star-history-cli

Generate star history trend charts for GitHub open-source projects.

Inspired by star-history.com, with a hand-drawn xkcd style and a clean style.

Install

# Use directly without installing
npx star-history-cli facebook/react

# Or install globally
npm install -g star-history-cli
star-history facebook/react

Usage

# Basic - generate PNG chart (xkcd style by default)
star-history facebook/react

# SVG output
star-history facebook/react -f svg

# Clean style + dark theme
star-history facebook/react -s clean --theme dark

# Multiple repos comparison
star-history facebook/react,vuejs/vue,angular/angular

# Timeline mode (aligned relative time)
star-history facebook/react -t Timeline

# Export raw data
star-history facebook/react --export csv
star-history facebook/react --export json

# Custom width and output path
star-history facebook/react --width 1200 -o my-chart.png

# With GitHub token
star-history facebook/react --token ghp_xxxx
# or set environment variable
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxx
star-history facebook/react

Options

| Option | Short | Default | Description | |--------|-------|---------|-------------| | repos | | required | GitHub repos (comma-separated) | | --style | -s | xkcd | Chart style: xkcd / clean | | --type | -t | Date | Chart mode: Date / Timeline | | --format | -f | png | Output format: png / svg | | --theme | | light | Theme: light / dark | | --width | | 800 | Image width in pixels | | --output | -o | auto | Output file path | | --export | | | Data export: csv / json | | --token | | | GitHub personal access token |

GitHub Token

Without a token, the GitHub API limits you to 60 requests/hour. For higher limits (5,000 requests/hour):

1. Go to GitHub Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
2. Generate a new token (no special scopes needed for public repos)
3. Use --token option or set GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable

License

MIT