# GitHub Repository Stats Tracker (`gochujang/github-repo-stats`) Actor

Track GitHub repository metadata: stars, forks, open issues, watchers, topics, license, and release info. Monitor project popularity, growth trends, and ecosystem health across multiple repos or search queries.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gochujang/github-repo-stats.md
- **Developed by:** [Hojun Lee](https://apify.com/gochujang) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Repository Stats Tracker

**GitHub Repository Stats Tracker** collects **stars, forks, open issues, watchers, topics, contributors, license, and latest release** for any GitHub repository — either by explicit repo names (`facebook/react`) or by GitHub search query (`language:python stars:>5000`). No API key required; add a GitHub token to increase the rate limit from 60 to 5,000 requests per hour.

Use it to monitor OSS project growth, screen competitive repositories, build trending developer dashboards, or track library adoption over time.

***

### Why use GitHub Repository Stats Tracker?

1. **OSS competitive intelligence** — Track stars and forks for competing libraries. A sudden spike in stars signals a viral moment; compare fork velocity to gauge developer adoption vs. passive interest.
2. **Tech stack screening** — Search by `language:python stars:>1000 topic:machine-learning` to find well-maintained ML libraries. Use open issue count and last push date to filter out abandoned projects.
3. **Developer ecosystem monitoring** — Monitor a curated list of repos in your tech stack to catch major releases, license changes, or deprecation signals.
4. **VC / accelerator research** — Track open-source startups: rising stars, accelerating contributor growth, and release cadence are leading indicators of developer-led company traction.
5. **Portfolio tracking for OSS maintainers** — Pull stats for all your own repos in one run. Monitor which projects are growing and which need attention.

***

### How to use

1. Open the actor on Apify Store and click **Try for free**.
2. Either paste specific repos into `repos` (e.g. `["vercel/next.js", "facebook/react"]`), or set a `searchQuery` to discover repos matching criteria.
3. Enable `includeReleases` to get latest release tag and publish date.
4. Optionally add a `githubToken` to avoid rate limiting on large searches.
5. Click **Start**. One result record per repository.

***

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `repos` | string\[] | `[]` | Explicit repos in `owner/repo` format (e.g. `["facebook/react"]`) |
| `searchQuery` | string | `""` | GitHub search query (e.g. `"language:rust stars:>500"`) — used when repos is empty |
| `searchSort` | string | `"stars"` | Sort search results by: `stars`, `forks`, `updated` |
| `maxResults` | integer | `50` | Maximum repos to return (1–1000) |
| `githubToken` | string | `""` | GitHub Personal Access Token (raises rate limit from 60 to 5000 req/hour) |
| `includeReleases` | boolean | `false` | Include latest release tag, URL, and publish date |
| `includeLicenseText` | boolean | `false` | Include full license text (increases output size) |

***

### Output

```json
{
  "owner": "vercel",
  "repo": "next.js",
  "full_name": "vercel/next.js",
  "description": "The React Framework",
  "stars": 127450,
  "forks": 27800,
  "open_issues": 2340,
  "watchers": 127450,
  "language": "TypeScript",
  "topics": ["react", "nextjs", "vercel", "ssr", "static-site-generation"],
  "license": "MIT",
  "created_at": "2016-10-05T19:09:40Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-08-29T14:22:01Z",
  "pushed_at": "2026-08-29T12:00:00Z",
  "size_kb": 524288,
  "default_branch": "main",
  "is_fork": false,
  "is_archived": false,
  "has_wiki": true,
  "homepage": "https://nextjs.org",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/vercel/next.js",
  "latest_release": {
    "tag_name": "v14.2.5",
    "published_at": "2026-08-15T10:00:00Z",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/vercel/next.js/releases/tag/v14.2.5"
  }
}
```

#### Output fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `full_name` | string | `owner/repo` format |
| `stars` | integer | GitHub star count |
| `forks` | integer | Number of forks |
| `open_issues` | integer | Open issues + PRs |
| `watchers` | integer | Watchers count |
| `language` | string | Primary programming language |
| `topics` | string\[] | Repository topic tags |
| `license` | string | SPDX license identifier (e.g. `MIT`, `Apache-2.0`) |
| `created_at` | string | ISO 8601 repository creation date |
| `pushed_at` | string | Date of last code push |
| `is_archived` | boolean | True if the repository is archived/read-only |
| `latest_release` | object | Latest release info if `includeReleases: true` |

***

### Cost estimation

**Pay-Per-Event: $0.005 per actor start + $0.003 per repository returned.**

| Use case | Repos | Estimated cost |
|----------|-------|----------------|
| 10 specific repos | 10 | ~$0.03/run |
| Top 50 Python ML repos | 50 | ~$0.15/run |
| 200-repo ecosystem scan | 200 | ~$0.60/run |
| Daily trending (50 repos) | 50 | ~$0.15/day |

***

### FAQ

**What's the difference between `stars` and `watchers`?**
On GitHub, watchers count = star count for most repos (GitHub changed the behavior in 2012). Watchers in the output reflects the subscription-based watcher count. The `stars` field is the correct measure of popularity.

**Does `open_issues` include pull requests?**
Yes — GitHub's API combines open issues and open PRs in the `open_issues_count` field. Use it as a proxy for project activity, not strict issue count.

**How does rate limiting work without a token?**
The GitHub Search API allows 10 requests per minute and 60 per hour without a token. For repos by name (not search), the limit is also 60/hour. With a `githubToken`, limits increase to 30 search requests/minute and 5000/hour.

**Can I track a GitHub organization's repos?**
Yes — use `searchQuery: "org:microsoft"` to return all public repositories for an organization. Combine with `searchSort: "stars"` and `maxResults: 100` to get the top 100 repos.

***

### Related actors

- [PyPI Package Analyzer](https://apify.com/gochujang/pypi-package-analyzer) — Download stats and metadata for Python packages (complements GitHub stars for Python libs)
- [Startup Funding Tracker](https://apify.com/gochujang/startup-funding-tracker) — Funding rounds for developer-led companies with OSS repos
- [Reddit Subreddit Tracker](https://apify.com/gochujang/reddit-subreddit-tracker) — Developer community sentiment around the same projects

### Feedback

If this actor is useful, a quick review helps other developers find it: [Leave a review on Apify Store](https://apify.com/gochujang/github-repo-stats#reviews)

# Actor input Schema

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

List of repositories to fetch in 'owner/repo' format, e.g. \['facebook/react', 'vuejs/vue'].

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

GitHub repository search query, e.g. 'language:python stars:>1000'. Used when repos list is empty or to augment results.

## `searchSort` (type: `string`):

Sort search results by this field.

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

Maximum number of search results to collect (1–1000).

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

GitHub Personal Access Token. Without a token: 60 req/hour. With a token: 5000 req/hour.

## `includeReleases` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the latest release information (tag, published date, URL) for each repository.

## `includeLicenseText` (type: `boolean`):

Include full license text (may significantly increase output size).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "facebook/react",
    "vuejs/vue"
  ],
  "searchSort": "stars",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "includeReleases": false,
  "includeLicenseText": 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 = {
    "repos": [
        "facebook/react",
        "vuejs/vue"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gochujang/github-repo-stats").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": [
        "facebook/react",
        "vuejs/vue",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gochujang/github-repo-stats").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": [
    "facebook/react",
    "vuejs/vue"
  ]
}' |
apify call gochujang/github-repo-stats --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/yQXHtDuUykpOHw7gM/builds/YcyWsWxCeaTagJTGm/openapi.json