# GitHub API: Get repository facts

> Looks up a public GitHub repository by name, owner/name, or link and returns its stars, forks, release, commit and contributor facts.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by GitHub.

- Page: https://fous.com/methods/github.com/get-repository
- Method: `github.com/get_repository`, version 1
- Website: github.com
- Returns: repository name, description, stars, forks, watchers, open issues, language, license, topics, release, last commit, contributors, links
- Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing)
- Sign-in: none needed
- Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free
- Verified: Nov 2, 2026

## Inputs

| Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `owner` | string | no | `"facebook"` | Repository owner to use with a bare repository name, for example facebook. Default "". |
| `project` | string | yes | `"react"` | Repository name, owner/name, or GitHub repository link, for example facebook/react. |

## Output

From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input:

```json
{
  "owner": "facebook",
  "project": "react"
}
```

Its output:

```json
{
  "forks": 51567,
  "stars": 251710,
  "topics": [
    "declarative",
    "frontend",
    "javascript"
  ],
  "license": "MIT License",
  "watchers": 6610,
  "repository": "react/react",
  "description": "The library for web and native user interfaces.",
  "open_issues": 1469,
  "project_link": "https://github.com/react/react",
  "homepage_link": "https://react.dev",
  "main_language": "JavaScript",
  "repository_id": 10270250,
  "default_branch": "main",
  "last_commit_date": "2026-10-21",
  "contributors_count": 2025,
  "latest_release_date": "2026-10-14",
  "latest_release_name": "19.3.1 (October 14th, 2026)"
}
```

## Run it

From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output:

```bash
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"github.com/get_repository","input":{"owner":"facebook","project":"react"}}'
```

From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`.

## Ask your agent

- How many stars and forks does the tensorflow repo have on GitHub?
- What's the latest release and license for the rust-lang/cargo project?
- Can you pull up the open issues count and primary language for vercel/next.js?
- Show me the contributor count and last commit date for the kubernetes repository owned by kubernetes.
- Look up the topics, watchers, and description of https://github.com/microsoft/vscode

## Input schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "project"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "owner": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "",
      "description": "Repository owner to use with a bare repository name, for example facebook."
    },
    "project": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Repository name, owner/name, or GitHub repository link, for example facebook/react."
    }
  }
}
```

## Output schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "repository",
    "description",
    "stars",
    "forks",
    "watchers",
    "open_issues",
    "main_language",
    "license",
    "topics",
    "latest_release_name",
    "latest_release_date",
    "last_commit_date",
    "contributors_count",
    "homepage_link",
    "project_link",
    "repository_id",
    "default_branch"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "forks": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Number of forks."
    },
    "stars": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Number of stars."
    },
    "topics": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Repository topics."
    },
    "license": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "License name in words, if known."
    },
    "watchers": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Number of people subscribed to notifications (not stars)."
    },
    "repository": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Matched repository as owner/name."
    },
    "description": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Project description, if provided."
    },
    "open_issues": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Open issue and pull request count reported by GitHub."
    },
    "project_link": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "GitHub repository link."
    },
    "homepage_link": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Project website link, if provided."
    },
    "main_language": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Primary programming language."
    },
    "repository_id": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "GitHub repository ID.",
      "x-fous-developer": true
    },
    "default_branch": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Default branch name.",
      "x-fous-developer": true
    },
    "last_commit_date": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "format": "date",
      "description": "Date of most recent commit on the default branch, YYYY-MM-DD."
    },
    "contributors_count": {
      "type": [
        "integer",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Number of contributors including anonymous contributors, if available."
    },
    "latest_release_date": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "format": "date",
      "description": "Date of latest published release, YYYY-MM-DD."
    },
    "latest_release_name": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Latest published release name, if available."
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## See more

- [GitHub API: Search repositories](https://fous.com/methods/github.com/search-repositories.md): Finds public GitHub repositories by keywords, with an optional language filter and sort order. Returns up to 100 matches.
- [GitHub API: List releases](https://fous.com/methods/github.com/list-releases.md): Lists published, non-draft releases of a public GitHub project, newest first. A bare project name matches the most-starred repository.
- [GitHub API: List issues or pull requests](https://fous.com/methods/github.com/list-issues.md): Lists public issues or pull requests for a GitHub project, with state, label and sort options. A bare project name matches the most-starred repository with that name.
- [GitHub API: List trending repositories](https://fous.com/methods/github.com/list-trending-repositories.md): Lists up to 25 public repositories trending on GitHub, in page order, optionally filtered by programming language and time period.
- [NuGet API: Get package](https://fous.com/methods/nuget.org/get-package.md): Looks up a NuGet package by name or nuget.org link. Inexact names match the top search result. Returns the latest stable release's details and the 10 most recent versions, including prereleases.
- [npm API: Get package](https://fous.com/methods/npmjs.com/get-package.md): Looks up a public npm package by name or npm link. Returns its latest version, weekly downloads, maintainers, links, dates and version count.
- [Hugging Face API: Get model details](https://fous.com/methods/huggingface.co/get-model.md): Looks up one Hugging Face model by name, repository ID or link and returns its public details, model card summary and file sizes. For a name, the first matching model is returned.
- [PyPI API: Get package](https://fous.com/methods/pypi.org/get-package.md): Gets a PyPI package's current version, release date, metadata, project links and its 10 most recently published versions from a package name or PyPI link.
- [All GitHub methods](https://fous.com/methods/github.com.md)