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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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GitHub API Without a Token — What Public Data You Can Access for Free

#javascript #api #beginners #webdev

GitHub's REST API lets you access a surprising amount of data without any authentication. Here's what you can query for free.

Search Repositories 

curl 'https://api.github.com/search/repositories?q=web+scraping&sort=stars&per_page=5'
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Returns: repo name, description, stars, forks, language, owner, URL.

Get User Profile 

curl 'https://api.github.com/users/torvalds'
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Returns: name, bio, company, location, followers, public repos count.

List User Repos 

curl 'https://api.github.com/users/torvalds/repos?sort=stars&per_page=10'
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Search Code 

curl 'https://api.github.com/search/code?q=cheerio+scraper+language:javascript'
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Rate Limits

  • Without token: 60 requests/hour (per IP)
  • With token: 5,000 requests/hour
  • Search API: 10 requests/minute (unauthenticated)

For most research tasks, 60 requests/hour is enough. If you need more, generate a personal access token (free).

Use Cases

  1. Technology landscape — what repos exist in your industry?
  2. Competitor analysis — what are competitors building?
  3. Hiring research — what tech stacks do target companies use?
  4. Market research — GitHub stars = developer interest signal

I use GitHub API as one of 9 data sources in my market research tool — it shows the technology landscape for any industry.

More Free APIs

Need GitHub data extracted at scale? Repo lists, contributor stats, issue tracking — $20 flat rate. Email: Spinov001@gmail.com | Order via Payoneer ($20) | All services

Related: 77 Free Web Scraping Tools & APIs — my curated collection of API-based tools that never break.

What free API surprised you the most? I've been mapping out hundreds of free APIs and keep finding hidden gems. Drop your favorite in the comments — I might write about it next. 👇

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