astro-loader-github-releases

This package provides GitHub releases loaders for Astro projects. It includes:

• githubReleasesLoader – Loads releases at build time. Supports two modes: load from a user’s commit history or from a list of repositories.
• liveGithubReleasesLoader – Fetches releases at runtime on each request. Supports the same two modes when fetching multiple releases, or fetches a single release by its identifier.

Installation

npm install astro-loader-github-releases

Usage

To use the Astro loader, ensure Astro version ^4.14.0 || ^5.0.0. For ^4.14.0, enable the experimental content layer in astro.config.ts:

export default defineConfig({
  experimental: {
    contentLayer: true,
  },
})

githubReleasesLoader (Build-time Collection)

In src/content/config.ts (for ^4.14.0) or src/content.config.ts (for ^5.0.0), import and configure the build-time loader to define a new content collection:

import { defineCollection } from "astro:content"
import { githubReleasesLoader } from "astro-loader-github-releases"

const githubReleases = defineCollection({
  loader: githubReleasesLoader({
    mode: /* 'userCommit' or 'repoList' */,
    // Config options based on `mode`. See below.
  }),
})

export const collections = { githubReleases }

Query the content collection like any other Astro content collection to render the loaded releases:

---
import { getCollection } from "astro:content"

const releases = await getCollection("githubReleases")
---
<!-- Entries' Zod Schema varies by `loadMode`. See below. -->
<ul>
  {
    releases.map((release) => (
      <li>
        <a href={release.data.url}>{release.data.repoNameWithOwner} - {release.data.tagName}</a>
      </li>
    ))
  }
</ul>

repoList mode supports rendering release content:

---
import { getCollection } from "astro:content"

const releases = await getCollection("githubReleases")
---
<!-- entryReturnType: 'byRelease' -->
{
  releases.map(async (release) => {
    const { Content } = await render(release)
    return <Content />
  })
}

---
import { getCollection } from "astro:content"

const repos = await getCollection("githubReleases")
---
<!-- entryReturnType: 'byRepository' -->
{
  repos.map((repo) => (
    <div>
      <p>{repo.data.repo}</p>
      {repo.data.releases.map((release) => {
        return <section set:html={release.descriptionHTML} />
      })}
    </div>
  ))
}

To update the data, trigger a site rebuild (e.g., using a third-party cron job service), as the loader fetches data only at build time.

liveGithubReleasesLoader (Live Collection, Experimental)

Astro 5.10+ introduces experimental live content collections, which allow data fetching at runtime. To use this feature, enable the experimental liveContentCollections flag as shown below, and use an adapter that supports on-demand rendering.

// astro.config.mjs
export default {
  experimental: {
    liveContentCollections: true,
  },
};

In src/live.config.ts, import and configure the live loader to define a new live content collection:

// src/live.config.ts
import { defineLiveCollection } from 'astro:content';
import { liveGithubReleasesLoader } from 'astro-loader-github-releases';

const liveGithubReleases = defineLiveCollection({
  loader: liveGithubReleasesLoader(),
});

export const collections = { liveGithubReleases };

Query at runtime using getLiveCollection() or getLiveEntry():

---
export const prerender = false;
import { getLiveCollection, getLiveEntry } from 'astro:content';

// Get releases
const { entries: releases, error } = await getLiveCollection('liveGithubReleases', {
  mode: /* 'userCommit' or 'repoList' */,
  // Config options based on `mode`. See below.
});

// Get individual release
/* const { entry: release } = await getLiveEntry('liveGithubReleases', {
  // by release node ID
  identifier: 'RE_kwDOFL76Q84O4ieR',

  // by url
  identifier: 'https://github.com/withastro/astro/releases/tag/[email protected]',

  // by object
  identifier: { owner: 'withastro', repo: 'astro', tag: '[email protected]' },
}); */
---

