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Articles on GitHub star history, repository health, and what a project's git history can and cannot tell you.
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GitHub language stats tool: How to pick bytes or lines
Which GitHub language stats tool should you use? It depends on the unit: the API and language bar report bytes, tokei counts lines. Learn to pull a repo's mix.
- github
- language stats
- linguist
- tokei
- readme cards
- rest api
GitHub star velocity ranking: How to compare repos fairly
What is a GitHub star velocity ranking? It lists repositories by stars gained over 1, 7 or 30 days. Learn to check a spike against commit history first.
- github stars
- star velocity
- github trending
- star history
- commit history
- repository health
How to spot an inactive GitHub project: 6 checks in order
How do you spot an inactive GitHub project? Check the archived flag, last human commit, latest release and issue replies. Learn the six checks in order.
- github
- open source
- dependencies
- repository health
- maintenance
GitHub README badges worth adding and how to keep them honest
Which GitHub README badges belong in your repo? Add a short set you've earned, use GitHub's native CI badge, link each to proof, and audit them. Start here.
- github
- readme
- badges
- shields.io
- documentation
- open source
GitHub star chart animated gif: Add a real star history
Want a GitHub star chart animated gif for your README? Use a public chart.gif image URL wrapped in a link, drawn from real star history. Get the snippets.
- github readme
- star history
- animated gif
- github stars
- readme embeds
GitHub stars chart readme: Add a light and dark mode embed
Want a github stars chart readme embed? Paste a public image URL in a picture element with a dark mode source. Compare three embed methods and read the curve.
- github readme
- star history
- dark mode
- image embeds
- repository health
GitHub stars vs downloads: measuring real open source adoption
GitHub stars vs downloads: stars record interest, downloads count fetches including CI and bots. Learn to read both against peers to measure real adoption.
- github stars
- npm downloads
- open source adoption
- package metrics
- star velocity
- repository analytics
How to evaluate open source library maintenance: Check in order
How to evaluate open source library maintenance: read the last commit date, commit trend and ownership, then releases, issues and archived status. Start here.
- open source
- library maintenance
- commit history
- bus factor
- github
- dependencies
GitHub repository analytics free: Stars vs commit history
Is GitHub repository analytics free? Yes, for public repos: gitdebt shows star history and commit health with no sign-in. Compare repos and embed a chart.
- github
- repository analytics
- star history
- commit history
- dependency health
- readme charts
GitHub repository maintenance score: What it can't show
A GitHub repository maintenance score is a reading of commit activity. Learn its signals and limits, then choose keep, pin, fork, replace or contribute.
- github
- repository maintenance
- dependency management
- bus factor
- open source
- commit activity
Open source project health: check before you depend on it
Open source project health: read dated signals like commits, releases, PR replies, contributor diversity, and security policy. Score any repo in 15 minutes.
- open-source
- project-health
- maintenance
- security-policy
- scorecard
Git commit count: totals, per-author and 90-day cadence
How do you get a git commit count? Run git rev-list --count HEAD, then split it by author and 90 days. Learn what each figure shows and what it misses.
- git
- commit count
- git rev-list
- git shortlog
- repository health
- open source
PyPI download stats: how to read them and check upkeep
Where do PyPI download stats come from? BigQuery, pypistats.org, pepy.tech and ClickPy count fetch events, not users. Learn to read them and check upkeep.
- pypi
- download stats
- python packages
- package maintenance
- clickpy
- bigquery
Code churn hotspots: find the files that change most in git
Code churn hotspots are files that change often and are complex or widely shared. Learn to find them with git log --name-only or --numstat, filter noise.
- code-churn
- git-log
- hotspots
- complexity
- refactoring
Compare GitHub repos: diff code or choose the right project
Need to compare GitHub repos? Append /compare to the URL for branches and forks, or use git diff for separate repos. Compare star and commit history too.
- github
- git diff
- star history
- repository health
- dependency review
Get more GitHub stars: README, launch rules and tracking
How do you get more GitHub stars? Write a README that converts on the first screen, launch by each channel's rules, and track which one worked. Start now.
- github stars
- readme
- show hn
- github trending
- open source
- repository maintenance
README best practices: what to include and what to cut
What are README best practices? Lead with what the project does, install steps, a license and a maintenance sign. Learn which other sections to keep or cut.
- readme
- github
- documentation
- open source
- markdown
- repository maintenance
Bus factor: how to measure it from git history and its limits
Bus factor from git history: count fewest authors whose commits reach 50% of all commits using git shortlog -sn --no-merges, then check its limits. Start now.
- bus-factor
- git-history
- code-ownership
- risk-assessment
- team-health
GitHub Insights: what each view shows on repos you don't own
What does GitHub Insights show on a repo you don't own? Most tabs, but not Traffic. Learn what each view tells you and run a six-step dependency check.
- github insights
- repository analytics
- dependency maintenance
- commit history
- star history
- open source
Technical debt metrics: what git history can and can't show
Which technical debt metrics need no cost data? Four git signals: maintenance, ownership, repair load and debt markers. Learn to read them as trends over time.
- technical debt
- git history
- code ownership
- code churn
- dora metrics
- open source maintenance
Fake GitHub stars: what the research found and what to check
Fake GitHub stars exist at scale but can't be proven for one repo. Learn what the ICSE 2026 StarScout study found and how to check star history against commits.
- github stars
- fake stars
- star history
- repo due diligence
- commit cadence
- starscout
npm download stats: how to query the API and read trends
How do you read npm download stats? Query the public API for point or daily range counts, which measure tarball fetches, not users. Learn to read trends.
- npm
- download stats
- npm api
- dependency health
- github stars
- package comparison
GitHub Trending: how to check a repo before you depend on it
What does GitHub Trending tell you? Only attention in a window, not upkeep. Learn to check a repo's star history, then its commits, before you depend on it.
- github trending
- star history
- commit history
- repository health
- open source
Count lines of code: tools, commands and limits
How do you count lines of code? Split files into blank, comment and code lines, then total each language with cloc, scc or tokei. Learn what the total misses.
- lines of code
- cloc
- scc
- tokei
- github repositories
- code metrics
How to read a star history chart: spikes, plateaus and log scale
Star history chart hard to read? Read slope (stars per day), not total. Spikes, steps, plateaus signal events; log scale compares size. Learn to vet repos.
- star-history
- github-stars
- repo-maintenance
- log-scale
- spikes
- plateaus
GitHub star history API: what changed and how to use it
Is there a star history API? Yes: GitHub's new endpoint returns star counts with timestamps and no stargazer names. Learn how to call it and migrate old code.
- star history
- github api
- open source
- readme