Skill: GitHub Traffic

Fetch and analyze GitHub repository traffic data — page views, git clones, referral sources, popular pages, and star growth. Optionally generate trend charts as PNG images.

Prerequisites:

• gh CLI must be installed and authenticated
• Push (write) access to the target repository is required — GitHub's Traffic API does not work with read-only access
• matplotlib is optional (for PNG chart generation; falls back to ASCII if unavailable)

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When to Use

• The user asks about repository traffic, page views, clone counts, or where visitors come from
• The user wants to see traffic trends over time (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
• The user wants to generate traffic report charts for sharing or documentation
• The user wants to periodically snapshot traffic data to build long-term history

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Important: GitHub Traffic API Limitations

GitHub only provides the last 14 days of traffic data. To track trends over longer periods (30 days, 90 days, etc.), the script stores each fetch in a local history file (~/.github-traffic/<repo>_traffic.json). Regular snapshots are required to build up history.

Recommended: set up a cron job or CI schedule to run the snapshot command periodically:

# Daily snapshot via cron (no output, just stores data)
0 9 * * * python /path/to/scripts/github_traffic.py owner/repo --snapshot

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Default Workflow

python /path/to/skills/github-traffic/scripts/github_traffic.py <owner/repo>

This will:

1. Fetch current traffic data via gh api
2. Save a snapshot to ~/.github-traffic/ for historical tracking
3. Display a formatted summary (views, clones, referrers, popular pages)

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Generating Charts

# Generate PNG trend chart (last 30 days, default)
python .../github_traffic.py owner/repo --chart

# Last 7 days
python .../github_traffic.py owner/repo --chart --days 7

# Last 90 days (needs accumulated history)
python .../github_traffic.py owner/repo --chart --days 90

# ASCII chart (no matplotlib needed)
python .../github_traffic.py owner/repo --ascii

The PNG chart includes up to 3 panels:

1. Page Views — total views and unique visitors (area chart)
2. Git Clones — total clones and unique cloners (bar + line chart)
3. Star Growth — star count over time (line chart, shown when multiple snapshots exist)

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Script Options

Flag	Default	Description
repo (positional)	required	Repository in owner/name format
--chart	off	Generate PNG trend chart
--ascii	off	Force ASCII bar chart output
--days	30	Number of days to include in chart
--history-dir	~/.github-traffic/	Directory for historical data storage
--output	<repo>_traffic.png	Output path for chart image
--snapshot	off	Fetch and store data only (no display)

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Examples

# Quick traffic summary
python .../github_traffic.py zilliztech/memsearch

# Weekly trend chart
python .../github_traffic.py zilliztech/memsearch --chart --days 7

# Monthly trend chart, custom output path
python .../github_traffic.py zilliztech/memsearch --chart --days 30 --output ./reports/traffic.png

# Just store a snapshot (for cron jobs)
python .../github_traffic.py zilliztech/memsearch --snapshot

# ASCII chart when matplotlib is not available
python .../github_traffic.py zilliztech/memsearch --ascii --days 14

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History & Long-Term Tracking

Each run merges the current 14-day window into a persistent JSON file at ~/.github-traffic/<owner>_<repo>_traffic.json. The file contains:

• Daily views: date → {views, unique}
• Daily clones: date → {clones, unique}
• Star snapshots: date → star count
• Fetch metadata: timestamp, 14-day totals, stars, forks

To build meaningful 30/90-day charts, run the script at least every 14 days (daily is ideal). Gaps longer than 14 days will show as missing data in charts.

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Permissions

The GitHub Traffic API requires push access to the repository. This means:

• Repository owners and admins: full access
• Collaborators with write/maintain role: full access
• Read-only users and forkers: no access (API returns 403)

If you get a permission error, check your gh auth status and ensure your token has the repo scope.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"Must have push access" error	You need write access to the repo. Check gh auth status.
Chart shows only 14 days	GitHub only provides 14-day windows. Run --snapshot regularly to accumulate history.
matplotlib not found	Install with pip install matplotlib. Or use --ascii for text-based charts.
No data for some dates	GitHub may not report days with zero traffic. These gaps are normal.