How to Check Who Starred My Repo
You can learn how to check who starred my repo through the repo star count page. You can also query the platform API to fetch the full list of stargazers. Engineering teams often automate this check to track project growth and community reach. Still, teams often use broad API keys that grant too much power to simple scripts. A leaked key with write permissions can expose private code and sensitive system data. How to check who starred my repo using native tools GitHub tracks every star as a p
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You can learn how to check who starred my repo through the repo star count page. You can also query the platform API to fetch the full list of stargazers. Engineering teams often automate this check to track project growth and community reach. Still, teams often use broad API keys that grant too much power to simple scripts. A leaked key with write permissions can expose private code and sensitive system data.
How to check who starred my repo using native tools
GitHub tracks every star as a public event linked to a user profile. In the web browser, you click the star counter at the top of your project. This action opens a dedicated page that displays every user who bookmarked the project. For public projects, anyone on the internet can view this list of users.
For private projects, only users with read permissions can see the stargazer list. Teams that track stars over time usually build automated scripts instead of clicking pages. These scripts send requests to the platform API to pull stargazer data on a schedule. The API returns user names, profile links, and the exact time of each star.
To read private project stars or avoid rate limits, the script needs an API key. A user creates a personal token or registers a bot account with read roles. The script includes this secret key in every request it sends to the host.
Why native API tokens leave a security gap
Native repo roles and tokens solve the basic problem of who can log in. They verify the user identity when a script connects to the platform API. A fine-grained token can limit a script so it only reads repo metadata. In practice, developers often pick broad scopes to make their scripts work fast.
A developer might reuse an existing token that has full write permissions across all repos. The native token check only asks if the key is valid at login time. It does not inspect what individual requests or commands do in flight.
If a bad actor steals that key, they can do much more than read stars. They can clone private code, change branch rules, or push malicious commits. Even when teams store analytics data in a local database, risks remain high. Scripts that write user data into internal tables often use shared database accounts.
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Those database accounts rarely restrict which tables a script can read or change. If someone compromises the star tracking app, they can run queries against production tables. Those tables might hold customer emails, phone numbers, card numbers, or national IDs.
Managing automated scripts and data access safely
Teams need better control over how automated jobs run queries and API requests. First, always give your star tracking scripts the smallest role possible on the code host. Use a read-only token that applies only to the specific public or private project. Never reuse a personal developer key for an automated background job.
Second, separate your analytics database from your core production systems. When your script saves stargazer profiles, it should use a restricted database role. That role should only allow inserts into a single analytics table. Still, static roles on databases cannot stop every bad query on their own.
A role decides who can start a session, not what each query does next. Teams need runtime controls that inspect every command and mask sensitive fields like emails. When data masking is active, the system rewrites matched fields in query results.
Check database and API queries on the wire
Identity tools, roles, and network rules decide who opens a session. Setup alone cannot check what each query does or mask sensitive values in a response once a session starts. When workflows touch Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, ClickHouse, Kubernetes APIs, SSH, or internal HTTP APIs, hoop.dev runs beside those services as an open-source proxy, a sidecar for your Postgres or API. It inspects requests coming in and results going back on the wire.
Your login details and client tools stay as they are while hoop.dev guardrails refuse bad deletes or drops before they run. On responses, hoop.dev data masking rewrites matched sensitive values in memory. Furthermore, hoop.dev holds SOC 2 Type II, is MIT licensed, and writes every query and decision to an audit trail that generates evidence for HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS. See the source on GitHub.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see when a specific user starred my repository?
Yes, the platform API can return the exact timestamp for every star event. You must request the star creation media type header when you send your API call.
Do I get notified every time someone stars my project?
The platform does not send emails for stars by default to prevent inbox spam. You can see recent stars in your main activity feed or set up a webhook.
Can a user hide their name when they star a public repo?
No, starring a public project is always a public action tied to the user profile. If a user wants a private bookmark, they must save the link in their browser.