# GitHub Latest Release Watchlist Monitor (`technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor`) Actor

Re-check public GitHub repositories you already watch for a new latest release tag. Official GitHub API. No private repos, no clone.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Technical Dost Solutions](https://apify.com/technicaldost) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 1,000 successful watchlist results

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## 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 Latest Release Watchlist Monitor

**GitHub latest release monitor.** Re-check public GitHub repositories you already watch for a new latest release tag. Official GitHub API. No private repos, no clone.

This Actor is a **scheduled watchlist**, not a one-shot dump. You bring identifiers you already have. It returns structured current fields, a change type against your previous snapshot, and a `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` you own.

### Why pay

`GET https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest` is free. The paid job is bounded, scheduled, charge-after-success monitoring with isolated snapshots, honest nulls, and no fee for failed lookups or suppressed unchanged rows.

- charges **per successful watchlist item**, with **no Actor-start fee**
- does **not** bill source errors or `onlyChanges` unchanged rows
- does **not** invent scores, contacts, or matches beyond what the source returned

Not a repo crawler. No private repos. No git clone. Unauthenticated GitHub rate limits apply; cap is 20 repos.

### What you get

```json
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "nodejs-node",
  "status": "ok",
  "repo": "nodejs/node",
  "tagName": "v22.19.0",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-01T00:00:00Z",
  "htmlUrl": "https://github.com/nodejs/node/releases/tag/v22.19.0",
  "changeType": "INITIAL",
  "error": null
}
```

Public example identifiers, not a customer or endorsement. Missing source strings are `null` — never `"N/A"`.

### Quick start

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "nodejs/node"
  ],
  "maxItems": 1
}
```

Run it, open the dataset, and save `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` from the default key-value store.

### Repeat workflow

1. Keep one watchlist per customer or project.
2. Start a bounded run. Schedule it yourself if you need a cadence.
3. Save the returned `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` JSON in **your** private state.
4. On the next run pass it as `previousSnapshot` and set `onlyChanges: true`.
5. Route `changeType: CHANGED` rows for review.

No schedules are enabled by default. Snapshots use the run's default storage, never a shared named store.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `repos` | array | — | 1–20 `owner/name` public repositories. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `20` | Must cover all unique items; a smaller value is rejected rather than silently dropping IDs. |
| `onlyChanges` | boolean | `false` | Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. The first observation is still emitted. |
| `previousSnapshot` | object | — | Prior `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` with `schemaVersion: 1`, `kind: "github-release"`, and a `records` map. |

### Pricing

| Event | Price | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| **Successful watchlist result** | **$0.003** ($3 / 1,000) | One successful watchlist item written to the dataset |
| Actor start | none | No custom start fee |

**You are not charged for:** failed requests, parse failures, invalid input, or unchanged records suppressed by `onlyChanges`. With `onlyChanges: false`, an unchanged successful refresh is delivered work and is charged. The run stops when `eventChargeLimitReached` is true.

**Worked example.** 20 repos every weekday, `onlyChanges: true`, 3 new tags/week → about 12 × $0.003 = **$0.036/month**.

Set `maxTotalChargeUsd` on the run. The Actor launches with a **$1.00** minimum max-cost-per-run so a high-volume schedule cannot cap itself at the Console $0.05 default.

### Using the API

Keep `APIFY_TOKEN` on a protected backend.

```bash
curl --fail -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~github-release-watchlist-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"repos":["nodejs/node"],"maxItems":1}'
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor').call({
        "repos": [
            "nodejs/node"
        ],
        "maxItems": 1
    });
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

**n8n.** HTTP Request → `POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~github-release-watchlist-monitor/runs` with header `Authorization: Bearer {{$credentials.apifyToken}}`. Poll the run, then read the default dataset and `NEXT_SNAPSHOT`.

### Limitations

- Public metadata only. No authentication bypass and no non-public personal data.
- Output is only as current as the official source. Lag and outages are reported as errors, not invented rows.
- One request at a time (except shared catalog fetches), 20 seconds per request.
- At most 1,000 snapshot records are retained; `SUMMARY.snapshotPruned` reports eviction.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by GitHub.

### Changelog

See `CHANGELOG.md`. Release 1.0.0 (2026-09-13): caller-owned watchlists, isolated snapshots, $0.003 per successful result, no start fee.

# Actor input Schema

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

One to 20 owner/name repositories. Public latest-release only. Unauthenticated GitHub rate limits apply.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. The first observation is emitted.

## `previousSnapshot` (type: `object`):

Copy the previous run NEXT\_SNAPSHOT JSON here. Keep one snapshot per customer watchlist; no shared server state.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Bound successful checks plus item errors to at most this many records.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "nodejs/node"
  ],
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `nextSnapshot` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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": [
        "nodejs/node"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor").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": ["nodejs/node"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor").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": [
    "nodejs/node"
  ]
}' |
apify call technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,technicaldost/github-release-watchlist-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/d1aoKWy4nT37h7tgh/builds/ETlhIIK6zU4VwjW5s/openapi.json