GitHub

Overview

GitHub REST + GraphQL API — code hosting platform (developer tools archetype).

Workflows

Explore a repository

1. searchRepos(q) → pick result → owner, repo from full_name
2. getRepo(owner, repo) → description, stars, language
3. getRepoReadme(owner, repo) → base64-encoded README content
4. listIssues(owner, repo) → open issues
5. listPullRequests(owner, repo) → open PRs

Investigate a user's work

1. getUserProfile(username) → bio, public_repos, followers
2. searchRepos(q: "user:username") → their repositories

File an issue

1. searchRepos(q) → owner, repo from full_name (or use known repo)
2. createIssue(owner, repo, title, body) → number, html_url

Manage issues

1. listIssues(owner, repo) → issue_number, title, state
2. closeIssue(owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues) → state: "closed"
3. reopenIssue(owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues) → state: "open"
4. createComment(owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues, body) → comment_id, html_url
5. deleteComment(owner, repo, comment_id ← createComment) → 204

Star / watch a repo

1. searchRepos(q) → owner, repo from full_name
2. starRepo(owner, repo) → 204
3. unstarRepo(owner, repo) → 204
4. watchRepo(owner, repo) → subscribed
5. unwatchRepo(owner, repo) → 204

Operations

Operation	Intent	Key Input	Key Output	Notes
searchRepos	find repositories	q	total_count, items[].full_name, stargazers_count, language	entry point, paginated
getRepo	repository details	owner, repo	full_name, description, stargazers_count, forks_count, language	entry point
getUserProfile	user profile	username	login, name, bio, public_repos, followers, following	entry point
getRepoReadme	repository README	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	name, content (base64), encoding
listIssues	repository issues	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	number, title, state, user.login, labels	paginated
listPullRequests	repository PRs	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	number, title, state, user.login, head.ref, base.ref	paginated
listContributors	repository contributors	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	login, contributions	paginated
createIssue	create an issue	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo, title, body	number, html_url	write, CAUTION
closeIssue	close an issue	owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues	data (GraphQL response)	write, CAUTION. Routes through github.com /_graphql
reopenIssue	reopen a closed issue	owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues	data (GraphQL response)	write, CAUTION — reverse of closeIssue. Routes through github.com /_graphql
createComment	comment on issue/PR	owner, repo, issue_number ← listIssues, body	id, body, html_url	write, CAUTION
deleteComment	delete a comment	owner, repo, comment_id ← createComment	— (204)	write, CAUTION — reverse of createComment
forkRepo	fork a repository	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	full_name	write, CAUTION
starRepo	star a repository	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	— (204)	write, SAFE. (api.github.com — currently rejected by cookie_session, see DOC.md)
unstarRepo	unstar a repository	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	count (watcher count)	write, CAUTION — reverse of starRepo. Routes through github.com rails endpoint
watchRepo	watch a repository	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	count (watcher count)	write, CAUTION. Routes through github.com /notifications/subscribe
unwatchRepo	unwatch a repository	owner ← getRepo, repo ← getRepo	count (watcher count)	write, CAUTION — reverse of watchRepo. Routes through github.com /notifications/subscribe
graphqlQuery	execute GraphQL	query, variables	data	write (unrestricted mutations possible)

Quick Start

# Search repositories
openweb github exec searchRepos '{"q":"react language:typescript","per_page":5}'

# Get repository details
openweb github exec getRepo '{"owner":"anthropics","repo":"claude-code"}'

# List issues
openweb github exec listIssues '{"owner":"anthropics","repo":"claude-code","per_page":5}'

# Get user profile
openweb github exec getUserProfile '{"username":"anthropics"}'

# Close an issue
openweb github exec closeIssue '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test","issue_number":1,"state":"closed"}'

# Comment on an issue
openweb github exec createComment '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test","issue_number":1,"body":"Looks good!"}'

# Star / unstar a repo
openweb github exec starRepo '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test"}'
openweb github exec unstarRepo '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test"}'

# Watch / unwatch a repo
openweb github exec watchRepo '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test"}'
openweb github exec unwatchRepo '{"owner":"imoonkey","repo":"openweb-test"}'

Known Limitations

• closeIssue, reopenIssue, watchRepo, unwatchRepo, unstarRepo route through github.com web UI (transport: page) instead of api.github.com REST. They use the user's _gh_sess browser cookie + page-scraped X-Fetch-Nonce + per-form authenticity_token. Verify: 5/5 PASS (2026-04-19). The persisted-query hashes for close/reopen are hardcoded and will drift with GitHub web releases — re-capture from a real click via DevTools _graphql request when they break.
• starRepo, createIssue, createComment, deleteComment, forkRepo, graphqlQuery still target api.github.com and remain affected by the cookie-session/Bearer mismatch. Same web-rewrite pattern applies (see adapters/github-web.ts).
• Read ops on public repos work without auth (rate-limited to 60 req/h); authenticated read ops via cookies work too (5000 req/h).