Github API is responding with a 403 when using Request's request function

Question

I am trying to make a request to github's API. Here is my request:

var url = 'https://api.github.com/' + requestUrl + '/' + repo + '/';

request(url, function(err, res, body) {
    if (!err && res.statusCode == 200) {

        var link = "https://github.com/" + repo;
        opener(link);
        process.exit();

    } else {
        console.log(res.body);
        console.log(err);
        console.log('This ' + person + ' does not exist');
        process.exit();
    }

});

This is what I get for my response:

Request forbidden by administrative rules. Please make sure your request has a User-Agent header (http://developer.github.com/v3/#user-agent-required). Check https://developer.github.com for other possible causes.

I have used the exact same code in the past, and it has worked. No errors are being thrown by request. Now I am confused with why I am getting a 403 (Forbidden)? Any solutions?

Add a user agent header or just use the module(s) on npm for the github API. — Jason Livesay
– Jason Livesay, Commented Oct 7, 2016 at 7:10

erdomke · Accepted Answer · 2024-02-02 19:35:38Z

74

As explained in the URL given in the response, requests to GitHub's API now require a User-Agent header:

All API requests MUST include a valid User-Agent header. Requests with no User-Agent header will be rejected. We request that you use your GitHub username, or the name of your application, for the User-Agent header value. This allows us to contact you if there are problems.

The request documentation shows specifically how to add a User-Agent header to your request:

var request = require('request');

var options = {
  url: 'https://api.github.com/repos/request/request',
  headers: {
    'User-Agent': 'request'
  }
};

function callback(error, response, body) {
  if (!error && response.statusCode == 200) {
    var info = JSON.parse(body);
    console.log(info.stargazers_count + " Stars");
    console.log(info.forks_count + " Forks");
  }
}

request(options, callback);

edited Feb 2, 2024 at 19:35

erdomke

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answered Oct 7, 2016 at 8:22

kfb

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Comments

Ernest · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-28 16:26:45Z

7

From C# and using HttpClient you can do this (tested on latest .Net Core 2.1):

using (HttpClient client = new HttpClient())
{
    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add( new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.UserAgent.TryParseAdd("request");//Set the User Agent to "request"

    using (HttpResponseMessage response = client.GetAsync(endPoint).Result)
    {
        response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
        responseBody = await response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();
    }
}

Thanks

answered Feb 28, 2019 at 16:26

Ernest

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Comments

Jchy · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-01 04:47:31Z

0

If Github API is responding with status Code : 403, It simply mean that your API fetching limit has been exceeded please wait for 1 min and again fetch then you will get your data,

answered Dec 1, 2021 at 4:47

Jchy

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Comments

Live Software Developer · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-18 16:55:56Z

ANGULAR

I had the same issue where I got 403 rate limit exceeded. I tried setting up the Authorization header using new HttpHeaders from angular/common but the header still failed. The code that failed is:

getUser(username: string): Observable<any> {
    this.headers.set('Authorization', `token ${this.ACCESS_TOKEN}`);
    const endpoint = `https://api.github.com/users/${username}`;
    return this.http.get(endpoint, {
      headers: this.headers
    }).pipe(response => {
      return response
    });
  }

The code that worked:

getUser(username: string): Observable<any> {
    const endpoint = `https://api.github.com/users/${username}`;
    return this.http.get(endpoint, {
      headers: {
        Authorization: `token ${this.ACCESS_TOKEN}`,
      }
    }).pipe(response => {
      return response
    });
  }

In this case, I directly set the header in the request headers segment.

user15719632 · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-19 07:10:19Z

This answers the question and as a bonus shows you how to check if there is a new release

You need to add a User-agent to the Request

request.UserAgent = "YourRepoName";

    internal class Tag
    {
        [JsonProperty("tag_name")]
        public string TagName { get; set; }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Use the Github API to Check for Updates
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static Task<string> CheckUpTodate()
    {
        try
        {
            HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("https://api.github.com/repos/HypsyNZ/BinanceTrader.NET/releases");
            request.UserAgent = new Random(new Random().Next()).ToString();

            var response = request.GetResponse();
            if (response != null)
            {
                StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream());

                string readerOutput = reader.ReadToEnd();

                List<Tag>? deserializedString = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Tag>>(readerOutput);
                if (deserializedString != null)
                {
                    if (deserializedString.Count > 0)
                    {
                        Tag tagOnFirstRelease = deserializedString.FirstOrDefault();
                        if ("v" + ObservableObject.Version == tagOnFirstRelease.TagName)
                        {
                            return Task.FromResult("Up To Date");
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            return Task.FromResult("Update Available: " + tagOnFirstRelease.TagName);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // Error
        }

        return Task.FromResult("Unknown");
    }

att · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-18 08:36:28Z

0

You can fetch the reset time(unix timestamp in seconds) when the rate limit is no more.

curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOURE BEARER TOKEN>" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/rate_limit | jq .

Here is mine

{
  "rate": {
    "limit": 5000,
    "used": 43,
    "remaining": 4957,
    "reset": 1726650736
  }
}

rate.reset 1726650736 is the time when you're rate limit will be removed, wait until that time.

Put it in https://www.epochconverter.com/

1726650736 corresponds to GMT: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 9:12:16 AM

Hope it helps

answered Sep 18, 2024 at 8:36

att

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