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The REST API is now versioned. For more information, see "About API versioning."

REST API endpoints for watching

Use the REST API to subscribe to notifications for activity in a repository.

About watching

You can use the REST API to subscribe to notifications for activity in a repository. To bookmark a repository instead, see REST API endpoints for starring.

Watching versus starring

In August 2012, we changed the way watching works on GitHub. Some API client applications may still be using the original "watcher" endpoints for accessing this data. You should now use the "star" endpoints instead. For more information, REST API endpoints for starring and the changelog post.

In responses from the REST API, subscribers_count corresponds to the number of watchers, whereas watchers, watchers_count, and stargazers_count correspond to the number of users that have starred a repository.

List watchers

Lists the people watching the specified repository.

Fine-grained access tokens for "List watchers"

This endpoint works with the following fine-grained token types:

The fine-grained token must have the following permission set:

  • "Metadata" repository permissions (read)

This endpoint can be used without authentication or the aforementioned permissions if only public resources are requested.

Parameters for "List watchers"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
per_page integer

The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 30

page integer

The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 1

HTTP response status codes for "List watchers"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

Code samples for "List watchers"

Request example

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/subscribers
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/subscribers

Response

Status: 200
[ { "login": "octocat", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "gravatar_id": "", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat", "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat", "followers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/followers", "following_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/following{/other_user}", "gists_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}", "starred_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}", "subscriptions_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/subscriptions", "organizations_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/orgs", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/events{/privacy}", "received_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/received_events", "type": "User", "site_admin": false } ]

Get a repository subscription

Gets information about whether the authenticated user is subscribed to the repository.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Get a repository subscription"

This endpoint does not work with GitHub App user access tokens, GitHub App installation access tokens, or fine-grained personal access tokens.

Parameters for "Get a repository subscription"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes for "Get a repository subscription"

Status codeDescription
200

if you subscribe to the repository

403

Forbidden

404

Not Found if you don't subscribe to the repository

Code samples for "Get a repository subscription"

Request example

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/subscription
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/subscription

if you subscribe to the repository

Status: 200
{ "subscribed": true, "ignored": false, "reason": null, "created_at": "2012-10-06T21:34:12Z", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/example/subscription", "repository_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/example" }

Set a repository subscription

If you would like to watch a repository, set subscribed to true. If you would like to ignore notifications made within a repository, set ignored to true. If you would like to stop watching a repository, delete the repository's subscription completely.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Set a repository subscription"

This endpoint does not work with GitHub App user access tokens, GitHub App installation access tokens, or fine-grained personal access tokens.

Parameters for "Set a repository subscription"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
subscribed boolean

Determines if notifications should be received from this repository.

ignored boolean

Determines if all notifications should be blocked from this repository.

HTTP response status codes for "Set a repository subscription"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

Code samples for "Set a repository subscription"

Request example

put/repos/{owner}/{repo}/subscription
curl -L \ -X PUT \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/subscription \ -d '{"subscribed":true,"ignored":false}'

Response

Status: 200
{ "subscribed": true, "ignored": false, "reason": null, "created_at": "2012-10-06T21:34:12Z", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/example/subscription", "repository_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/example" }

Delete a repository subscription

This endpoint should only be used to stop watching a repository. To control whether or not you wish to receive notifications from a repository, set the repository's subscription manually.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Delete a repository subscription"

This endpoint does not work with GitHub App user access tokens, GitHub App installation access tokens, or fine-grained personal access tokens.

Parameters for "Delete a repository subscription"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes for "Delete a repository subscription"

Status codeDescription
204

No Content

Code samples for "Delete a repository subscription"

Request example

delete/repos/{owner}/{repo}/subscription
curl -L \ -X DELETE \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/subscription

Response

Status: 204

List repositories watched by the authenticated user

Lists repositories the authenticated user is watching.

Fine-grained access tokens for "List repositories watched by the authenticated user"

This endpoint works with the following fine-grained token types:

The fine-grained token must have the following permission set:

  • "Watching" user permissions (read)

This endpoint can be used without authentication or the aforementioned permissions if only public resources are requested.

Parameters for "List repositories watched by the authenticated user"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
per_page integer

The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 30

page integer

The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 1

HTTP response status codes for "List repositories watched by the authenticated user"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

304

Not modified

401

Requires authentication

403

Forbidden

Code samples for "List repositories watched by the authenticated user"

Request example

get/user/subscriptions
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/user/subscriptions

