REST API
- Git course
- Expert
- Lesson 21/32
- 4 min
Learn programmatic access with the GitHub REST API.
What is the GitHub REST API?
The GitHub REST API lets you interact with repositories, users, issues, and other GitHub resources through HTTP requests. You can perform operations programmatically instead of doing them manually in a browser.
GET https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-WorldAPI responses are usually in JSON format. Each resource has a specific endpoint.
Endpoints and HTTP responses
An endpoint is a URL path used to access a specific resource through an API. For example, the /repos/{owner}/{repo} path is used for repository information.
GET /repos/octocat/Hello-World
200 OK
{
"name": "Hello-World",
"private": false
}HTTP status codes indicate the result of a request. 200 means success, 404 means the resource was not found, and 401 can indicate an authentication problem.
Practice Create a GitHub API request
Create a GET request to retrieve information about the octocat/Hello-World repository. Assign the URL to the api_url variable and send the request with curl. Also display the HTTP response status code.
Starter code
# API adresini değişkene ata
# GET isteğini ve HTTP durum kodunu gösterSample solution
api_url="https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World"
curl -sS -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" -X GET "$api_url"Expected output
200
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 You want to retrieve repository information through an HTTP request. Which HTTP method is suitable?
- DELETE
- GET Correct answer
- PATCH
- POST
Explanation: The GET method is used to read a resource through an API.
2 Complete the repository endpoint
GET https://api.github.com/repos/____GET https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-WorldExplanation: A repository endpoint contains the owner's username and the repository name.
3 REST API components
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Endpoint |
Address used to access a resource |
GET |
Reads resource data |
JSON |
Common response data format |
HTTP status |
Indicates the request result |