[feature]: Improve GitHub API Rate Limit Handling for Large Repositories in the stargazers script
- Dominant language
- Go
- Stars
- 18.5k
- Forks
- 2.4k
- Avg merge
- 1d 4h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 101
Description
### ๐ Is there an existing feature request for this?
- [x] I have searched the existing issues
### ๐ Enhancement description
# ๐ ๏ธ Improve GitHub API Rate Limit Handling for Large Repositories
## ๐ Enhancement Description
Currently, the script relies on a GitHub access token, which has a rate limit of **5000 API calls per hour**. When fetching stargazers for repositories with a large number of stars, the script exceeds this limit, causing it to fail and requiring a reload after an hour.
To improve efficiency and make the script more reliable for large repositories, we need to explore and implement solutions to handle API rate limits effectively.
## ๐ Expected Behavior
- The script should be able to handle large repositories without exhausting API limits quickly.
- It should gracefully handle rate limits and avoid abrupt failures.
- Users should be able to continue fetching stargazers without waiting for an hour.
## โ๏ธ Current Behavior
- The script stops working when the **5000 API call per hour** limit is exceeded.
- It forces users to wait for an hour before they can resume fetching.
- No built-in handling for rate limits or alternative approaches exists.
## ๐ก Suggested Solutions
1. **Implement API Pagination and Caching**
- Optimize API calls by storing already fetched stargazers in cache/local storage.
- Fetch only new stargazers instead of repeatedly requesting the full list.
2. **Use Multiple GitHub Access Tokens**
- Support multiple GitHub tokens to distribute API requests across different credentials.
- Implement token rotation to automatically switch when one token reaches the limit.
3. **Implement GraphQL API Instead of REST**
- The GitHub GraphQL API allows fetching more data in fewer requests, reducing API usage.
- Convert API calls to GraphQL queries for better efficiency.
4. **Introduce Exponential Backoff & Retry Mechanism**
- When nearing the API limit, reduce request frequency dynamically.
- Implement a backoff strategy to retry after a delay instead of stopping completely.
5. **Use Third-Party Proxy Services or Caching Mechanisms**
- Store API responses in a temporary database (e.g., Firebase, Redis) to minimize repeated calls.
- Explore GitHub Apps authentication, which has higher rate limits compared to personal access tokens.
6. **Innovation and Custom Solutions**
- Contributors are welcome to come up with their own **creative solutions** to optimize API requests.
- Any novel approach that improves efficiency and scalability is highly encouraged!
## ๐ฏ Impact
- Makes the script **more robust and scalable** for repositories with a high number of stargazers.
- Ensures **continuous operation** without abrupt failures due to API rate limits.
- Improves **efficiency and reliability** by optimizing API requests.
### ๐ค Why should this be worked on?
Handling API rate limits efficiently is crucial to ensure seamless functionality for large repositories. Implementing these optimizations will:
- Prevent users from **waiting an hour** due to exceeded rate limits.
- Improve **performance** by reducing unnecessary API calls.
- Enhance **scalability**, allowing the script to support large repositories effortlessly.
### ๐ป Repository
keploy
Contributor guide
Research direction
No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by locating the stargazers script and its GitHub API request handling, then determine how pagination, caching, authentication, and rate-limit retries currently work; done means large repositories can continue fetching stargazers without abrupt rate-limit failure.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- github, go
- Domain
- api
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100