GitHub Repository Search — Stars & Topics

Search GitHub repositories by keyword, language, topic, stars, and date. Returns structured JSON with repository metadata including stars, forks, watchers, topics, license, and activity timestamps. No login or API token required (optional token for higher rate limits).

Features

• Full-text search — Search across repository names, descriptions, and READMEs
• Structured filters — Filter by programming language, GitHub topics, owner/org, star range, fork count, license, creation date, and last push date
• Direct repo lookup — Fetch metadata for specific repositories by URL (bypasses search)
• Sort options — Sort by stars, forks, recent activity, or GitHub best-match
• No API token required — Works with unauthenticated GitHub API access (10 search requests/min). Add a token for 30 search requests/min and 5000 req/hr
• Clean, flat output — One consistent record shape for every repository
• Smart rate-limit handling — Automatically waits and retries on rate limit, with graceful degradation
• MCP-optimized — Semantic field names and structured output ready for AI agent consumption

Use Cases

• Developer-tool market research — Find popular libraries in a language, sorted by stars
• Dependency & ecosystem tracking — Map projects using a specific framework or library
• Trending discovery — Find new repos created recently, ranked by stars
• Lead generation — Identify maintainers and organizations active in a topic
• OSS intelligence — Track repository growth, activity, and licensing
• AI training datasets — Build large structured repository datasets

Input

Field	Type	Description	Default
searchQuery	string	Keywords to search repo names, descriptions, and READMEs	"web scraping"
language	string	Filter by programming language (python, typescript, rust, etc.)	"" (all)
topic	string	Filter by GitHub topics (comma-separated, all must match)	""
userOrg	string	Restrict to a user or organization login	""
minStars	integer	Minimum star count	0
maxStars	integer	Maximum star count	"" (no limit)
minForks	integer	Minimum fork count	0
license	select	Filter by license (mit, apache-2.0, gpl-3.0, etc.)	"any"
createdAfter	string	Repos created on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)	""
pushedAfter	string	Repos pushed on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)	""
excludeForks	boolean	Skip forked repositories	true
excludeArchived	boolean	Skip archived repositories	true
sort	select	Sort by: stars, forks, updated, best-match	"stars"
order	select	Sort direction: desc or asc	"desc"
startRepoUrls	array	Direct repo URLs to fetch (bypasses search)	[]
maxResults	integer	Maximum repositories to return (GitHub caps at 1000)	100
githubToken	string	Optional GitHub token for higher rate limits	""

Quick Start

Search for popular Python web scraping libraries:

{
    "searchQuery": "web scraping",
    "language": "python",
    "minStars": 100,
    "sort": "stars",
    "maxResults": 50
}

Find trending TypeScript repos from 2025:

{
    "searchQuery": "",
    "language": "typescript",
    "createdAfter": "2025-01-01",
    "minStars": 50,
    "sort": "stars",
    "maxResults": 100
}

Fetch specific repositories by URL:

{
    "startRepoUrls": [
        "https://github.com/facebook/react",
        "https://github.com/vuejs/vue",
        "https://github.com/angular/angular"
    ],
    "maxResults": 3
}

Output

Each dataset record contains:

Field	Type	Description
repoName	string	Repository name without owner prefix
fullName	string	Full name as owner/repo
description	string|null	Repository description
url	string	GitHub HTML URL
owner	string	Owner login (user or org)
ownerType	string	"User" or "Organization"
ownerUrl	string	Owner's GitHub profile URL
stars	number	Star count (stargazers)
forks	number	Fork count
watchers	number	Subscriber count
openIssues	number	Open issues + PRs count
language	string|null	Primary programming language
topics	string[]	GitHub topic tags
license	string|null	SPDX license key
licenseName	string|null	Full license name
isArchived	boolean	Whether repo is archived
isFork	boolean	Whether repo is a fork
homepage	string|null	External homepage URL
defaultBranch	string	Default branch name
sizeKb	number	Repository size in KB
createdAt	string	ISO 8601 creation timestamp
updatedAt	string	ISO 8601 last metadata update
pushedAt	string	ISO 8601 last push timestamp
hasWiki	boolean	Wiki enabled
hasDiscussions	boolean	Discussions enabled
totalResults	number	Total matching repos on GitHub
incompleteResults	boolean	Whether GitHub truncated results
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 extraction timestamp
sourceUrl	string	API URL that produced this record

Pricing

This actor uses Pay Per Event pricing:

Event	Price	Description
Actor Start	$0.00005	Charged when the actor starts
Repository Result	$0.001	Per repository returned in the dataset

Example costs:

• 100 repositories = $0.10 + $0.00005 start = ~$0.10
• 500 repositories = $0.50 + $0.00005 start = ~$0.50
• 1000 repositories = $1.00 + $0.00005 start = ~$1.00

Rate Limits

GitHub's REST API enforces rate limits:

Mode	Search requests	Core requests
Unauthenticated	10/min	60/hr
With token	30/min	5,000/hr

The actor automatically:

• Detects rate-limit responses (HTTP 403 with x-ratelimit-remaining: 0)
• Calculates the wait time from the x-ratelimit-reset header
• Waits and retries the same page
• Adds appropriate delays between page requests (2.1s with token, 6.2s without)

Getting a GitHub Token (Optional)

1. Go to github.com/settings/tokens
2. Generate a new token (classic)
3. No scopes needed for public repository data
4. Paste the token into the githubToken input field

Your token is used only to call the GitHub API and is never stored.

