GitHub Unstar CLI

CLI to remove all starred repositories from a GitHub account

Features

• Unstars all repositories for the authenticated user
• Confirmation safety check
• Dry-run support
• Test mode
• Additional configurable options (see below)

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• A GitHub Personal Access Token (classic)

Usage

npx:

npx gh-unstar

or install globally:

npm install -g gh-unstar

Usage

gh-unstar

Options

• -u, --username <username>: GitHub username to target.
• -t, --token <token>: GitHub personal access token to authenticate API calls.
• -y, --yes: Skip the confirmation prompt.
• --dry-run: Fetch starred repositories and report the count without changing anything.
• --delay <ms>: Delay in milliseconds between unstar requests (default 100).
• --max-retries <n>: Maximum retries for failed API requests with exponential backoff (default 5).
• --per-page <n>: Results per page when fetching starred repos (max 100, default 100).
• --test: Run without API calls or credentials.
• --test-count <n>: Number of fake starred repositories in test mode (default 25).
• --test-fail-every <n>: Every Nth unstar fails in test mode (0 disables).

Auth

Create a Personal Access Token (classic) with at least public_repo scope (or repo to include private stars).

Environment variables:

• GITHUB_TOKEN
• GITHUB_USERNAME (optional, auto-detected if missing)

Example .env:

GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here
GITHUB_USERNAME=your_username

Safety

This tool will unstar all repositories for the account. It requires typing YES unless --yes is provided.

Dev

Install dependencies:

npm install

Available scripts:

• npm run start: run the CLI entrypoint locally
• npm run lint: run Biome lint checks
• npm run format: format files in-place using Biome
• npm run check: run Biome formatting and safe lint fixes in one pass

License

MIT