GitHub Scraper — Repos, Issues, PRs, Contributors & Trending

The only dedicated GitHub scraper on Apify. Extract data from GitHub repositories, issues, pull requests, contributors, releases, trending repos, and user profiles using the official GitHub REST API. No browser. No proxy required. Works without a GitHub token (60 req/hr free) or with your own token (5,000 req/hr).

What you can scrape

Mode	What you get
repo	Stars, forks, watchers, topics, language, license, dates
issues	Title, state, labels, assignees, comment count, body
pull_requests	PR title, state, merged status, labels, author, dates
contributors	Login, commit count, profile URL
releases	Tag, name, assets, download count, publish date
search_repos	Search by keyword, language, stars, topic, org
trending	Today's / this week's / this month's trending repos
user	User/org profile + all their public repos

Why use GitHub Scraper?

• Developer intelligence — track competitor repos, monitor open source projects, analyze tech stacks by stars/forks
• Lead generation — find contributors and maintainers in your niche (JS devs, Python ML engineers, Rust systems devs)
• Trend monitoring — scrape trending repos daily to spot emerging tech before it's mainstream
• Research & data science — build datasets from GitHub activity, issues, releases
• No dedicated actor exists — this is the only GitHub-focused scraper on Apify

How to use

1. Open the Input tab
2. Select a Scrape Mode (repo, issues, trending, search, etc.)
3. For repo/issues/PRs: add repos in owner/repo format (e.g. microsoft/vscode)
4. Optionally add your GitHub Token for higher rate limits (5000/hr vs 60/hr)
5. Click Start — data appears in the Output tab instantly

Input

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
scrapeMode	string	repo	What to scrape: repo, issues, pull_requests, contributors, releases, search_repos, trending, user
repos	string[]	—	Repos in owner/repo format. Used by repo/issues/PRs/contributors/releases modes.
searchQuery	string	—	GitHub search query (e.g. language:python stars:>1000 topic:llm). Used by search_repos mode.
usernames	string[]	—	GitHub usernames or orgs. Used by user mode.
trendingLanguage	string	—	Filter trending repos by language (e.g. python, rust). Empty = all languages.
trendingPeriod	string	daily	daily, weekly, or monthly. Used by trending mode.
issueState	string	open	Filter issues/PRs by state: open, closed, all.
maxItems	integer	100	Max items per repo (0 = unlimited).
githubToken	string	—	Optional GitHub PAT (classic, no scopes needed for public data). Increases rate limit 83x.

Example inputs

Scrape trending Python repos today

{
  "scrapeMode": "trending",
  "trendingLanguage": "python",
  "trendingPeriod": "daily"
}

Get repo details for multiple repos

{
  "scrapeMode": "repo",
  "repos": ["microsoft/vscode", "torvalds/linux", "facebook/react"]
}

Search repos by topic

{
  "scrapeMode": "search_repos",
  "searchQuery": "topic:machine-learning language:python stars:>500",
  "maxItems": 200,
  "githubToken": "ghp_..."
}

Get all open issues from a repo

{
  "scrapeMode": "issues",
  "repos": ["openai/openai-python"],
  "issueState": "open",
  "maxItems": 500
}

Output examples

Repository

{
  "type": "repository",
  "fullName": "microsoft/vscode",
  "owner": "microsoft",
  "name": "vscode",
  "description": "Visual Studio Code",
  "url": "https://github.com/microsoft/vscode",
  "stars": 186550,
  "forks": 40566,
  "language": "TypeScript",
  "topics": ["editor", "electron", "typescript"],
  "license": "MIT",
  "createdAt": "2015-09-03T20:23:38Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-19T14:22:00Z"
}

Issue

{
  "type": "issue",
  "id": 12345,
  "title": "Extensions not loading after update",
  "state": "open",
  "author": "username",
  "labels": ["bug", "P1"],
  "commentsCount": 23,
  "createdAt": "2026-06-01T10:00:00Z"
}

Trending repo

{
  "type": "trending_repo",
  "fullName": "owner/repo-name",
  "language": "Python",
  "stars": 45200,
  "starsToday": 892,
  "trendingPeriod": "daily"
}

GitHub Token (optional but recommended)

Without a token: 60 API requests/hour — fine for small batches (5-10 repos). With a token: 5,000 API requests/hour — needed for large batches or fetching many issues/PRs.

How to get a free token:

1. Go to github.com/settings/tokens
2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
3. Give it a name, set no expiry, check no scopes (read-only public data needs no scopes)
4. Copy the ghp_... token and paste into the githubToken field

Your token is never stored — it's used only during the run.

Pricing

This actor uses the Pay Per Event model — you pay per item returned.

• 100 repos: ~$0.01
• 1,000 issues: ~$0.05
• trending (15 repos): ~$0.01

GitHub's API is fast and returns structured JSON — no browser overhead, runs complete in seconds.

Tips

• Lead gen: use contributors mode on active repos in your target niche → get a list of active developers
• Tech trend monitoring: schedule trending mode daily → track which languages and frameworks are surging
• Competitive intel: issues + pull_requests on a competitor's repo → see what users are asking for
• OSS research: search_repos with topic:your-tech stars:>100 → map the ecosystem

FAQ

Do I need a GitHub account? No. All public data is accessible without any login.

Is this against GitHub's ToS? This actor uses the official GitHub REST API with proper headers and rate limit handling. GitHub's API is designed for programmatic access. Always comply with GitHub's API usage terms.

What about private repos? Only public data is accessible. Private repos require OAuth which is not supported.

Something broken? Open an issue on the Issues tab with the repo and error message.