Response

Status: 200
[ { "id": 1296269, "node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkxMjk2MjY5", "name": "Hello-World", "full_name": "octocat/Hello-World", "owner": { "login": "octocat", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "gravatar_id": "", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat", "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat", "followers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/followers", "following_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/following{/other_user}", "gists_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}", "starred_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}", "subscriptions_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/subscriptions", "organizations_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/orgs", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/events{/privacy}", "received_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/received_events", "type": "User", "site_admin": false }, "private": false, "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World", "description": "This your first repo!", "fork": false, "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World", "archive_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/{archive_format}{/ref}", "assignees_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/assignees{/user}", "blobs_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs{/sha}", "branches_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches{/branch}", "collaborators_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/collaborators{/collaborator}", "comments_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/comments{/number}", "commits_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/commits{/sha}", "compare_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/compare/{base}...{head}", "contents_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contents/{+path}", "contributors_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contributors", "deployments_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/deployments", "downloads_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/downloads", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/events", "forks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/forks", "git_commits_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits{/sha}", "git_refs_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/refs{/sha}", "git_tags_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/tags{/sha}", "git_url": "git:github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git", "issue_comment_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/comments{/number}", "issue_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/events{/number}", "issues_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues{/number}", "keys_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/keys{/key_id}", "labels_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/labels{/name}", "languages_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/languages", "merges_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/merges", "milestones_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/milestones{/number}", "notifications_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/notifications{?since,all,participating}", "pulls_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/pulls{/number}", "releases_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/releases{/id}", "ssh_url": "git@github.com:octocat/Hello-World.git", "stargazers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/stargazers", "statuses_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/statuses/{sha}", "subscribers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscribers", "subscription_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscription", "tags_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/tags", "teams_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/teams", "trees_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees{/sha}", "clone_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git", "mirror_url": "git:git.example.com/octocat/Hello-World", "hooks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/hooks", "svn_url": "https://svn.github.com/octocat/Hello-World", "homepage": "https://github.com", "language": null, "forks_count": 9, "stargazers_count": 80, "watchers_count": 80, "size": 108, "default_branch": "master", "open_issues_count": 0, "is_template": false, "topics": [ "octocat", "atom", "electron", "api" ], "has_issues": true, "has_projects": true, "has_wiki": true, "has_pages": false, "has_downloads": true, "has_discussions": false, "archived": false, "disabled": false, "visibility": "public", "pushed_at": "2011-01-26T19:06:43Z", "created_at": "2011-01-26T19:01:12Z", "updated_at": "2011-01-26T19:14:43Z", "permissions": { "admin": false, "push": false, "pull": true }, "security_and_analysis": { "advanced_security": { "status": "enabled" }, "secret_scanning": { "status": "enabled" }, "secret_scanning_push_protection": { "status": "disabled" } } } ]

List repositories watched by a user

Lists repositories a user is watching.

Fine-grained access tokens for "List repositories watched by a user"

This endpoint works with the following fine-grained token types:

The fine-grained token must have the following permission set:

  • "Watching" user permissions (read)

This endpoint can be used without authentication or the aforementioned permissions if only public resources are requested.

Parameters for "List repositories watched by a user"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
username string Required

The handle for the GitHub user account.

Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
per_page integer

The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 30

page integer

The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "Using pagination in the REST API."

Default: 1

HTTP response status codes for "List repositories watched by a user"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

Code samples for "List repositories watched by a user"

Request example

get/users/{username}/subscriptions
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/users/USERNAME/subscriptions

Response

Status: 200
[ { "id": 1296269, "node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkxMjk2MjY5", "name": "Hello-World", "full_name": "octocat/Hello-World", "owner": { "login": "octocat", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "gravatar_id": "", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat", "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat", "followers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/followers", "following_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/following{/other_user}", "gists_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}", "starred_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}", "subscriptions_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/subscriptions", "organizations_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/orgs", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/events{/privacy}", "received_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/received_events", "type": "User", "site_admin": false }, "private": false, "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World", "description": "This your first repo!", "fork": false, "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World", "archive_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/{archive_format}{/ref}", "assignees_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/assignees{/user}", "blobs_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs{/sha}", "branches_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches{/branch}", "collaborators_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/collaborators{/collaborator}", "comments_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/comments{/number}", "commits_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/commits{/sha}", "compare_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/compare/{base}...{head}", "contents_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contents/{+path}", "contributors_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contributors", "deployments_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/deployments", "downloads_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/downloads", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/events", "forks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/forks", "git_commits_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits{/sha}", "git_refs_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/refs{/sha}", "git_tags_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/tags{/sha}", "git_url": "git:github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git", "issue_comment_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/comments{/number}", "issue_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/events{/number}", "issues_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues{/number}", "keys_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/keys{/key_id}", "labels_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/labels{/name}", "languages_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/languages", "merges_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/merges", "milestones_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/milestones{/number}", "notifications_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/notifications{?since,all,participating}", "pulls_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/pulls{/number}", "releases_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/releases{/id}", "ssh_url": "git@github.com:octocat/Hello-World.git", "stargazers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/stargazers", "statuses_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/statuses/{sha}", "subscribers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscribers", "subscription_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscription", "tags_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/tags", "teams_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/teams", "trees_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees{/sha}", "clone_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git", "mirror_url": "git:git.example.com/octocat/Hello-World", "hooks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/hooks", "svn_url": "https://svn.github.com/octocat/Hello-World", "homepage": "https://github.com", "language": null, "forks_count": 9, "stargazers_count": 80, "watchers_count": 80, "size": 108, "default_branch": "master", "open_issues_count": 0, "is_template": false, "topics": [ "octocat", "atom", "electron", "api" ], "has_issues": true, "has_projects": true, "has_wiki": true, "has_pages": false, "has_downloads": true, "has_discussions": false, "archived": false, "disabled": false, "visibility": "public", "pushed_at": "2011-01-26T19:06:43Z", "created_at": "2011-01-26T19:01:12Z", "updated_at": "2011-01-26T19:14:43Z", "permissions": { "admin": false, "push": false, "pull": true }, "security_and_analysis": { "advanced_security": { "status": "enabled" }, "secret_scanning": { "status": "enabled" }, "secret_scanning_push_protection": { "status": "disabled" } } } ]