REST API endpoints for starring

Use the REST API to bookmark a repository.

About starring

You can use the REST API to star (bookmark) a repository. Stars are shown next to repositories to show an approximate level of interest. Stars have no effect on notifications or the activity feed. For more information, see Saving repositories with stars.

Starring versus watching

In August 2012, we changed the way watching
works on GitHub. Some API
client applications may still be using the original "watcher" endpoints for accessing
this data. You should now use the "star" endpoints instead (described
below). For more information, see REST API endpoints for watching and the changelog post.

In responses from the REST API, watchers, watchers_count, and stargazers_count correspond to the number of users that have starred a repository, whereas subscribers_count corresponds to the number of watchers.

New access restrictions

In July 2026, to ensure responsible use of this data and to protect users from misuse, we are introducing new access restrictions to the endpoints related to starring. Access to the stargazers listing endpoints will be limited to admins and collaborators. For more information, see the changelog post.

Note

Most endpoints use Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN> and Accept: application/vnd.github+json headers, plus X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10. Curl examples below omit these standard headers for brevity.

List stargazers

GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/stargazers

Lists the people that have starred the repository.
This endpoint supports the following custom media types. For more information, see "Media types."

application/vnd.github.star+json: Includes a timestamp of when the star was created.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

owner (string) (required)
The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo (string) (required)
The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.
per_page (integer)
The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 30
page (integer)
The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 1

HTTP response status codes

200 - OK
422 - Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

Code examples

Example 1: Status Code 200

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/stargazers

Response schema (Status: 200):

any of:
- array
- array

Example 2: Status Code 200

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/stargazers

Response schema (Status: 200):

any of:
- array
- array

Get stargazer count

GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/stargazers/count

Gets the current number of users who have starred the repository. Users who previously starred the repository but later removed their star are not included.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

owner (string) (required)
The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo (string) (required)
The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes

200 - OK
404 - Resource not found

Code examples

Example

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/stargazers/count

Response schema (Status: 200):

count: required, integer, minimum: 0

List repositories starred by the authenticated user

GET /user/starred

Lists repositories the authenticated user has starred.
This endpoint supports the following custom media types. For more information, see "Media types."

application/vnd.github.star+json: Includes a timestamp of when the star was created.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

sort (string)
The property to sort the results by. created means when the repository was starred. updated means when the repository was last pushed to.
Default: created
Can be one of: created, updated
direction (string)
The direction to sort the results by.
Default: desc
Can be one of: asc, desc
per_page (integer)
The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 30
page (integer)
The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 1

HTTP response status codes

200 - OK
304 - Not modified
401 - Requires authentication
403 - Forbidden

Code examples

Example 1: Status Code 200

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/user/starred

Response schema (Status: 200):

Array of Repository:

