Methodology, sources, and citation.

GitStarClub tracks public GitHub repositories that are in the current 10k-star-or-more set. Repository pages, organization pages, rankings, categories, Pulse, compare, and exports all read from the same published view family.

Rankings are archive pages, not endorsements. They expose source-backed star totals, period gains, milestones, owner aggregates, and category views so a reader can verify the field behind a claim.

• When did react/react first cross 100k GitHub stars?
• Which repositories gained the most GitHub stars this month?
• How many tracked stars does an organization have across its repositories?
• Which Python repositories have the most GitHub stars?
• How do two repositories compare after both reached 10k stars?

Historical trends are reconstructed from GH Archive (public GitHub event data since 2015). Current totals come from the official GitHub GraphQL and Search APIs. We display only public data for public repositories.

Historical event data is credited to GH Archive, licensed under CC BY 4.0. GitStarClub derives, aggregates, and transforms that event stream into ranking and curve views. Repository metadata and current star totals come from public GitHub APIs.

All-time repository rankings use current public GitHub star totals. Organization rankings sum current stars across that owner's tracked repositories. Period rankings use GitStarClub's precomputed weekly, monthly, or yearly ranking data where the visible value is stars gained in that UTC period.

Historical stock curves are seam-aware: pre-seam GH Archive gross additions are anchored to GitHub's authoritative star total, then post-seam net changes are added on top of the frozen anchor. Ranking pages render the published order from those precomputed views.

GitHub event history and the current public star count do not always line up exactly. GitStarClub uses a fixed seam date, anchors the older cumulative history to the current GitHub API total with a non-negative factor, and then adds the later net star changes from the event stream.

The goal is a consistent historical curve that can be compared across repositories without running a database, search engine, or live GitHub query during a visitor request. Current overlay data has been folded through May 2026.

Category assignment is deterministic. Rules use stored repository metadata such as primary language, language family, owner kind, curated topics, and keyword predicates. GitStarClub does not use a runtime classifier, LLM, or manual per-request decision for category pages.

When metadata is missing or a rule does not meet the public category threshold, the category is omitted or shown through the explicit fallback used by that dimension. Category counts and links come from deterministic category rules over stored repository metadata.

Categories Browse the tracked open-source set through deterministic language and topic groupings.

current_stars

The current public GitHub star total for a tracked repository.

current_stars_sum

The sum of current stars across an owner or organization's tracked repositories.

rank item value

The visible ranking value, such as stars gained during a week, month, or year.

curve.monthly total_end

The repository's anchored total at the end of a recorded month.

curve.recent_daily net change

The recent daily star change used for fresh movement views.

milestones.crossed_10k / crossed_50k / crossed_100k

Frozen first-known dates when a repository crossed the 10k, 50k, or 100k star thresholds.

Public URLs are intended to remain citeable. Rankings, dated ranking periods, repository pages, organization pages, category pages, and dated export directories keep their canonical URL while newer data is published.

The /data/exports/v1/latest/ files are convenience aliases to the newest export. For archival citation, prefer the page URL plus data-as-of date, or a dated export directory when using downloadable files.

Rankings and Categories are the crawlable entry points for the public archive.

GitStarClub publishes precomputed data for repository pages, organization pages, rankings, categories, Pulse, and comparison views. Historical views are rebuilt by the data workflow, while live mover overlays are refreshed by the scheduled publishing path.

The website reads only that published data at request and build time. It does not run a database, scoring engine, AI model, or external paid service while serving content pages.

Data dates are shown only when real metadata is available. Missing metadata does not invent freshness; the page falls back to the static methodology and visible source links.

Two different measures. Historical trends use gross stars added based on GH Archive watch events. The current daily change is net, so it can decrease when stars are removed. This creates a small inconsistency at the boundary between the two measures. Current totals always use GitHub's authoritative star count.

Selection bias. We backfill only repositories that have at least 10,000 stars today. Projects that were once popular but later fell below that threshold are not included.

Why start in 2015? Before late 2012, GitHub watch events were not equivalent to stars. By 2015, the data is sufficiently consistent for long-term comparison.

All data is stored in UTC and aggregated by UTC day. When an exact timestamp is shown, both UTC and JST (Japan Standard Time) are displayed.

GitStarClub is a derived, reviewable presentation of public GitHub signals. Cite GitStarClub for the transformed rankings and charts, and credit GH Archive for the underlying public event archive when reusing event-derived history.

For a ranking, repository, organization, category, or comparison claim, cite the GitStarClub page URL, page title, data-as-of date when present, and access date. For downloadable files, cite the manifest or dated export directory rather than only the moving latest alias.

For star-history facts derived from public event history, credit GH Archive under CC BY 4.0. For transformed rankings, anchored curves, milestones, category pages, and export files, cite GitStarClub as the derived presentation.

GitStarClub page

Use the permanent URL, page title, and data-as-of date when available.

GH Archive

Credit the public event archive when reusing event-derived history or WatchEvent-based curves.

GitHub public API

Treat current star totals and repository metadata as public GitHub API facts surfaced through GitStarClub views.

GitStarClub publishes small static CSV and JSON extracts for top rankings, repository milestone crossings, and organization aggregates. The files are generated from existing precomputed data, versioned under /data/exports/v1/, and dated from real view metadata.

The /data/exports/v1/latest/ links are stable aliases to the newest dated export directory, so downloads keep working without storing a duplicate latest snapshot.

License: CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Data from GH Archive, derived by GitStarClub.

• Export manifest
• Top rankings CSV · JSON
• Repository milestones CSV · JSON
• Organization aggregates CSV · JSON

See DATA-EXPORTS.md for fields, source views, and regeneration notes.

Corrections and source review belong in the public repository. The linked methodology documents describe ranking definitions, category rules, data contracts, and export fields.

Source repository

github.com/jasonhnd/gitstarclub.com

Corrections and issues

GitHub issues

Ranking methodology

docs/RANKING.md

Category methodology

docs/CATEGORIES.md

Data contracts

docs/DATA-CONTRACTS.md

Data export documentation

docs/DATA-EXPORTS.md

GitHub API documentation

docs.github.com/en/graphql