# GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker (`saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker`) Actor Compare GitHub topics by star-growth velocity among recently created repos - spot which developer trend is accelerating fastest right now. - **URL**: https://apify.com/saint\_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [saint person](https://apify.com/saint_person) (community) - **Categories:** Business - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## 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 ## โญ GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker > ๐Ÿš€ **See which developer trend is accelerating fastest, not just which has the most stars.** Compare star-growth velocity across GitHub topics in one run. > ๐Ÿ•’ **Last updated:** 2026-07-07 ยท ๐Ÿ“Š **9 fields** per topic ยท Built on GitHub's official Search API (no key required) > ๐ŸŽ **Try it free:** the free Apify plan returns up to **10 results per run** - enough to see the output quality. Any paid Apify plan unlocks full-size runs. Give it a list of GitHub topics and it samples recently-created repos for each, then computes average stars-per-day-since-creation - so you can tell "llm" is EXPLOSIVE (469 stars/day) while "kubernetes" is COOL (6.8 stars/day) among new entrants, instead of just comparing total repo counts. | ๐ŸŽฏ Target Audience | ๐Ÿ’ก Primary Use Cases | | --- | --- | | VCs/analysts, developer-tool marketers, tech recruiters, engineering leads | Tech trend-spotting, competitive landscape scanning, developer-marketing targeting, hiring-market research | --- ### ๐Ÿ“‹ What this Actor does - Searches GitHub's official API for repos created within a recent window (default 180 days), per topic - Computes each sampled repo's stars-per-day-since-creation - Averages that into a topic-level velocity score, labeled EXPLOSIVE / HOT / WARM / COOL - Surfaces the top repo and a sample list behind the number > ๐Ÿ’ก **Why it matters:** total star count rewards old, established projects. Velocity tells you what's actually catching fire right now. --- ### ๐ŸŽฌ Full demo ๐Ÿšง Video walkthrough coming soon - the Quick Start below takes under 3 minutes end to end. --- ### โš™๏ธ Input | Input | Type | Default | Behavior | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `topics` | string | (prefilled) | Comma-separated GitHub topics/keywords, up to 6 | | `createdWithinDays` | integer | 180 | Only repos created within this many days (30-730) | | `maxResults` | integer | 20 | Repos sampled per topic (5-50) | | `githubToken` | string | (none) | Optional personal access token for a higher rate limit | **Example: Compare 4 dev trends** ```json { "topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes, webassembly", "createdWithinDays": 180, "maxResults": 20 } ```` **Example: Very recent entrants only** ```json { "topics": "ai-agents, edge-computing", "createdWithinDays": 60, "maxResults": 15 } ``` > โš ๏ธ **Good to know:** works unauthenticated for normal use; supply your own GitHub token only if you're running this frequently and hit GitHub's anonymous rate limit. *** ### ๐Ÿ“Š Output Each topic returns **9 fields**. Download as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML, or consume via the Apify API. #### ๐Ÿงพ Schema | Field | Type | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | topic | string | llm | | reposFound | integer | 54076 | | reposSampled | integer | 20 | | avgStarVelocity | number | 469.2 | | momentumLevel | string | EXPLOSIVE | | topRepo | string | affaan-m/ECC | | topRepoStars | integer | 226819 | | sampleRepos | array | \["affaan-m/ECC", "rtk-ai/rtk"] | | generatedAt | string | 2026-07-07T10:41:34Z | #### ๐Ÿ“ฆ Sample record ```json {"topic":"llm","reposFound":54076,"reposSampled":20,"avgStarVelocity":469.2,"momentumLevel":"EXPLOSIVE","topRepo":"affaan-m/ECC","topRepoStars":226819,"sampleRepos":["affaan-m/ECC","rtk-ai/rtk"],"generatedAt":"2026-07-07T10:41:34Z"} ``` *** ### โœจ Why choose this Actor | | Capability | | --- | --- | | ๐Ÿ† | **Velocity, not vanity metrics.** Ranks by growth rate among recent entrants, not lifetime star count. | | ๐Ÿ’ป | **Multi-topic in one run.** Compare up to 6 developer trends side by side. | | โšก | **Built on GitHub's official API.** Free, works unauthenticated - stable and durable. | | ๐Ÿ” | **Automatic retries.** Transient failures retry with backoff. | | ๐Ÿ’ณ | **Pay per result.** No subscription. A typical 4-topic run costs about $0.03. | > ๐Ÿ“Š Turns 4 manual GitHub searches into 1 ranked momentum table. *** ### ๐Ÿ“ˆ How it compares to alternatives | Approach | Cost | Coverage | Refresh | Setup | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **โญ GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker** *(this Actor)* | $5 free credit, then pay-per-use | Any topic, up to 6 per run | **Live per run** | โšก 2 min | | GitHub Trending page | Free | Daily/weekly snapshot, no cross-topic comparison | Daily | ๐Ÿข Manual browsing | | Manually searching GitHub | Free | One topic at a time | Live | ๐Ÿข Manual, one by one | | Manual copy-paste | Free | Current session only | One-shot | ๐Ÿข Hours of clicking | Pick this Actor when you want a ranked, multi-topic velocity view without writing scoring logic yourself. *** ### ๐Ÿš€ How to use 1. ๐Ÿ“ **Sign up.