GitHub Repositories Scraper - Stars, Forks & Topics

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns:

{
  "id": 65616765,
  "fullName": "gokcehan/lf",
  "name": "lf",
  "owner": "gokcehan",
  "ownerType": "User",
  "ownerUrl": "https://github.com/gokcehan",
  "ownerAvatar": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1835672?v=4",
  "description": "Terminal file manager",
  "htmlUrl": "https://github.com/gokcehan/lf",
  "homepage": null,
  "stars": 9464,
  "forks": 374,
  "watchers": 9464,
  "openIssues": 81,
  "language": "Go",
  "topics": ["file-manager", "terminal"],
  "license": "MIT",
  "isFork": false,
  "isArchived": false,
  "isTemplate": false,
  "visibility": "public",
  "hasIssues": true,
  "hasWiki": true,
  "hasPages": false,
  "hasProjects": true,
  "hasDownloads": false,
  "allowForking": true,
  "defaultBranch": "master",
  "size": 4648,
  "createdAt": "2016-08-13T12:45:44Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-08-13T23:43:44Z",
  "pushedAt": "2026-08-13T23:43:40Z",
  "ownerName": "Gökçehan Kara",
  "ownerCompany": null,
  "ownerWebsite": "https://gokcehan.github.io/",
  "ownerLocation": "Istanbul, Turkey",
  "ownerEmail": null,
  "ownerTwitter": null,
  "ownerBio": null,
  "ownerHireable": null,
  "ownerFollowers": 250,
  "ownerPublicRepos": 15,
  "aiSummary": "LF is a terminal file manager written in Go, designed for users who prefer a lightweight and efficient way to manage files directly from the command line. It offers a customizable interface and is inspired by the ranger file manager, making it suitable for developers and power users looking for a fast and flexible file management solution.",
  "aiTopics": ["terminal", "file-management", "Go", "cross-platform", "asynchronous-io", "customizable", "lightweight", "open-source", "cli", "productivity"],
  "aiCategory": "file-manager",
  "source": "GitHub",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:40:44.544Z"
}

The most complete GitHub repositories scraper available. It returns every repository and owner field the GitHub search exposes, including stars, forks, language, topics, license and owner contact details, plus optional AI add-ons that summarize each repo and generate normalized topics, and gives you full GitHub search syntax to target exactly the repositories you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor runs a GitHub repository search for your keyword or full search query, paginates through the matches, and writes one normalized record per repository to the run's dataset. Each record carries the repository metadata (stars, forks, watchers, open issues, language, topics, license, timestamps and feature flags) plus the owner's public profile fields (name, company, website, location, email, followers). Optional paid AI add-ons write a short summary of what each repo does and generate a normalized category with topic keywords, both sourced from the repository's README and description.

Data covers only what GitHub exposes publicly through search. Owner fields the developer keeps private are returned as null; the actor never invents a value.

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns the top 2 repositories for "terminal file manager" with AI summary and topics.

{
  "searchQuery": "terminal file manager",
  "maxRepos": 2,
  "withAiSummary": true,
  "withAiTopics": true
}

Use full GitHub search syntax in searchQuery, for example web framework language:rust stars:>1000.

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQuery	string	no	machine learning	Keyword or GitHub search query (for example machine learning, web framework language:rust stars:>1000).
maxRepos	integer	no	10	Maximum number of repositories to collect.
withAiSummary	boolean	no	false	Paid add-on. Adds a short AI summary of what each repository does, sourced from its README and description. Charged per repo summarised.
withAiTopics	boolean	no	false	Paid add-on. Adds a normalized category and AI-generated topic keywords, sourced from the README and description. Charged per repo processed.

AI add-ons are disabled for free (non-paying) Apify users.

Output reference

One dataset item per repository. Types: string, integer, boolean, string[], or null when the source value is absent.