id: required, integer, format: int64
node_id: required, string
name: required, string
full_name: required, string
license: required, any of:
- null
- License Simple
  - key: required, string
  - name: required, string
  - url: required, string or null, format: uri
  - spdx_id: required, string or null
  - node_id: required, string
  - html_url: string, format: uri
forks: required, integer
permissions: object:
- admin: required, boolean
- pull: required, boolean
- triage: boolean
- push: required, boolean
- maintain: boolean
owner: required, Simple User:
- name: string or null
- email: string or null
- login: required, string
- id: required, integer, format: int64
- node_id: required, string
- avatar_url: required, string, format: uri
- gravatar_id: required, string or null
- url: required, string, format: uri
- html_url: required, string, format: uri
- followers_url: required, string, format: uri
- following_url: required, string
- gists_url: required, string
- starred_url: required, string
- subscriptions_url: required, string, format: uri
- organizations_url: required, string, format: uri
- repos_url: required, string, format: uri
- events_url: required, string
- received_events_url: required, string, format: uri
- type: required, string
- site_admin: required, boolean
- starred_at: string
- user_view_type: string
private: required, boolean, default: false
html_url: required, string, format: uri
description: required, string or null
fork: required, boolean
url: required, string, format: uri
archive_url: required, string
assignees_url: required, string
blobs_url: required, string
branches_url: required, string
collaborators_url: required, string
comments_url: required, string
commits_url: required, string
compare_url: required, string
contents_url: required, string
contributors_url: required, string, format: uri
deployments_url: required, string, format: uri
downloads_url: required, string, format: uri
events_url: required, string, format: uri
forks_url: required, string, format: uri
git_commits_url: required, string
git_refs_url: required, string
git_tags_url: required, string
git_url: required, string
issue_comment_url: required, string
issue_events_url: required, string
issues_url: required, string
keys_url: required, string
labels_url: required, string
languages_url: required, string, format: uri
merges_url: required, string, format: uri
milestones_url: required, string
notifications_url: required, string
pulls_url: required, string
releases_url: required, string
ssh_url: required, string
stargazers_url: required, string, format: uri
statuses_url: required, string
subscribers_url: required, string, format: uri
subscription_url: required, string, format: uri
tags_url: required, string, format: uri
teams_url: required, string, format: uri
trees_url: required, string
clone_url: required, string
mirror_url: required, string or null, format: uri
hooks_url: required, string, format: uri
svn_url: required, string, format: uri
homepage: required, string or null, format: uri
language: required, string or null
forks_count: required, integer
stargazers_count: required, integer
watchers_count: required, integer
size: required, integer
default_branch: required, string
open_issues_count: required, integer
is_template: boolean, default: false
topics: array of string
has_issues: required, boolean, default: true
has_projects: required, boolean, default: true
has_wiki: required, boolean, default: true
has_pages: required, boolean
has_discussions: boolean, default: false
has_pull_requests: boolean, default: true
pull_request_creation_policy: string, enum: all, collaborators_only
archived: required, boolean, default: false
disabled: required, boolean
visibility: string, default: "public"
pushed_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
created_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
updated_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
allow_rebase_merge: boolean, default: true
temp_clone_token: string
allow_squash_merge: boolean, default: true
allow_auto_merge: boolean, default: false
delete_branch_on_merge: boolean, default: false
allow_update_branch: boolean, default: false
squash_merge_commit_title: string, enum: PR_TITLE, COMMIT_OR_PR_TITLE
squash_merge_commit_message: string, enum: PR_BODY, COMMIT_MESSAGES, BLANK
merge_commit_title: string, enum: PR_TITLE, MERGE_MESSAGE
merge_commit_message: string, enum: PR_BODY, PR_TITLE, BLANK
allow_merge_commit: boolean, default: true
allow_forking: boolean
web_commit_signoff_required: boolean, default: false
open_issues: required, integer
watchers: required, integer
starred_at: string
anonymous_access_enabled: boolean
code_search_index_status: object:
- lexical_search_ok: boolean
- lexical_commit_sha: string

Example 2: Status Code 200

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/user/starred

Response schema (Status: 200):

Array of Starred Repository:

