GitHub · Guide

How to get GitHub contributions

TL;DR

To get GitHub contributions, sign up for a free Captapi key, then send one GET request to /v1/github/contributions with your input. You get clean JSON back in seconds for 3 credits per call — no OAuth, scraping or platform SDKs. Get a GitHub user's contribution activity — contribution counts and calendar-style signals as structured JSON.

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How to get GitHub contributions (step by step)

1
Get a free API key
Create a free Captapi account (100 credits, no card) and generate an API key from the dashboard.
2
Call the GitHub Contributions API
Send an authenticated GET request to /v1/github/contributions with your input. No OAuth, no scraping setup.
3
Read the JSON response
Parse the clean JSON response. Pass cache=true for a free 24h cache hit; default is always fresh.

Code example

curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/github/contributions?username=vercel" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."
# or: -H "x-api-key: capt_live_..."

What the response looks like

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "username": "torvalds",
    "recentPublicEvents": 90,
    "recentEventTypes": [
      "IssueCommentEvent",
      "PullRequestEvent",
      "PushEvent"
    ],
    "publicRepositoriesSampled": 12,
    "starsAcrossSampledRepos": 252421
  }
}

Billing metadata (credits charged, cache hit/miss) is returned in the X-Captapi-Credits and X-Captapi-Cache response headers.

Request parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
username	string	Yes	GitHub username or profile URL.
cache	boolean	No	Set true to serve from the 24h response cache. Default false — always fetch fresh data.

Frequently asked questions

What does the GitHub Contributions API do?

The GitHub Contributions API lets you fetch full metadata and key stats from a public GitHub GitHub resource using one GET request to /v1/github/contributions. It returns clean JSON — no OAuth or infrastructure setup required.

How many credits does the GitHub Contributions API cost?

Each successful call costs 3 credits. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h shared cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Failed or empty results are never charged.

Do I need a GitHub API key or OAuth?

No. A single Captapi key works across every platform Captapi supports — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Rumble, Spotify, Kwai, and more. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and authentication for you.

Is the GitHub Contributions API suitable for production use?

Yes. It is a stable REST endpoint with predictable JSON and automatic retries. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h shared cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Use it for analytics, monitoring, and content automation.

Ready to get GitHub contributions?

Start free with 100 credits — no credit card required.

Get your free API key