GitHub Service

Overview

GitHub service enables automation based on repository events such as stars, issues, and pull requests. Monitor repository activity and create issues automatically based on triggers.

Connection Setup

1. Navigate to /api/connections/github or use the frontend connection interface
2. Authorize AREA to access your GitHub account
3. OAuth scopes granted:
   • repo - Full control of private and public repositories
   • read:user - Read user profile data
   • user:email - Access to user’s email addresses

Service Details

• Service Name: github
• Display Name: GitHub
• Description: Repository monitoring and automation
• Requires OAuth: Yes
• Actions: 3
• Reactions: 1

Actions

1. New Star on Repository

Name: new_star_on_repo

Description: Triggers when someone stars one of your repositories.

Configuration:

{
  "repo_name": "username/repository"
}

Parameters:

Example Workflow:

{
  "name": "Thank Stars",
  "action_id": <new_star_on_repo_id>,
  "reaction_id": <send_email_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "myusername/my-awesome-project"
  },
  "reaction_config": {
    "to": "me@email.com",
    "subject": "New Star!",
    "body": "Someone starred your repository!"
  }
}

Use Cases:

• Get notified when your repository gets stars
• Track repository popularity
• Send thank-you messages to stargazers
• Log star activity for analytics

2. New Issue Created

Name: new_issue_created

Description: Triggers when a new issue is created in your repository.

Configuration:

{
  "repo_name": "username/repository"
}

Parameters:

Example Workflow:

{
  "name": "Issue Alert",
  "action_id": <new_issue_created_id>,
  "reaction_id": <send_email_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "myusername/my-project"
  },
  "reaction_config": {
    "to": "team@company.com",
    "subject": "New GitHub Issue",
    "body": "A new issue was created in your repository"
  }
}

Use Cases:

• Get instant notifications on new issues
• Alert team members about new bug reports
• Create backup logs of all issues
• Trigger automated responses to issues

3. New Pull Request Opened

Name: new_pr_opened

Description: Triggers when a new pull request is opened in your repository.

Configuration:

{
  "repo_name": "username/repository"
}

Parameters:

Example Workflow:

{
  "name": "PR Notification",
  "action_id": <new_pr_opened_id>,
  "reaction_id": <log_message_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "myusername/open-source-project"
  },
  "reaction_config": {
    "message": "New PR opened - review needed!"
  }
}

Use Cases:

• Get notified about new pull requests
• Alert code reviewers automatically
• Track PR activity for metrics
• Create review reminder workflows

Reactions

1. Create Issue

Name: create_issue

Description: Creates a new issue in a specified repository.

Configuration:

{
  "repo_name": "username/repository",
  "title": "Bug Report",
  "body": "Detailed description of the issue"
}

Parameters:

Example Workflow:

{
  "name": "Auto-Report Failures",
  "action_id": <email_subject_contains_id>,
  "reaction_id": <create_issue_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "keyword": "FAILURE"
  },
  "reaction_config": {
    "repo_name": "myusername/monitoring",
    "title": "Automated Failure Report",
    "body": "A failure was detected in the system. Please investigate."
  }
}

Use Cases:

• Automatically create issues from error notifications
• Cross-post bugs from other platforms
• Schedule recurring tasks as issues
• Create issues from user feedback

Common Use Cases

1. Star Tracker with Email Alerts

• Trigger: New star on repository
• Reaction: Send email notification to yourself

2. Issue-to-Issue Automation

• Trigger: New issue in Repository A
• Reaction: Create issue in Repository B (cross-repo tracking)

3. PR Review Reminders

• Trigger: New PR opened
• Reaction: Send email to code review team

4. Automated Bug Reporting

• Trigger: Email subject contains “ERROR”
• Reaction: Create GitHub issue with error details

5. Repository Activity Logging

• Trigger: New star/issue/PR
• Reaction: Log message to workflow logs for analytics

API Endpoints

See OAuth Connections for connection endpoints.

Limitations

• Rate Limiting: GitHub API has rate limits (5000 requests/hour for authenticated users)
• Repository Access: Can only monitor repositories you have access to
• Event Detection: Scheduler checks every 1 minute, so there may be delays
• Issue Creation: Requires write access to the target repository
• Private Repos: Requires repo scope for private repository access

Troubleshooting

Events Not Being Detected:

• Verify repository name is in correct format: username/repo
• Check OAuth connection is active at /api/connections
• Ensure you have access to the repository
• Scheduler runs every 1 minute - there may be a delay
• For private repos, ensure repo scope was granted

Create Issue Fails:

• Verify you have write access to the repository
• Check repository name format: username/repo
• Ensure title doesn’t exceed 200 characters
• Ensure body doesn’t exceed 5000 characters
• Verify OAuth connection has repo scope

Repository Not Found:

• Double-check spelling of repository name
• Ensure you have access to the repository
• For organization repos, use organization/repo format
• Private repos require repo OAuth scope

Advanced Usage

Repository Name Format

Always use the full repository name including the owner:

• Correct: octocat/Hello-World
• Incorrect: Hello-World

Monitoring Multiple Repositories

Create separate workflows for each repository you want to monitor:

{
  "name": "Monitor Project A",
  "action_id": <new_issue_created_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "username/project-a"
  }
}

{
  "name": "Monitor Project B",
  "action_id": <new_issue_created_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "username/project-b"
  }
}

Cross-Repository Workflows

Create issues in one repository based on events in another:

{
  "name": "Bug Tracker",
  "action_id": <new_issue_created_id>,
  "reaction_id": <create_issue_id>,
  "action_config": {
    "repo_name": "company/production-app"
  },
  "reaction_config": {
    "repo_name": "company/bug-tracker",
    "title": "Bug reported in production",
    "body": "New bug issue detected"
  }
}