Introduction to the GitHub REST API

What is the REST API?

APIs provide an interface to connect different endpoints of one or multiple software. Therefore, the API that helps us interact with the features of GitHub is called the GitHub REST API. REST stands for Representational State Transfer and is a standard architecture to share information across the internet. Clients request the data from an interface. This data is converted into an object by the REST API and sent to the requested interface as a request. This request is entertained and data is delivered back as a response to the client.

What is the GitHub REST API?

GitHub is not only limited to accessing different source codes but also creating and managing repositories. Each repository contains a source code arranged in the form of branches. The branches have different pull requests and commits. Developers collaborating on the same source code can approve branches and use them for software release. The GitHub REST API enables users to interact with GitHub to perform these tasks and/or extract information from GitHub.

Get the access token

Let’s go through the following steps to set up our GitHub account:

1. Go to GitHub’s website and sign up for an account if you don’t already have one.
2. Verify the details through your provided email and sign in to your account.
3. Click on your profile at the top-right. Go to “Settings” -> “Developer settings” -> “Personal access tokens.”
4. Click “Generate new token.”
5. Add the name of the token and set the expiration date.
6. Check all the boxes under “Select scopes.”
7. Click the “Generate token” button at the end.
8. Copy the created token and use it throughout the course.