starred_at: required, string, format: date-time
repo: required, Repository:
- id: required, integer, format: int64
- node_id: required, string
- name: required, string
- full_name: required, string
- license: required, any of:
  - null
  - License Simple
    - key: required, string
    - name: required, string
    - url: required, string or null, format: uri
    - spdx_id: required, string or null
    - node_id: required, string
    - html_url: string, format: uri
- forks: required, integer
- permissions: object:
  - admin: required, boolean
  - pull: required, boolean
  - triage: boolean
  - push: required, boolean
  - maintain: boolean
- owner: required, Simple User:
  - name: string or null
  - email: string or null
  - login: required, string
  - id: required, integer, format: int64
  - node_id: required, string
  - avatar_url: required, string, format: uri
  - gravatar_id: required, string or null
  - url: required, string, format: uri
  - html_url: required, string, format: uri
  - followers_url: required, string, format: uri
  - following_url: required, string
  - gists_url: required, string
  - starred_url: required, string
  - subscriptions_url: required, string, format: uri
  - organizations_url: required, string, format: uri
  - repos_url: required, string, format: uri
  - events_url: required, string
  - received_events_url: required, string, format: uri
  - type: required, string
  - site_admin: required, boolean
  - starred_at: string
  - user_view_type: string
- private: required, boolean, default: false
- html_url: required, string, format: uri
- description: required, string or null
- fork: required, boolean
- url: required, string, format: uri
- archive_url: required, string
- assignees_url: required, string
- blobs_url: required, string
- branches_url: required, string
- collaborators_url: required, string
- comments_url: required, string
- commits_url: required, string
- compare_url: required, string
- contents_url: required, string
- contributors_url: required, string, format: uri
- deployments_url: required, string, format: uri
- downloads_url: required, string, format: uri
- events_url: required, string, format: uri
- forks_url: required, string, format: uri
- git_commits_url: required, string
- git_refs_url: required, string
- git_tags_url: required, string
- git_url: required, string
- issue_comment_url: required, string
- issue_events_url: required, string
- issues_url: required, string
- keys_url: required, string
- labels_url: required, string
- languages_url: required, string, format: uri
- merges_url: required, string, format: uri
- milestones_url: required, string
- notifications_url: required, string
- pulls_url: required, string
- releases_url: required, string
- ssh_url: required, string
- stargazers_url: required, string, format: uri
- statuses_url: required, string
- subscribers_url: required, string, format: uri
- subscription_url: required, string, format: uri
- tags_url: required, string, format: uri
- teams_url: required, string, format: uri
- trees_url: required, string
- clone_url: required, string
- mirror_url: required, string or null, format: uri
- hooks_url: required, string, format: uri
- svn_url: required, string, format: uri
- homepage: required, string or null, format: uri
- language: required, string or null
- forks_count: required, integer
- stargazers_count: required, integer
- watchers_count: required, integer
- size: required, integer
- default_branch: required, string
- open_issues_count: required, integer
- is_template: boolean, default: false
- topics: array of string
- has_issues: required, boolean, default: true
- has_projects: required, boolean, default: true
- has_wiki: required, boolean, default: true
- has_pages: required, boolean
- has_discussions: boolean, default: false
- has_pull_requests: boolean, default: true
- pull_request_creation_policy: string, enum: all, collaborators_only
- archived: required, boolean, default: false
- disabled: required, boolean
- visibility: string, default: "public"
- pushed_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
- created_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
- updated_at: required, string or null, format: date-time
- allow_rebase_merge: boolean, default: true
- temp_clone_token: string
- allow_squash_merge: boolean, default: true
- allow_auto_merge: boolean, default: false
- delete_branch_on_merge: boolean, default: false
- allow_update_branch: boolean, default: false
- squash_merge_commit_title: string, enum: PR_TITLE, COMMIT_OR_PR_TITLE
- squash_merge_commit_message: string, enum: PR_BODY, COMMIT_MESSAGES, BLANK
- merge_commit_title: string, enum: PR_TITLE, MERGE_MESSAGE
- merge_commit_message: string, enum: PR_BODY, PR_TITLE, BLANK
- allow_merge_commit: boolean, default: true
- allow_forking: boolean
- web_commit_signoff_required: boolean, default: false
- open_issues: required, integer
- watchers: required, integer
- starred_at: string
- anonymous_access_enabled: boolean
- code_search_index_status: object:
  - lexical_search_ok: boolean
  - lexical_commit_sha: string

Check if a repository is starred by the authenticated user

GET /user/starred/{owner}/{repo}

Whether the authenticated user has starred the repository.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

owner (string) (required)
The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo (string) (required)
The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes

204 - Response if this repository is starred by you
304 - Not modified
401 - Requires authentication
403 - Forbidden
404 - Not Found if this repository is not starred by you

Code examples

Example

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/user/starred/OWNER/REPO

Response schema (Status: 204):

Star a repository for the authenticated user

PUT /user/starred/{owner}/{repo}

Note that you'll need to set Content-Length to zero when calling out to this endpoint. For more information, see "HTTP method."

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

owner (string) (required)
The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo (string) (required)
The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes

204 - No Content
304 - Not modified
401 - Requires authentication
403 - Forbidden
404 - Resource not found

Code examples

Example

Request:

curl -L \
  -X PUT \
  https://api.github.com/user/starred/OWNER/REPO

Response schema (Status: 204):

Unstar a repository for the authenticated user

DELETE /user/starred/{owner}/{repo}

Unstar a repository that the authenticated user has previously starred.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

owner (string) (required)
The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo (string) (required)
The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes

204 - No Content
304 - Not modified
401 - Requires authentication
403 - Forbidden
404 - Resource not found

Code examples

Example

Request:

curl -L \
  -X DELETE \
  https://api.github.com/user/starred/OWNER/REPO

Response schema (Status: 204):

List repositories starred by a user

GET /users/{username}/starred

Lists repositories a user has starred.
This endpoint supports the following custom media types. For more information, see "Media types."

application/vnd.github.star+json: Includes a timestamp of when the star was created.

Parameters

Headers

accept (string)
Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path and query parameters

username (string) (required)
The handle for the GitHub user account.
sort (string)
The property to sort the results by. created means when the repository was starred. updated means when the repository was last pushed to.
Default: created
Can be one of: created, updated
direction (string)
The direction to sort the results by.
Default: desc
Can be one of: asc, desc
per_page (integer)
The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 30
page (integer)
The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."
Default: 1

HTTP response status codes

200 - OK

Code examples

Example

Request:

curl -L \
  -X GET \
  https://api.github.com/users/USERNAME/starred

Response schema (Status: 200):

Same response schema as List stargazers.