Export & Integration

Export scraped data, run the scraper via API, schedule and monitor runs, or integrate with other tools. Results are available as JSON, CSV, Excel, or via the Apify API.

Notes

• GitHub caps any single search at 1,000 results. Use multiple queries with different filters for broader coverage.
• The incompleteResults field indicates if GitHub's search timed out — some matching repos may be missing.
• The totalResults field shows how many total repos match the query on GitHub (may be much larger than the number returned).

What is GitHub Repository Search?

GitHub Repository Search turns the target data into structured, reusable results on Apify. Use it when you need repeatable collection for analysts, developers, agencies, researchers, and AI-agent workflows without maintaining a custom scraper or one-off integration. Run it manually, schedule recurring jobs, call it through the Apify API, or connect it to an AI agent through the Apify MCP server.

The Actor stores results in an Apify dataset, where they can be previewed and exported as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS. Availability and completeness depend on the source, supplied inputs, public visibility, authentication requirements, and upstream rate limits.

Use cases for GitHub Repository Search

• Build structured datasets for research, reporting, enrichment, or monitoring.
• Automate repetitive collection with schedules, webhooks, and API calls.
• Feed clean records into spreadsheets, databases, CRMs, BI tools, AI agents, or RAG pipelines.
• Track changes over time by running the same validated input on a schedule.
• Replace fragile manual copy-and-paste work with a reproducible Apify workflow.

How to use GitHub Repository Search

1. Open the Actor input page and choose a focused, valid target.
2. Set a conservative result limit for the first run.
3. Start the Actor and inspect the dataset for coverage and field availability.
4. Export the results or connect the dataset to your downstream system.
5. Scale gradually and use scheduling, pagination, or proxies when supported.

Important input options

• searchQuery — Keywords to search in repository names, descriptions, and READMEs. Example: 'web scraping', 'machine learning', 'react dashboard'. Use this field when the user wants to find repos by topic o
• language — Filter results to repositories written in a specific programming language. Example: 'python', 'typescript', 'rust', 'javascript', 'go'. Leave empty or set to 'any' for all languages. NOT a n
• topic — Filter by GitHub topics (comma-separated). Repos must have ALL listed topics. Example: 'cli,automation', 'machine-learning', 'awesome'. NOT a free-text search — use searchQuery for keyword s
• userOrg — Restrict search to repositories owned by a specific GitHub user or organization login. Example: 'apify', 'torvalds', 'google', 'microsoft'. NOT a repo URL — use startRepoUrls for direct repo
• minStars — Only return repositories with at least this many stars. Example: 100, 1000. Useful for finding popular, well-established projects. Set to 0 or leave empty for no minimum.
• maxStars — Only return repositories with at most this many stars. Example: 500, 5000. Useful for finding hidden gems or smaller projects. Leave empty for no maximum.
• minForks — Only return repositories with at least this many forks. Example: 10, 50. Useful for finding projects with active community engagement. Set to 0 or leave empty for no minimum.
• license — Filter by software license. Use the SPDX license key (lowercase with hyphens). Example: 'mit', 'apache-2.0', 'gpl-3.0', 'bsd-3-clause'. Set to 'any' or leave empty for all licenses.

API and automation example

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/github-repo-search-stars-language-topics').call({
  // Add the same input fields you use in the Apify Console.
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

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Frequently asked questions

How many results can I scrape with GitHub Repository Search?

The practical total depends on the source, input limits, pagination, available records, run timeout, and upstream restrictions. Start with a small run, verify the output, and increase the limit gradually.

Can I integrate GitHub Repository Search with other apps?

Yes. Use Apify integrations, webhooks, schedules, dataset exports, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, cloud storage, or your own application.

Can I use GitHub Repository Search with the Apify API?

Yes. Start runs with the Apify REST API or an official Apify client, then retrieve records from the run's default dataset. Keep your API token in a secret or environment variable.

Can I use GitHub Repository Search through an MCP Server?

Yes. The Apify MCP server can expose the Actor to compatible AI clients and agents. Review the input and expected cost before allowing an autonomous workflow to run it at scale.

Do I need proxies?

It depends on the source and volume. Use the default configuration first. For larger or geographically sensitive jobs, select an appropriate proxy configuration only when the Actor supports it.

Is it legal to scrape this data?

Scraping rules vary by source, jurisdiction, data type, and intended use. Collect only data you are authorized to access, respect applicable terms and privacy laws, and avoid restricted or personal data misuse. This documentation is not legal advice.

Your feedback

If a field is missing, a source layout has changed, or you need a supported use case documented, open an issue on the Actor page with a reproducible input and run ID.