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GitHub Repo Readme API

Scrape GitHub Repo Readme data with one API call. Returns the repository's README in raw form (the file contents, not base64-wrapped). The fetcher sets `Accept: application/vnd.github.raw+json` so the response body is the actual file. Useful for content discovery and AI-grounding workflows.

Last updated August 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

Returns a GitHub repository's README as plain file content, ready to read or feed to a model.

Use it when you want a project's own write-up in full rather than the summary fields on the repo endpoint.

Searching 48 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
GitHub API

What can you do with the Repo Readme API?

The Repo Readme endpoint gives you structured GitHub data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/github/repo/readme?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Foctocat%2FHello-World"
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/github/repo/readme",
    params={
    'url': 'https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World',
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)

data = response.json()
const response = await fetch(
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/github/repo/readme?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Foctocat%2FHello-World",
  {
    headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
  },
);

const data = await response.json();

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
urlYesGitHub repo URL — `https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}`.
Example Response

What does the GitHub Repo Readme API return?

Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.

Example response
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "youtube",
  "endpoint": "/v1/youtube/video",
  "data": {
    "post": {
      "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "content": {
        "text": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
        "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hqdefault.jpg",
        "duration_seconds": 214,
        "media_urls": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw"
      },
      "author": {
        "username": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
        "display_name": "Rick Astley",
        "avatar_url": null,
        "verified": null
      },
      "engagement": {
        "views": 1789065639,
        "likes": 19216844,
        "comments": 2443809,
        "shares": null,
        "saves": null
      },
      "published_at": "2009-10-25T06:57:33Z",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "ext": {
        "content_type": "video",
        "tags": [
          "rick astley",
          "Never Gonna Give You Up",
          "nggyu",
          "never gonna give you up lyrics",
          "rick rolled",
          "Rick Roll",
          "rick astley official",
          "rickrolled",
          "Fortnite song",
          "Fortnite event",
          "Fortnite dance",
          "fortnite never gonna give you up",
          "rick roll",
          "rickrolling",
          "rick rolling",
          "never gonna give you up",
          "80s music",
          "rick astley new",
          "animated video",
          "rickroll",
          "meme songs",
          "never gonna give u up lyrics",
          "Rick Astley 2022",
          "never gonna let you down",
          "animated",
          "rick rolls 2022",
          "never gonna give you up karaoke"
        ],
        "categoryId": "10",
        "categoryTitle": "Music",
        "topicCategories": [
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_music",
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music",
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music",
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_and_blues",
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_music"
        ],
        "duration": "PT3M34S",
        "license": "youtube",
        "madeForKids": false,
        "defaultAudioLanguage": "en",
        "hasPaidProductPlacement": false,
        "caption": "true",
        "description": "The official video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. \n\nNever: The Autobiography 📚 OUT NOW! \nFollow this link to get your copy and listen to Rick’s ‘Never’ playlist ❤️ #RickAstleyNever\nhttps://linktr.ee/rickastleynever\n\n“Never Gonna Give You Up” was a global smash on its release in July 1987, topping the charts in 25 countries including Rick’s native UK and the US Billboard Hot 100.  It also won the Brit Award for Best single in 1988. Stock Aitken and Waterman wrote and produced the track which was the lead-off single and lead track from Rick’s debut LP “Whenever You Need Somebody”.  The album was itself a UK number one and would go on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide.\n\nThe legendary video was directed by Simon West – who later went on to make Hollywood blockbusters such as Con Air, Lara Croft – Tomb Raider and The Expendables 2.  The video passed the 1bn YouTube views milestone on 28 July 2021.\n\nSubscribe to the official Rick Astley YouTube channel: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/YTSubID\n\nFollow Rick Astley:\nFacebook: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/FBFollowID \nTwitter: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/TwitterID \nInstagram: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/InstagramID \nWebsite: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/storeID \nTikTok: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/TikTokID\n\nListen to Rick Astley:\nSpotify: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/SpotifyID \nApple Music: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/AppleMusicID \nAmazon Music: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/AmazonMusicID \nDeezer: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/DeezerID \n\nLyrics:\nWe’re no strangers to love\nYou know the rules and so do I\nA full commitment’s what I’m thinking of\nYou wouldn’t get this from any other guy\n\nI just wanna tell you how I’m feeling\nGotta make you understand\n\nNever gonna give you up\nNever gonna let you down\nNever gonna run around and desert you\nNever gonna make you cry\nNever gonna say goodbye\nNever gonna tell a lie and hurt you\n\nWe’ve known each other for so long\nYour heart’s been aching but you’re too shy to say it\nInside we both know what’s been going on\nWe know the game and we’re gonna play it\n\nAnd if you ask me how I’m feeling\nDon’t tell me you’re too blind to see\n\nNever gonna give you up\nNever gonna let you down\nNever gonna run around and desert you\nNever gonna make you cry\nNever gonna say goodbye\nNever gonna tell a lie and hurt you\n\n#RickAstley #NeverGonnaGiveYouUp #WheneverYouNeedSomebody #OfficialMusicVideo",
        "default_language": "en"
      },
      "flags": {
        "deleted": false,
        "nsfw": null,
        "spoiler": null,
        "pinned": null
      }
    },
    "computed": {
      "engagement_rate": 0.012107,
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "entertainment",
      "estimated_reach": 2146878767
    }
  },
  "credits_used": 1,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
  "cached": false
}

Example captured from the YouTube API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your GitHub Repo Readme response has the same fields.

API Details

How does the GitHub Repo Readme API work?

Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.

Method

GET

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for GitHub Repo Readme data?

We handle the complexity of GitHub data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 48 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 48 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer — paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
    params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
    headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 48 platforms
FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

Contact us
How do I get a repo's README with an API?
Send a GET request to /v1/github/repo/readme with the repository URL in the url parameter. SocialCrawl returns the README as decoded text (the raw markdown ready to render) along with its file path and byte size.
Is the README returned as Base64 or plain text?
Plain decoded text. GitHub's own contents API returns README content Base64-encoded, which you then have to decode. SocialCrawl decodes it for you and returns the raw markdown directly, so you can render or parse it immediately.
Which README file does it return?
The repository's canonical README, the same file GitHub renders on the repo home page, whether it is README.md, README.rst, or a docs-folder variant. The response includes the actual file path so you know which one was resolved.
Can I use this to feed READMEs into an LLM?
Yes. Because the content comes back as clean decoded markdown, it drops straight into a prompt or embedding pipeline. Pair it with the repo endpoint for metadata when you are summarising or classifying projects at scale.
How much does the GitHub README API cost?
Each request costs 1 credit on the standard tier. New accounts get 100 free credits with no credit card required, enough to pull around 100 READMEs before you pay. There is no extra charge for the decoding step.

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🤖 AI agent or LLM? Read this page as markdown