{
  error ? (
    <p>{error.message}</p>
  ) : (
    <div>
      {releases?.map((release) => (
        <div>
          <a href={release.data.url}>{release.data.repoNameWithOwner} - {release.data.tagName}</a>
          {/* Optional `<Content />` from `await render(release)` for `mode: 'repoList'` */}
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  )
}

Configuration

githubReleasesLoader Options

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | mode* | 'userCommit' \| 'repoList' | Specifies loading releases from a user’s commit messages or a repository list, with mode-specific options and entries' Zod Schema. | | clearStore | boolean (default: false) | Whether to clear the store scoped to the collection before storing newly loaded data. |

userCommit Mode

The loader uses the GitHub REST API (GET /users/{username}/events/public) to fetch up to 300 events from the past 90 days (with a latency of 30 seconds to 6 hours). If tagNameRegex matches, the commit will be considered a release. This mode is useful for users who want to show their recent release activities. The modeConfig options includes:

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | username* | string | The unique username used to identify a specific GitHub account. | | tagNameRegex | string（default: 'v?(\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+(?:-[\\w.]+)?)(?:\\s\|$)') | Regular expression for matching tag name in commit messages. The first capturing group in the regex will be used as versionNum field. | | keyword | string（default: 'release'） | The keyword to filter push events' commit messages for releases. Can be empty, meaning no filtering. | | branches | string[] (default: ['refs/heads/main', 'refs/heads/master', 'refs/heads/latest', 'refs/heads/stable', 'refs/heads/release', 'refs/heads/dev']) | The branches to monitor for push events. Filters out activities from other forks based on these refs. |

repoList mode

The loader fetches GitHub releases from specified repositories via the GitHub GraphQL API, requiring a GitHub PAT with repo scope for authentication. By default, it retrieves all releases from the listed repositories, ideal for displaying data grouped by repository. The modeConfig options includes:

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | repos* | string[] | The repositories from which to load releases, each formatted as 'owner/repo'. | | sinceDate | Date \| string \| number (If sinceDate and monthsBack are unspecified, load all) | The date from which to start loading releases. See supported date string formats here. For example:"2024-11-01T00:00:00.000Z""2024-11-01""01/11/24" | | monthsBack | number (If sinceDate and monthsBack are unspecified, load all) | The number of recent months to load releases, including the current month. If both monthsBack and sinceDate are specified, the more recent date will be used. | | entryReturnType | 'byRelease' \| 'byRepository' (default: 'byRepository') | Determines whether entries are returned per repository or per individual release item. This option influences the entries' Zod Schema. | | githubToken | string (Defaults to the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable) | A GitHub PAT with at least repo scope permissions. If configured here, keep confidential and avoid public exposure. See how to create one and configure env vars in an Astro project. |

liveGithubReleasesLoader Options

| Option | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | githubToken (required for multiple releases in repoList mode or a single release) | string (Defaults to the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable) | A GitHub PAT with at least repo scope permissions. Defaults to the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable. If configured here, keep confidential and avoid public exposure. See how to create one and configure env vars in an Astro project. |

liveGithubReleasesLoader Collection Filters

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | mode* | 'userCommit' \| 'repoList' | Specifies loading releases from a user’s commit messages or a repository list, with mode-specific options and entries' Zod Schema. |

userCommit Mode

The loader uses the GitHub REST API (GET /users/{username}/events/public) to fetch up to 300 events from the past 90 days (with a latency of 30 seconds to 6 hours). If tagNameRegex matches, the commit will be considered a release. This mode is useful for users who want to show their recent release activities. The modeConfig options includes:

