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GitHub profile followers API

Walk the public inbound graph for a GitHub user or organization login: each page is compact follower stubs you can store, dedupe, and enrich.

GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}/followers

1 credit per successful request.

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About this endpoint

Open-source growth jobs usually start with a seed login and a question about who showed up: new stars on a repo are one signal; the accounts that follow the maintainer or org are another. Community dashboards, recruiting maps, and OSS marketing tools often need those follower handles as rows, not the single integer on the profile card.

`GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}/followers` is the inbound list. Pass the public GitHub username (login), send `x-api-key`, and read `data.lookupStatus` before you write edges. On `found`, `data.followers` holds the page and `data.page` exposes `hasMore` / `nextCursor`. Each stub can carry `platformUserId`, optional `nodeId`, `handle`, `avatarUrl`, `profileUrl`, `accountType` (`User` or `Organization`), and optional `siteAdmin`. When `hasMore` is true, pass `nextCursor` as `cursor` on the next call with the same handle.

An empty `followers` array with `found` can mean zero public followers on that page; `not_found` means the login did not resolve. Aggregate follower counts without the list live on `GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}` under `data.metrics`. The outbound side (accounts this login follows) is `GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}/following`. Pricing is on the credit badge for this operation; bill from `meta.creditsCharged` on every response.

GitHub profile followers API FAQ

How do I list GitHub followers for a profile via API?

Call GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}/followers with your Social Fetch API key in the x-api-key header. Put the public GitHub username (login) in the path. Branch on data.lookupStatus, then read data.followers and data.page. Parameters and examples are in the API docs linked from this page.

What is the inbound follower graph useful for?

Teams page followers for a maintainer or org to build audience tables, watch who discovers a project after a launch, or seed recruiting lists from people already paying attention. Upsert each stub by handle or platformUserId, then call the profile or repositories routes on selected accounts.

How much does the GitHub profile followers API cost?

Pricing is documented on the operation in the API registry (shown on this page). Confirm on every response with meta.creditsCharged — that field is the billing source of truth. Each paginated page is a separate billed request.

What fields does each GitHub follower stub include?

Each item is a compact user stub: platformUserId, handle, profileUrl, accountType (User or Organization), plus optional avatarUrl, nodeId, and siteAdmin. Exact nullability lives in the OpenAPI schema for this route.

How do I page through a long GitHub follower list?

When data.page.hasMore is true, pass data.page.nextCursor as the cursor query param on the next request and keep the same handle. The cursor is an opaque string from a previous response; do not invent or parse it.

Empty followers array vs not_found — how should I branch?

found with an empty followers array can mean zero public followers on that page. not_found means no public profile matched the login. Always check lookupStatus before treating an empty array as "this account has zero followers."

Followers list vs profile metrics vs the following route?

This route returns inbound follower stubs. data.metrics.followers on GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle} is the aggregate count without the list. Accounts the login follows are GET /v1/github/profiles/{handle}/following.

Do I need a GitHub personal access token for followers?

No. Authenticate with your Social Fetch API key only. This route reads publicly visible follower lists; it does not require a GitHub OAuth app or personal access token.

Other GitHub endpoints