@octokit/rest

What is @octokit/rest?

The @octokit/rest npm package is a client library for accessing the GitHub REST API. It provides a convenient way to interact with GitHub resources such as repositories, issues, pull requests, and more, directly from your JavaScript code. It abstracts away the direct HTTP requests to GitHub, offering an easier and more intuitive way to access GitHub data and perform operations.

What are @octokit/rest's main functionalities?

Repository Management

This feature allows you to manage repositories. The code sample demonstrates how to create a new public repository for the authenticated user.

const { Octokit } = require('@octokit/rest');
const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: 'personal-access-token' });
octokit.repos.createForAuthenticatedUser({
  name: 'new-repo',
  private: false
});

Issues Management

This feature enables you to manage issues in a repository. The code sample shows how to create a new issue in a specified repository.

const { Octokit } = require('@octokit/rest');
const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: 'personal-access-token' });
octokit.issues.create({
  owner: 'username',
  repo: 'repository-name',
  title: 'New Issue Title',
  body: 'Description of the issue.'
});

Pull Requests

This feature allows for the creation and management of pull requests. The code sample illustrates how to create a pull request from one branch to another within the same repository.

const { Octokit } = require('@octokit/rest');
const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: 'personal-access-token' });
octokit.pulls.create({
  owner: 'username',
  repo: 'repository-name',
  title: 'New Pull Request',
  head: 'branch-name',
  base: 'base-branch'
});

Other packages similar to @octokit/rest

github

The 'github' npm package is another client library for the GitHub API. It offers similar functionalities to @octokit/rest but has been deprecated in favor of @octokit/rest, which is its direct successor. @octokit/rest provides a more modern and feature-rich interface.

node-github

The 'node-github' package is an older client for the GitHub API, offering basic functionalities to interact with GitHub resources. Compared to @octokit/rest, it might not be as up-to-date or feature-rich, as @octokit/rest is the official client library recommended by GitHub.

README

rest.js

GitHub REST API client for Node.js

Usage

Node

Install with npm install @octokit/rest.

const octokit = require('@octokit/rest')()

// Compare: https://developer.github.com/v3/repos/#list-organization-repositories
octokit.repos.getForOrg({
  org: 'octokit',
  type: 'public'
}).then(({ data, headers, status }) => {
  // handle data
})

Browser

1. Download octokit-rest.min.js from the latest release: https://github.com/octokit/rest.js/releases

2. Load it as script into your web application:

   <script src="octokit-rest.min.js"></script>
   

3. Initialize octokit

   const octokit = new Octokit()
   
   // Compare: https://developer.github.com/v3/repos/#list-organization-repositories
   octokit.repos.getForOrg({
     org: 'octokit',
     type: 'public'
   }).then(({data, headers, status}) => {
     // handle data
   })
   

Client options

All available client options with default values

const octokit = require('@octokit/rest')({
  timeout: 0, // 0 means no request timeout
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/vnd.github.v3+json',
    'user-agent': 'octokit/rest.js v1.2.3' // v1.2.3 will be current version
  },

  // custom GitHub Enterprise URL
  baseUrl: 'https://api.github.com',

  // Node only: advanced request options can be passed as http(s) agent
  agent: undefined
})

@octokit/rest API docs: https://octokit.github.io/rest.js/
GitHub v3 REST API docs: https://developer.github.com/v3/

API Previews

To take advantage of GitHub’s API Previews, pass a custom accept header, which you can do with any endpoint method documented in the API docs, e.g.

const { data: { topics } } = octokit.repos.get({
  owner: 'octokit',
  repo: 'rest.js',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/vnd.github.mercy-preview+json'
  }
})

Multiple preview headers can be combined by separating them with commas

const { data: { topics, codeOfConduct } } = octokit.repos.get({
  owner: 'octokit',
  repo: 'rest.js',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/vnd.github.mercy-preview+json,application/vnd.github.scarlet-witch-preview+json'
  }
})

Authentication

Most GitHub API calls don't require authentication. Rules of thumb:

1. If you can see the information by visiting the site without being logged in, you don't have to be authenticated to retrieve the same information through the API.
2. If you want to change data, you have to be authenticated.

// basic
octokit.authenticate({
  type: 'basic',
  username: 'yourusername',
  password: 'password'
})

// oauth
octokit.authenticate({
  type: 'oauth',
  token: 'secrettoken123'
})

// oauth key/secret (to get a token)
octokit.authenticate({
  type: 'oauth',
  key: 'client_id',
  secret: 'client_secret'
})

// token (https://github.com/settings/tokens)
octokit.authenticate({
  type: 'token',
  token: 'secrettoken123'
})

// GitHub app
octokit.authenticate({
  type: 'app',
  token: 'secrettoken123'
})

Note: authenticate is synchronous because it only sets the credentials for the following requests.

Pagination

There are a few pagination-related methods:

• hasNextPage(response)
• hasPreviousPage(response)
• hasFirstPage(response)
• hasLastPage(response)
• getNextPage(response)
• getPreviousPage(response)
• getFirstPage(response)
• getLastPage(response)

Usage

async function paginate (method) {
  let response = await method({ per_page: 100 })
  let { data } = response
  while (octokit.hasNextPage(response)) {
    response = await octokit.getNextPage(response)
    data = data.concat(response.data)
  }
  return data
}

paginate(octokit.repos.getAll)
  .then(data => {
    // handle all results
  })

Debug

Set DEBUG=octokit:rest* for additional debug logs.

Tests

Before running any tests you have to start the fixtures server

$ npm run start-fixtures-server

In a second terminal, run the tests

$ npm test

Or run a specific test

$ ./node_modules/.bin/mocha test/scenarios/get-repository-test.js

Run browser tests

$ npm run test:browser

Note: In order to run the same scenario tests in both Node and browser, we simulate the Cypress environment in Node, see test/mocha-node-setup.js.

The examples are run as part of the tests. You can set an EXAMPLES_GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable (or set it in a .env file) to avoid running against GitHub's rate limit.

Contributing

We would love you to contribute to @octokit/rest, pull requests are very welcomed! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for more information.

Credits

@octokit/rest was originally created as node-github in 2012 by Mike de Boer from Cloud9 IDE, Inc. It was adopted and renamed by GitHub in 2017

LICENSE

MIT