Good First Issues — Auto-Updated

Find recently opened, beginner‑friendly issues in popular GitHub repositories.

This repo publishes a regularly auto‑updated list of issues labeled like good first issue (including good-first-issue and first-timers-only). CI builds the full list and serves it on GitHub Pages. Locally you can customize filters via script arguments.

• View the live list (updates every 3 days): https://youzi-forge.github.io/good-first-issue-autoUpdate/ · Last updated: 2025-12-19 04:46 UTC

At a Glance

• Update cadence: every 3 days (via GitHub Actions)
• Default filters (for the published list): last 90 days, repositories ≥1000★, open issues
• Sorting: repositories by stars (desc, then name asc); issues by last updated (desc)
• Label variants matched: good first issue, good-first-issue, first-timers-only

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Project Info

• Live site: https://youzi-forge.github.io/good-first-issue-autoUpdate/ · Last updated: 2025-12-19 04:46 UTC
• Workflows: Update list, Deploy Pages
• License: MIT
• Releases: https://github.com/youzi-forge/good-first-issue-autoUpdate/releases

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How It Works

• Fetches issues via GitHub GraphQL Search within rolling time windows to avoid the 1000‑result cap (default window: 5 days per request, with automatic splitting near high‑volume periods).
• Filters by time window: uses creation date (created:) by default; switch to --date-field updated if needed.
• Groups issues by repository and sorts: repositories by stars (desc), issues within each repo by last updated time (desc).
• Supports scoping to one organization via --org ORGNAME.
• Filters by stars via --min-stars/--max-stars (CI uses ≥1000★ by default).
• Publishes a modern React-based web app to GitHub Pages with interactive search, filters, and pagination.
• For local use, generates a standalone HTML file with embedded data (no dependencies required).

Quick Start (Local)

Option 1: Interactive React UI (Recommended)

Run the crawler with --json flag to automatically generate a standalone HTML file:

Linux/macOS:

python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py --days 90 --min-stars 300 --json --out my_data.json

What gets generated:

• my_data.json - Structured data (intermediate file, used to generate HTML)
• _site/index.html - Standalone HTML with embedded React UI and data

To view:

open _site/index.html  # macOS
# or double-click the file in your file explorer

Windows (PowerShell):

py -3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
$env:GITHUB_TOKEN = 'ghp_xxx'
py -3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py --days 90 --min-stars 300 --json --out my_data.json
start _site/index.html

About the generated files:

• _site/index.html: This is what you open in your browser. It's a complete, self-contained webpage with:
  • Full React UI (search, filters, pagination, dark mode)
  • Your custom-crawled data already embedded inside
  • Works offline, no dependencies needed
  • Can be shared as a single file
• my_data.json: Intermediate data file used to generate the HTML. You can delete it after the HTML is created, or keep it for future reference.

Option 2: Markdown Output (Simple)

For quick text-based viewing:

python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py --days 90 --min-stars 300 --out good_first_issues.md
# View in terminal or text editor

Option 3: UI Development/Preview (No API Token Required)

If you just want to preview the UI or work on frontend development without running the crawler:

# Use the existing sample data in the repo
python3 scripts/build_standalone.py --data frontend/public/data.json

# Open the generated HTML
open _site/index.html

This is useful for:

• Frontend developers: Test UI changes without crawling data
• Contributors: Preview the interface before making changes
• Quick demo: See what the app looks like without setting up a GitHub token

Advanced Examples

# Scope to one organization:
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py \
  --days 30 \
  --min-stars 300 \
  --state open \
  --chunk-days 5 \
  --org stdlib-js \
  --json --out data.json

# Use updated date field instead of created:
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py \
  --days 30 \
  --min-stars 300 \
  --state open \
  --chunk-days 5 \
  --date-field updated \
  --json --out data.json

# Set star range (min and max):
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py \
  --days 90 \
  --min-stars 300 \
  --max-stars 2000 \
  --state open \
  --chunk-days 5 \
  --json --out data.json

# Full parameter example (all common options):
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py \
  --days 60 \
  --min-stars 500 \
  --max-stars 5000 \
  --state open \
  --chunk-days 3 \
  --org facebook \
  --date-field updated \
  --json \
  --out my_custom_data.json

# Markdown output instead of JSON/HTML:
python3 github_good_first_issue_finder.py \
  --days 90 \
  --min-stars 1000 \
  --state open \
  --out good_first_issues.md

Defaults

• CI (published list): --min-stars 1000, --chunk-days 5, --days 90, --state open
• Script defaults: --min-stars 300, --chunk-days 5, --days 90, --state open
• --max-stars is optional; omit it for no upper bound

CLI Options

• --days (int, default 90): Number of past days to search.
• --date-field (created|updated, default created): Which timestamp the search window applies to.
• --min-stars (int, default 300): Minimum repository stars to include.
• --max-stars (int, optional): Maximum repository stars; must be >= --min-stars if provided.
• --state (open|all, default open): Whether to include closed issues.
• --chunk-days (int, default 5): Initial days per search window; autosplitting may refine windows near high‑volume periods.
• --no-auto-chunk (flag): Disable autosplitting.
• --cap-per-query (int, default 950): Target maximum matches per label per window before splitting.
• --org (string, optional): Scope search to a single organization (e.g., stdlib-js).
• --out (path, default good_first_issues.md): Output file path. Extension determines format (.md for Markdown, .json for JSON).
• --json (flag): Output JSON format and automatically generate standalone HTML (_site/index.html). When used, --out should specify the JSON file path.
• GITHUB_TOKEN (env): Required GitHub token. A Personal access token (classic) is recommended for broad public search.

Troubleshooting

• No or too few results
  • Verify GITHUB_TOKEN is set and is a classic PAT. Fine‑grained tokens can restrict search scope.
  • Reduce --chunk-days (e.g., 5 → 2 or 1) to lower per-query volume.
  • Try --date-field updated if you care about recent activity rather than creation date.
  • Use --org ORGNAME to limit scope and avoid hitting API caps.
• Output too large
  • Increase --min-stars, set --max-stars, reduce --days, or scope with --org.
• Logs show issueCount near 1000 but scanned ~1000
  • GitHub caps each search at ~1000 accessible results. Shrink --chunk-days and/or add --org.
• Rate limiting
  • The script backs off automatically. If it pauses, let it continue or rerun later.