Field	Type	Description
id	integer	GitHub numeric repository ID.
fullName	string	owner/repo identifier.
name	string	Repository name.
owner	string	Owner login.
ownerType	string	User or Organization.
ownerUrl	string	Owner profile URL.
ownerAvatar	string	Owner avatar image URL.
description	string	Repository description, or null.
htmlUrl	string	Canonical repository URL.
homepage	string	Project homepage URL, or null.
stars	integer	Star count.
forks	integer	Fork count.
watchers	integer	Watcher count.
openIssues	integer	Open issues and pull requests count.
language	string	Primary language, or null.
topics	string[]	Repository topics set by the owner.
license	string	SPDX license ID, or null.
isFork	boolean	Whether the repository is a fork.
isArchived	boolean	Whether the repository is archived.
isTemplate	boolean	Whether the repository is a template.
visibility	string	Repository visibility, usually public.
hasIssues	boolean	Issues feature enabled.
hasWiki	boolean	Wiki feature enabled.
hasPages	boolean	GitHub Pages enabled.
hasProjects	boolean	Projects feature enabled.
hasDownloads	boolean	Downloads feature enabled.
allowForking	boolean	Whether forking is allowed.
defaultBranch	string	Default branch name.
size	integer	Repository size in KB.
createdAt	string	ISO 8601 creation timestamp.
updatedAt	string	ISO 8601 last-updated timestamp.
pushedAt	string	ISO 8601 last-push timestamp.
ownerName	string	Owner display name, or null.
ownerCompany	string	Owner company, or null.
ownerWebsite	string	Owner website, or null.
ownerLocation	string	Owner location, or null.
ownerEmail	string	Owner public email, or null.
ownerTwitter	string	Owner X (Twitter) handle, or null.
ownerBio	string	Owner bio, or null.
ownerHireable	boolean	Owner "available for hire" flag, or null.
ownerFollowers	integer	Owner follower count.
ownerPublicRepos	integer	Owner public repository count.
aiSummary	string	AI add-on. Short summary of the repo (only when withAiSummary).
aiTopics	string[]	AI add-on. Generated topic keywords (only when withAiTopics).
aiCategory	string	AI add-on. Normalized category (only when withAiTopics).
source	string	Always GitHub.
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.
error	string	Present only on a failed run, where a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"searchQuery": "terminal file manager", "maxRepos": 2, "withAiSummary": true, "withAiTopics": true}):

{
  "id": 65616765,
  "fullName": "gokcehan/lf",
  "name": "lf",
  "owner": "gokcehan",
  "ownerType": "User",
  "description": "Terminal file manager",
  "htmlUrl": "https://github.com/gokcehan/lf",
  "stars": 9464,
  "forks": 374,
  "watchers": 9464,
  "openIssues": 81,
  "language": "Go",
  "topics": ["file-manager", "terminal"],
  "license": "MIT",
  "defaultBranch": "master",
  "createdAt": "2016-08-13T12:45:44Z",
  "pushedAt": "2026-08-13T23:43:40Z",
  "ownerName": "Gökçehan Kara",
  "ownerWebsite": "https://gokcehan.github.io/",
  "ownerLocation": "Istanbul, Turkey",
  "ownerFollowers": 250,
  "aiCategory": "file-manager",
  "aiTopics": ["terminal", "file-management", "Go", "cli", "productivity"],
  "source": "GitHub",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:40:44.544Z"
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~github-repositories-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQuery":"web framework language:rust stars:>1000","maxRepos":25}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~github-repositories-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQuery":"machine learning","maxRepos":100,"withAiSummary":true}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/github-repositories-scraper \
  --input '{"searchQuery":"kubernetes","maxRepos":50}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per repository returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• Optional add-ons. The AI add-ons (ai_summary, ai_topics) are billed only when they produce usable output for a repo.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results and add-ons.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 repositories per run and cannot use the AI add-ons. Upgrade for higher maxRepos and AI features.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? The search query matched nothing. Loosen the query or check the GitHub search syntax. Zero-result runs are not charged.

Can I use full GitHub search syntax? Yes. searchQuery is passed through to GitHub search, so qualifiers like language:rust, stars:>1000, topic:cli and created:>2023-01-01 all work.

Why are some owner fields null? GitHub only exposes owner details the developer publishes. Private fields are returned as null; the actor never guesses a value.

What do the AI add-ons do? withAiSummary adds a short description of what each repository does, and withAiTopics adds a normalized category plus topic keywords. Both require a paid Apify plan and are billed only when they produce output.

How many repositories can I collect? Set maxRepos. GitHub search results are paginated by the actor; very large pulls are best split with narrower queries.

Is this an official GitHub tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with GitHub. It reads only data that is publicly available. Use it in accordance with GitHub's terms of service.

Example tasks

Preconfigured templates for common scenarios. Open one and press Run, or use it as a starting point:

• Machine Learning Repositories
• React Repositories
• Rust Repositories
• Kubernetes Repositories
• LLM Repositories
• Web Scraping Repositories
• Game Engine Repositories
• Blockchain Repositories
• DevOps Repositories
• CLI Tools Repositories

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• Crates.io Rust Packages Scraper: Rust crate metadata from crates.io.
• PyPI Packages Scraper: Python package metadata from PyPI.

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Independent tool, not affiliated with GitHub. Accesses only publicly available data. Use in accordance with GitHub's terms of service.