** Create a free Apify account with $5 credit (takes 2 minutes). 2. ๐ŸŒ **Open the Actor.** Go to the GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker page on the Apify Store. 3. โœ๏ธ **Set your input.** List your topics - or just press Start, the prefilled example works. 4. ๐Ÿš€ **Run it.** Watch results stream into the Dataset tab. 5. ๐Ÿ“ฅ **Download.** Grab results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML - or pipe them anywhere via the Apify API. > โฑ๏ธ Total time from signup to downloaded dataset: **3-5 minutes.** No coding required. *** ### ๐Ÿ’ผ Business use cases - **VCs/analysts:** spot accelerating developer trends before they hit mainstream tech press. - **Developer-tool marketers:** find which ecosystem to target next based on real momentum. - **Tech recruiters:** identify hot skill areas before job postings catch up. - **Engineering leads:** justify a tech-stack bet with real adoption-velocity evidence. *** ### ๐ŸŒŸ Beyond business use cases - ๐ŸŽ“ **Research & academia** - software ecosystem and open-source adoption studies. - ๐ŸŽจ **Personal & creative** - content research for a dev newsletter or YouTube channel. - ๐Ÿค **Non-profit & civic** - track open-source tooling growth in public-interest areas. - ๐Ÿงช **Experimentation** - prototype a tech-trend dashboard on real data. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Automating GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker **Node.js** (`apify-client` on NPM): ```javascript const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client'); const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker').call({ topics: "llm, rust, kubernetes", createdWithinDays: 180, maxResults: 20 }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); ``` **Python** (`apify-client` on PyPI): ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN') run = client.actor('saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker').call(run_input={"topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes", "createdWithinDays": 180, "maxResults": 20}) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items ``` ๐Ÿ“š [Full Apify API documentation](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) [Apify Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) triggers this Actor on any cron interval - weekly for a standing dev-trend watch. *** ### ๐Ÿง  Use via MCP (for AI agents) GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker is directly callable by any MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and others) through Apify's hosted MCP server - no custom integration code needed. ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/sse?actors=saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" } } } } ``` Once connected, just ask your agent something like: *"Use the GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker Actor to tell me which of these 4 tech topics is accelerating fastest."* ๐Ÿ“š [Apify MCP server docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿค– Ask an AI assistant about this Actor - ๐Ÿ’ฌ [**ChatGPT**](https://chat.openai.com/?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20GitHub%20Topic%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿง  [**Claude**](https://claude.ai/new?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20GitHub%20Topic%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿ” [**Perplexity**](https://perplexity.ai/search?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20GitHub%20Topic%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) *** ### โ“ Frequently Asked Questions #### ๐Ÿงฉ How does it work? It queries GitHub's official Search API per topic, filtered to recently-created repos, then computes average stars-per-day since creation. #### Why filter to recently-created repos? Without it, decade-old giants with huge lifetime star counts would dominate every topic's average, hiding genuinely emerging momentum. #### What counts as "EXPLOSIVE"? An average star velocity of 200+ stars/day across the sampled repos. #### Do I need a GitHub token? No - it works unauthenticated for normal use. A token only raises the rate limit if you're running this very frequently. #### โฐ Can I schedule regular runs? Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor on any cron interval. #### โš–๏ธ Is this data legal to collect? This Actor only collects data that is publicly accessible via GitHub's official API. No login, no bypass of access controls. #### ๐Ÿ’ณ Do I need a paid Apify plan? No. The free Apify plan is enough for testing and small runs. #### ๐Ÿ” What happens if a run fails? Transient errors retry automatically with backoff. If a run still fails, the log explains exactly why. #### ๐Ÿ†˜ What if I need help? Open an issue on this Actor's Issues tab. