GitHub event types

The Events API can return different types of events triggered by activity on GitHub. Each event response contains shared properties, but has a unique payload object determined by its event type. The Event object common properties describes the properties shared by all events, and each event type describes the payload properties that are unique to the specific event.

Event object common properties

The event objects returned from the Events API endpoints have the same structure.

Event API attribute name	Description
id	Unique identifier for the event.
type	The type of event. Events uses PascalCase for the name.
actor	The user that triggered the event.
actor.id	The unique identifier for the actor.
actor.login	The username of the actor.
actor.display_login	The specific display format of the username.
actor.gravatar_id	The unique identifier of the Gravatar profile for the actor.
actor.url	The REST API URL used to retrieve the user object, which includes additional user information.
actor.avatar_url	The URL of the actor's profile image.
repo	The repository object where the event occurred.
repo.id	The unique identifier of the repository.
repo.name	The name of the repository, which includes the owner and repository name. For example, octocat/hello-world is the name of the hello-world repository owned by the octocat user account.
repo.url	The REST API URL used to retrieve the repository object, which includes additional repository information.
payload	The event payload object is unique to the event type. See the event type below for the event API payload object.

Example WatchEvent event object

This example shows the format of the WatchEvent response when using the Events API.

HTTP/2 200
Link: <https://api.github.com/resource?page=2>; rel="next",
      <https://api.github.com/resource?page=5>; rel="last"

[
  {
    "type": "WatchEvent",
    "public": false,
    "payload": {
    },
    "repo": {
      "id": 3,
      "name": "octocat/Hello-World",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World"
    },
    "actor": {
      "id": 1,
      "login": "octocat",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat"
    },
    "org": {
      "id": 1,
      "login": "github",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/github",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif"
    },
    "created_at": "2011-09-06T17:26:27Z",
    "id": "12345"
  }
]

CommitCommentEvent

A commit comment is created. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "commit comment" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action performed. Can be created.
comment	object	The commit comment resource.

CreateEvent

A Git branch or tag is created. For more information, see the "Git database" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
ref	string	The git ref resource.
ref_type	string	The type of Git ref object created in the repository. Can be either branch or tag.
master_branch	string	The name of the repository's default branch (usually master).
description	string	The repository's current description.

DeleteEvent

A Git branch or tag is deleted. For more information, see the "Git database" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
ref	string	The git ref resource.
ref_type	string	The type of Git ref oject deleted in the repository. Can be branch or tag.

ForkEvent

A user forks a repository. For more information, see the "forks" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
forkee	object	The created repository resource.

GollumEvent

A wiki page is created or updated. For more information, see "About wikis."

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
pages	array	The pages that were updated.
pages[][page_name]	string	The name of the page.
pages[][title]	string	The current page title.
pages[][action]	string	The action that was performed on the page. Can be created or edited.
pages[][sha]	string	The latest commit SHA of the page.
pages[][html_url]	string	Points to the HTML wiki page.

IssueCommentEvent

Activity related to an issue or pull request comment. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "issue comments" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed on the comment. Can be one of created, edited, or deleted.
changes	object	The changes to the comment if the action was edited.
changes[body][from]	string	The previous version of the body if the action was edited.
issue	object	The issue the comment belongs to.
comment	object	The comment itself.

IssuesEvent

Activity related to an issue. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "issues" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Can be one of opened, edited, closed, reopened, assigned, unassigned, labeled, or unlabeled.
issue	object	The issue itself.
changes	object	The changes to the issue if the action was edited.
changes[title][from]	string	The previous version of the title if the action was edited.
changes[body][from]	string	The previous version of the body if the action was edited.
assignee	object	The optional user who was assigned or unassigned from the issue.
label	object	The optional label that was added or removed from the issue.

MemberEvent

Activity related to repository collaborators. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "collaborators" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Can be added to indicate a user accepted an invitation to a repository.
member	object	The user that was added.
changes	object	The changes to the collaborator permissions if the action was edited.
changes[old_permission][from]	string	The previous permissions of the collaborator if the action was edited.

PublicEvent

When a private repository is made public. Without a doubt: the best GitHub Enterprise Server event.

Event payload object

This event returns an empty payload object.

PullRequestEvent

Activity related to pull requests. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "pull requests" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Can be one of opened, edited, closed, reopened, assigned, unassigned, review_requested, review_request_removed, labeled, unlabeled, and synchronize.
number	integer	The pull request number.
changes	object	The changes to the comment if the action was edited.
changes[title][from]	string	The previous version of the title if the action was edited.
changes[body][from]	string	The previous version of the body if the action was edited.
pull_request	object	The pull request itself.

PullRequestReviewEvent

Activity related to pull request reviews. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "pull request reviews" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Can be created.
pull_request	object	The pull request the review pertains to.
review	object	The review that was affected.

PullRequestReviewCommentEvent

Activity related to pull request review comments in the pull request's unified diff. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "pull request review comments" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed on the comment. Can be created.
changes	object	The changes to the comment if the action was edited.
changes[body][from]	string	The previous version of the body if the action was edited.
pull_request	object	The pull request the comment belongs to.
comment	object	The comment itself.

PushEvent

One or more commits are pushed to a repository branch or tag.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
push_id	integer	Unique identifier for the push.
size	integer	The number of commits in the push.
distinct_size	integer	The number of distinct commits in the push.
ref	string	The full git ref that was pushed. Example: refs/heads/main.
head	string	The SHA of the most recent commit on ref after the push.
before	string	The SHA of the most recent commit on ref before the push.
commits	array	An array of commit objects describing the pushed commits. (The array includes a maximum of 20 commits. If necessary, you can use the Commits API to fetch additional commits. This limit is applied to timeline events only and isn't applied to webhook deliveries.)
commits[][sha]	string	The SHA of the commit.
commits[][message]	string	The commit message.
commits[][author]	object	The git author of the commit.
commits[][author][name]	string	The git author's name.
commits[][author][email]	string	The git author's email address.
commits[][url]	url	URL that points to the commit API resource.
commits[][distinct]	boolean	Whether this commit is distinct from any that have been pushed before.

ReleaseEvent

Activity related to a release. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "releases" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Can be published.
changes[body][from]	string	The previous version of the body if the action was edited.
changes[name][from]	string	The previous version of the name if the action was edited.
release	object	The release object.

WatchEvent

When someone stars a repository. The type of activity is specified in the action property of the payload object. For more information, see the "starring" REST API.

The event object includes properties that are common for all events. Each event object includes a payload property and the value is unique to each event type. The payload object for this event is described below.

Event payload object

Key	Type	Description
action	string	The action that was performed. Currently, can only be started.