actor require login credentials?** A: No. The GitHub REST API is public. Optionally provide a GitHub token for higher rate limits. **Q: How fast is the scraping?** A: Approximately 50-100 repositories per minute without a token, 200-500 with a token. **Q: What should I do if I get rate limited?** A: Add a GitHub personal access token in the Authentication section to get 5,000 requests/hour. ### Is it legal to scrape GitHub? This actor uses the official GitHub REST API which is publicly available and intended for programmatic access. It only accesses publicly available data. Always review and respect GitHub's Terms of Service and API usage policies. For more information, see [Apify's blog on web scraping legality](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/). ### Limitations - Without a GitHub token, rate limited to 60 API requests per hour - Only public repositories are accessible without authentication - GitHub search API returns a maximum of 1,000 results per query ### Changelog - **v0.1** (2026-04-23) -- Initial release # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): List of GitHub repository URLs to track. Supports URLs like https://github.com/owner/repo. ## `searchTerms` (type: `array`): Search queries to find GitHub repositories. The actor will search GitHub and scrape matching repos. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): Sort search results by the selected criteria. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of repositories to scrape. Use 0 or leave empty for unlimited. ## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of API requests processed in parallel. ## `githubToken` (type: `string`): Optional GitHub personal access token for higher rate limits (5000 req/hr vs 60 req/hr unauthenticated). ## `debugMode` (type: `boolean`): Enables verbose logging for debugging. ## `extendOutputFunction` (type: `string`): A JavaScript function to customize each output item. Receives { data, request }. ## `proxyConfig` (type: `object`): Select proxies to be used. Not typically needed for GitHub API. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee" } ], "searchTerms": [ "web scraping" ], "sortBy": "stars", "maxItems": 100, "maxConcurrency": 10, "debugMode": false, "extendOutputFunction": "async ({ data }) => {\n return data;\n}", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee" } ], "searchTerms": [ "web scraping" ], "extendOutputFunction": async ({ data }) => { return data; }, "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("glassventures/github-stars-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`πŸ’Ύ 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); }); // πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ 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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee" }], "searchTerms": ["web scraping"], "extendOutputFunction": """async ({ data }) => { return data; }""", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("glassventures/github-stars-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("πŸ’Ύ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://github.com/apify/crawlee" } ], "searchTerms": [ "web scraping" ], "extendOutputFunction": "async ({ data }) => {\\n return data;\\n}", "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call glassventures/github-stars-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=glassventures/github-stars-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "GitHub Stars Tracker", "description": "Track GitHub repository stars, forks, and metadata. Extract repo stats, stargazer data, and search repositories by keywords.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "ecAEIevt5Y6OYs7j5" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/glassventures~github-stars-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-glassventures-github-stars-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/glassventures~github-stars-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-glassventures-github-stars-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/glassventures~github-stars-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-glassventures-github-stars-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "startUrls": { "title": "Start URLs", "type": "array", "description": "List of GitHub repository URLs to track. Supports URLs like https://github.com/owner/repo.", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "searchTerms": { "title": "Search Terms", "type": "array", "description": "Search queries to find GitHub repositories. The actor will search GitHub and scrape matching repos.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort By", "enum": [ "stars", "forks", "updated" ], "type": "string", "description": "Sort search results by the selected criteria.", "default": "stars" }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of repositories to scrape. Use 0 or leave empty for unlimited.", "default": 100 }, "maxConcurrency": { "title": "Max Concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 50, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of API requests processed in parallel.", "default": 10 }, "githubToken": { "title": "GitHub Token", "type": "string", "description": "Optional GitHub personal access token for higher rate limits (5000 req/hr vs 60 req/hr unauthenticated)." }, "debugMode": { "title": "Debug Mode", "type": "boolean", "description": "Enables verbose logging for debugging.", "default": false }, "extendOutputFunction": { "title": "Extend Output Function", "type": "string", "description": "A JavaScript function to customize each output item. Receives { data, request }." }, "proxyConfig": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Select proxies to be used. Not typically needed for GitHub API." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```