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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

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

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.