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | username* | string | The unique username used to identify a specific GitHub account. | | tagNameRegex | string（default: 'v?(\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+(?:-[\\w.]+)?)(?:\\s\|$)') | Regular expression for matching tag name in commit messages. The first capturing group in the regex will be used as versionNum field. | | keyword | string（default: 'release'） | The keyword to filter push events' commit messages for releases. Can be empty, meaning no filtering. | | branches | string[] (default: ['refs/heads/main', 'refs/heads/master', 'refs/heads/latest', 'refs/heads/stable', 'refs/heads/release', 'refs/heads/dev']) | The branches to monitor for push events. Filters out activities from other forks based on these refs. |

repoList mode

The loader fetches GitHub releases from specified repositories via the GitHub GraphQL API, requiring a GitHub PAT with repo scope for authentication. By default, it retrieves all releases from the listed repositories, ideal for displaying data grouped by repository. The modeConfig options includes:

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | repos* | string[] | The repositories from which to load releases, each formatted as 'owner/repo'. | | sinceDate | Date \| string (If sinceDate and monthsBack are unspecified, load all) | The date from which to start loading releases. See supported date string formats here. For example:"2024-11-01T00:00:00.000Z""2024-11-01""01/11/24" | | monthsBack | number (If sinceDate and monthsBack are unspecified, load all) | The number of recent months to load releases, including the current month. If both monthsBack and sinceDate are specified, the more recent date will be used. | | entryReturnType | 'byRelease' \| 'byRepository' (default: 'byRepository') | Determines whether entries are returned per repository or per individual release item. This option influences the entries' Zod Schema. |

liveGithubReleasesLoader Entry Filters

| Option (* required) | Type (default) | Description | | ------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | identifier* | string | The identifier for a release, which can be one of the following:- A release node ID string: "RE_" + 16 Base64 chars.- A GitHub release URL.- An object with fields: owner, repo, tagName. |

Schema

The Zod schema for the entries in the loaded collection is defined below.

userCommit Mode

const ReleaseByIdFromUserSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string(),
  url: z.string(),
  tagName: z.string(),
  versionNum: z.string(),
  repoOwner: z.string(),
  repoName: z.string(),
  repoNameWithOwner: z.string(),
  repoUrl: z.string(),
  commitMessage: z.string(),
  commitSha: z.string(),
  commitUrl: z.string(),
  actorLogin: z.string(),
  actorAvatarUrl: z.string(),
  isOrg: z.boolean(),
  orgLogin: z.string().optional(),
  orgAvatarUrl: z.string().optional(),
  createdAt: z.string(),
})

repoList Mode

// entryReturnType: 'byRelease'
const ReleaseByIdFromReposSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string(),
  url: z.string(),
  name: z.string().optional(),
  tagName: z.string(),
  versionNum: z.string().optional(),
  description: z.string().optional(),
  descriptionHTML: z.string().optional(),
  isDraft: z.boolean(),
  isLatest: z.boolean(),
  isPrerelease: z.boolean(),
  repoOwner: z.string(),
  repoName: z.string(),
  repoNameWithOwner: z.string(),
  repoUrl: z.string(),
  repoStargazerCount: z.number(),
  repoIsInOrganization: z.boolean(),
  createdAt: z.string(),
  publishedAt: z.string().optional(),
})

// entryReturnType: 'byRepository'
const ReleaseByRepoFromReposSchema = z.object({
  repo: z.string(),
  releases: z.array(ReleaseByIdFromReposSchema),
})

Astro uses these schemas to generate TypeScript interfaces for autocompletion and type safety. When customizing the collection schema, keep it compatible with the loader’s built-in Zod schema to avoid errors. To request support for new fields, open an issue.

Live Collections Error Handling

Live loaders may fail due to network, API, or validation errors. Handle these errors in your components. The live loader also returns specific error codes:

• INVALID_FILTER: Missing required filter options.
• NO_NEW_RELEASES: No new releases found since last fetch.
• COLLECTION_LOAD_ERROR: Failed to load collection.
• ENTRY_LOAD_ERROR: Failed to load individual entry.
• MISSING_TOKEN: No GitHub token provided (expect for userCommit mode).

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the change history of this loader.

Contribution

If you see any errors or room for improvement, feel free to open an issues or pull request . Thank you in advance for contributing! ❤️