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Integrate with any app - [**Zapier**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier) - [**Make**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make) - [**n8n**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations) - [**Google Sheets**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive) - [**Slack**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack) - [**Gmail**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/gmail) - [**Webhooks**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks) - [**MCP**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿ”— Recommended Actors Pairs well with [HN Topic Momentum Tracker](https://apify.com/saint_person/hn-topic-momentum-tracker) for comparing developer buzz against open-source adoption. > ๐Ÿ’ก **Pro tip:** browse the complete [saint\_person collection](https://apify.com/saint_person) for more tools like this. *** ### ๐Ÿ†˜ Help & custom requests - ๐Ÿ› **Something not working?** Open an issue on this Actor's **Issues tab**. - ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ **Need a custom feature or a different data source?** Open an issue describing what you need. *** > **โš ๏ธ Disclaimer:** this Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by GitHub, Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Only publicly available data is collected. # Actor input Schema ## `topics` (type: `string`): Comma-separated list of GitHub topics or keywords to compare (up to 6), e.g. 'llm, rust, kubernetes'. Works out of the box with the prefilled example. ## `createdWithinDays` (type: `integer`): Only consider repos created within this many days - keeps the star-velocity comparison focused on emerging projects, not decade-old giants. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): How many top repos to sample per topic. Controls your cost: you pay per topic profile returned. ## `githubToken` (type: `string`): Optional personal access token to raise GitHub's unauthenticated search rate limit (10/min instead of the default lower anonymous limit). Not required for small runs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes, webassembly", "createdWithinDays": 180, "maxResults": 20 } ``` # 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 = { "topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes, webassembly" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ 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); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ 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 = { "topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes, webassembly" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "topics": "llm, rust, kubernetes, webassembly" }' | apify call saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker", "description": "Compare GitHub topics by star-growth velocity among recently created repos - spot which developer trend is accelerating fastest right now.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "1YMYUb6qx62eNoghV" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/saint_person~github-repo-momentum-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-saint_person-github-repo-momentum-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~github-repo-momentum-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-saint_person-github-repo-momentum-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~github-repo-momentum-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-saint_person-github-repo-momentum-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "required": [ "topics" ], "properties": { "topics": { "title": "GitHub topics / keywords", "type": "string", "description": "Comma-separated list of GitHub topics or keywords to compare (up to 6), e.g. 'llm, rust, kubernetes'. Works out of the box with the prefilled example." }, "createdWithinDays": { "title": "Only repos created within (days)", "minimum": 30, "maximum": 730, "type": "integer", "description": "Only consider repos created within this many days - keeps the star-velocity comparison focused on emerging projects, not decade-old giants.", "default": 180 }, "maxResults": { "title": "Repos sampled per topic", "minimum": 5, "maximum": 50, "type": "integer", "description": "How many top repos to sample per topic. Controls your cost: you pay per topic profile returned.", "default": 20 }, "githubToken": { "title": "GitHub token (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Optional personal access token to raise GitHub's unauthenticated search rate limit (10/min instead of the default lower anonymous limit). Not required for small runs." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```