List users containing a specified string using the GitHub API

This article aims to guide developers on how to use the GitHub API to retrieve a list of users whose usernames contain a specific string. Since the GitHub API limits the number of users returned each time by default, this article will introduce two pagination methods: using the pagination function provided by Octokit and manual loop query, and explain how to implement it in detail through code examples. By studying this article, you will be able to efficiently get the complete user list from the GitHub API and filter it as needed.

The GitHub API provides a powerful way to retrieve user information, but by default it limits the number of users returned per request. In order to get a complete list of users, especially when we need to search for users whose usernames contain a specific string, we need to utilize the paging mechanism. This article will introduce two methods to implement paging to help you obtain the required user information from the GitHub API efficiently.

Using Octokit’s Pagination feature

Octokit is an official JavaScript library for interacting with the GitHub API. It provides a convenient pagination function to simplify pagination operations.

The following is sample code using the Octokit pagination feature:

 import { Octokit } from "octokit";

const octokit = new Octokit({
  auth: 'YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN' // Replace with your GitHub Token
});

async function listUsers(username) {
  const data = await octokit.paginate("GET /search/users", {
    q: username, // Use the search/users API and specify the search keyword per_page: 100, // Return 100 users per page headers: {
      "X-GitHub-Api-Version": "2022-11-28",
    },
  });

  console.log(data);
  return data;
}

// Example: Search for users whose username contains "octocat" listUsers("octocat");

Code explanation:

1. import { Octokit } from "octokit"; : Import the Octokit library.
2. const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: 'YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN' }); : Create an Octokit instance and use your GitHub Token for authentication. Please be sure to replace YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN with your real Token.
3. octokit.paginate("GET /search/users", { ... }) : Use the octokit.paginate method to perform pagination queries.
   • "GET /search/users": Specify the API interface to be called. The search/users interface is used here, which allows searching for users by keywords.
   • q: username: The q parameter specifies the search keyword, and the passed in username parameter is used here.
   • per_page: 100: Specifies to return 100 users per page, which is the maximum allowed by the API.
   • headers: Set request headers and specify the GitHub API version.
4. console.log(data) : Print the returned user data. data is an array containing all matching users.

Things to note:

• Please make sure you have installed the Octokit library: npm install octokit
• To avoid API rate limits, it is recommended to use GitHub Token for authentication.
• The search/users API sorts by match, not by user ID.

Manual loop query

If you don't want to use Octokit's pagination function, you can also implement paging query manually.

The following is sample code for a manual loop query:

 async function listUsersManually(username) {
  let users = [];
  let page = 1;
  const perPage = 100;

  while (true) {
    const response = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/search/users?q=${username}&per_page=${perPage}&page=${page}`, {
      headers: {
        "X-GitHub-Api-Version": "2022-11-28",
        "Authorization": `token YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN` // Replace with your GitHub Token
      }
    });

    const data = await response.json();

    if (!data.items || data.items.length === 0) {
      break; // No more users, exit the loop}

    users = users.concat(data.items);
    if (data.items.length <p> <strong>Code explanation:</strong></p><ol>
<li> <strong>let users = [];</strong> : Initialize an empty array to store all matching users.</li>
<li> <strong>let page = 1;</strong> : initialize the page number to 1.</li>
<li> <strong>const perPage = 100;</strong> : Set the number of users returned per page to 100.</li>
<li> <strong>while (true) { ... }</strong> : Enter an infinite loop until there are no more users or an error is encountered.</li>
<li> <strong>fetch(...)</strong> : Use the fetch API to send HTTP requests.<ul>
<li> https://api.github.com/search/users?q=${username}&amp;per_page=${perPage}&amp;page=${page}: API URL, including search keywords, number of pages per page, and page number.</li>
<li> headers: Set request headers, specify GitHub API version and authentication token. <strong>Please be sure to replace YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN with your real Token.</strong>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li> <strong>data = await response.json()</strong> : Parse JSON response.</li>
<li> <strong>if (!data.items || data.items.length === 0) { break; }</strong> : Check if there are more users. If data.items is empty or has a length of 0, it means there are no more users and the loop exits.</li>
<li> <strong>users = users.concat(data.items);</strong> : Add the users of the current page to the users array.</li>
<li> <strong>page ;</strong> : Add page number and prepare to query the next page.</li>
<li> <strong>if (data.items.length  : If the number of users returned is less than perPage, it means it is the last page and exit the loop.</strong>
</li>
</ol><p> <strong>Things to note:</strong></p>

• Likewise, to avoid API rate limits, it is recommended to use GitHub Token for authentication.
• Need to handle possible errors in API requests.
• Manual looping queries require more code, but provide more flexible control over the paging process.

Summarize

This article describes two methods of using the GitHub API to list users containing a specified string: using Octokit's pagination function and manual loop query. Octokit's pagination function is more concise and convenient, while manual loop query is more flexible. You can choose the appropriate method based on your needs. When using the GitHub API, be sure to be aware of API rate limits and use GitHub Tokens for authentication. In addition, the search/users API is a powerful tool that can search for users based on various criteria, please check the GitHub API documentation for more information.

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