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🚀 NPM-GitNameCheck: Instantly Check NPM Package Names & GitHub Usernames

#npm #cli #javascript #node

NPM package badge — NPM package name checker GitHub stars — GitHub name availability checker MIT License

Focus keyword: NPM package name checker — this article shows how to use NPM-GitNameCheck (CLI + library) to verify NPM package name availability and GitHub username/repo availability quickly, reliably, and in bulk.

TL;DR

If you need an NPM package name checker that also validates GitHub usernames and repositories, NPM-GitNameCheck is a CLI tool and Node library built for speed and auditability. It outputs TXT, JSON, and CSV reports, supports GitHub tokens for higher rate limits, and includes concurrency + retry logic to handle large lists.

Why run an NPM package name checker?

  • Avoid brand collision: You don't want to publish a package with a name someone else owns.
  • Consistent cross-platform branding: Make sure your package name matches your GitHub username or organization.
  • Automate naming checks: Manual checking is slow and error-prone; integrate checks into CI/CD.
  • Auditability: Keep CSV/JSON logs for proof your team checked names before launch.

Key features

  • Checks NPM registry for package availability
  • Validates GitHub usernames and repositories
  • Outputs free-names.txt, free-names.json, and names-report.csv
  • Concurrency control, retries, exponential backoff, and jitter
  • Supports GitHub tokens and proxies
  • DNS-compliant name validation

Installation 

# Global (recommended)
npm install -g npm-gitnamecheck

# Or as a local dependency
npm install npm-gitnamecheck
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Quick start (example)

Create wordlist.txt:

myapp
cool-toolkit
brandx
superlib
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Run:

npx npm-gitnamecheck wordlist.txt
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Outputs:

  • free-names.txt — a newline-separated list of available names
  • free-names.json — structured output with timestamps and services checked
  • names-report.csv — detailed log for auditing

Sample free-names.json:

[
  { "name": "myapp", "when": "2025-11-08T20:30:45.123Z", "services": ["npm","github:user"] }
]
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Advanced usage

Use more concurrency and a GitHub token for higher throughput:

npm-gitnamecheck wordlist.txt \
  --concurrency 30 \
  --retries 5 \
  --github-token ghp_yourtokenhere \
  --out ./results
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Notes:

  • Without a token, GitHub limits you to 60 requests/hour (IP-based). With a token, limits jump to 5,000/hour per token.
  • Be conservative with concurrency and use jitter/backoff to avoid being blocked.

Programmatic API (Node.js) 

import { checkName } from 'npm-gitnamecheck';

(async () => {
  const result = await checkName('myapp', { githubToken: process.env.GH_TOKEN });
  if (result.ok) {
    console.log('Available!');
  } else {
    console.log('Taken:', result.details);
  }
})();
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This lets you integrate the NPM package name checker directly into scripts, build pipelines, or web UIs.

Best practices & pitfalls

  1. Use a GitHub token for bulk checks. Don’t rely on anonymous requests for lists > 100 names.
  2. Respect API terms and rate limits. Aggressive scraping will get your IP or token blocked.
  3. Validate names first. Filter out invalid DNS names before checking to save requests.
  4. Cache results. If your CI checks the same list repeatedly, cache verified results to avoid waste.
  5. Log everything. Keep CSV results in your repo or artifacts for compliance and postmortems.

Example CI job snippet (GitHub Actions) 

name: Name-check
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  check-names:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      - name: Install tool
        run: npm install -g npm-gitnamecheck
      - name: Run name checker
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
        run: npx npm-gitnamecheck wordlist.txt --github-token $GH_TOKEN --out ./name-check-results
      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: name-check-results
          path: ./name-check-results
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Where to go from here

  • Fork the repo and open issues: https://github.com/FireXCore/npm-gitnamecheck
  • Want PyPI, Docker Hub, or social handle checks? Add these as feature requests or PRs.
  • Add progress bars, resume capabilities, or a GUI wrapper if you need desktop-friendly UX.

Closing / CTA

If you publish an NPM package or maintain open-source projects, integrate an NPM package name checker like NPM-GitNameCheck into your workflow before your launch checklist. It’s a tiny step that prevents a massive brand headache later.

Try it now: npx npm-gitnamecheck wordlist.txt — then open names-report.csv and see the audit trail.

Author: Farbod Akvan — Full-Stack Developer & Open-Source Creator
Published by FireXCore • https://github.com/FireXCore/npm-gitnamecheck

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