How to Use the GitHub Contributors Export

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Slot usage

1 slot

Estimated execution time

~6 seconds per 10 contributors

What you'll need

  • One or more GitHub repository URLs

    → See the full breakdown of all input fields in the detailed section below.

What you’ll get

  • GitHub usernames and profile URLs
  • Contribution metrics: commits, additions, deletions, and contributor rank

    → See the full breakdown of all output fields in the detailed section below.

Before you start

  • Awareness of safe usage:
    • Spread your extractions across multiple launches during daytime hours.
    • Avoid processing too many repositories in a single run, since GitHub only displays the top 100 contributors per repo.

Step 1: Provide repository URLs

Tell the Phantom which repositories you want to extract contributors from. You can provide inputs in any of these formats:

  • A URL:
    • Paste a single GitHub repository URL directly in the setup field.
    • Paste the URL of a Google Sheet with your GitHub repository URLs (make sure it’s shared with “Anyone with the link”).
    • Or upload a CSV file with your GitHub repository URLs (make sure it’s publicly accessible, and note that CSV upload is only available on paid plans).

→ If you’re using a spreadsheet, the Phantom defaults to the first column (A). To use a different column, enter the column’s header name in the field “Column name containing GitHub repositories URLs.”

PhantomBuster GitHub Contributors Export step 1 providing the GitHub repository URLs

Step 2: Configure extraction settings

Fine-tune how many repositories to process and how results are handled:

  • Number of repositories to process per launch (optional):
    • Default = empty, the Phantom processes all provided repositories in one run.
    • Keep in mind: GitHub only shows the top 100 contributors per repository.
PhantomBuster GitHub Contributors Export step 2 configuring how many repositories to process and results settings

Advanced settings (dropdown in setup)

  • Reprocess the whole list of repositories (optional):
    • Enable if you want the Phantom to restart from the beginning of your input list in every run.

Result file settings (dropdown in setup)

  1. Name your results file (optional)
    • You can customize the file name.

      If you rename the file between launches, the Phantom will create a new results file and start processing inputs from scratch.

  2. Fields to keep (optional)

Step 3: Select launch frequency

Choose how often the Phantom should run:

  1. Launch manually: Start the Phantom yourself whenever you need.
  2. Launch once at a specific time: schedule a one-time run at a set date and time.
  3. Launch repeatedly: schedule regular runs (e.g. once per day, several times during working hours).
  4. Launch after another Phantom: chain automations together so this Phantom starts right after another finishes.
  5. Advanced scheduling: customize the exact minutes, hours, days, or months when the Phantom should run.

→ For a complete walkthrough of scheduling options, see our guide to scheduling Phantoms automatically.

PhantomBuster GitHub Contributors Export step 3 selecting the launch frequency

Step 4 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Phantom runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

  1. Click Launch to start your Phantom.
  2. Once it finishes, open the Results tab in the Phantom console.
  3. Download your results as a CSV or JSON file.

To learn how to export your data to Google Sheets, integrate with other tools, or reuse it in more automations, check our Access and Export your Phantom Results guide.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Phantom, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

Type Description
GitHub repositories GitHub repository URLs

What you get (Output)

Type Description
username GitHub Username
profileUrl GitHub user profile URL
contributionsRank Contributions Rank
commitsCount Commits Count
additionsCount Additions Count
deletionsCount Deletions Count

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

  • Using a private spreadsheet (make sure it’s set to “Anyone with the link”).
  • Processing too many repositories at once (stick to smaller batches for stable performance).
  • Expecting all contributors: GitHub caps results at 100 per repository.
  • Expecting contact or personal data: this Phantom only extracts contributor information visible on the repository page.
    → To enrich contributors with profile details or emails, use the GitHub Profile Scraper Phantom.

If you run into issues

Suggested automations

  • GitHub Profile Scraper → Enrich contributor usernames with detailed profile data (bio, repos, followers, etc.).
  • GitHub User Search Export → Find additional developers by criteria (location, language, etc.) to combine with contributor data.
  • AI Advanced Enricher → Summarize contributor activity or create outreach-ready lead profiles.

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