How to Track GitHub Stars, Forks, and Watchers in Python

import os
import time
import json
import requests
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

REPOS = [
    "psf/requests",
    "python/cpython",
    "pallets/flask",
]
DATA_DIR = Path("github_metrics")

def fetch_repo_stats(repo):
    url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{repo}"
    resp = requests.get(url, headers={"Accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json"})
    resp.raise_for_status()
    data = resp.json()
    return {
        "full_name": data["full_name"],
        "stars": data["stargazers_count"],
        "forks": data["forks_count"],
        "watchers": data["subscribers_count"],
        "timestamp": datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
    }

def save_stats(stats):
    DATA_DIR.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    filepath = DATA_DIR / f"{stats['full_name'].replace('/', '_')}.json"
    history = []
    if filepath.exists():
        history = json.loads(filepath.read_text())
    history.append(stats)
    filepath.write_text(json.dumps(history, indent=2))
    print(f"Saved {len(history)} snapshots for {stats['full_name']}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    for repo in REPOS:
        try:
            stats = fetch_repo_stats(repo)
            save_stats(stats)
            print(f"{repo}: ⭐ {stats['stars']} 🍴 {stats['forks']} 👁 {stats['watchers']}")
            time.sleep(1)  # Respect rate limits
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error fetching {repo}: {e}")