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 indentifier 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 retrive 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.
Status: 200 OK
Link: <https://api.github.com/resource?page=2>; rel="next",
<https://api.github.com/resource?page=5>; rel="last"
[
{
"type": "WatchEvent",
"public": true,
"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 data" 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 data" 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 the "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 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, 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 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, 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. |
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.
| 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/master. |
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. |