octoscope (terminal tools): Monitor your GitHub activity and profile stats directly from your terminal. octoscope is a command-line interface (CLI) tool that provides a real-time, at-a-glance dashboard of GitHub profiles. It allows users to view their own GitHub statistics, or those of any other public GitHub user, directly in their terminal. Key capabilities: At-a-glance GitHub profile dashboard (name, bio, company, location, years on GitHub), Social metrics display (followers, following, total stars received), Activity summary (lifetime PRs authored/merged, issues opened, commits in last year, languages bar), Operational insights (public repositories, forks received, open issues/PRs), Network visibility (organizations, verified social accounts). octoscope is free to use with no paid tier.
TL;DR - octoscope
View GitHub profile and activity stats in your terminal.
Get live feedback and notifications for changes like stars and followers.
Monitor your own or any public GitHub user's contributions with an auto-refreshing dashboard.
Pricing: Free forever
Best for: Individuals & startups
Pros & Cons
Pros
Provides a quick and convenient way to monitor GitHub activity without leaving the terminal.
Offers real-time updates and notifications for key GitHub events.
Supports viewing any public GitHub profile, not just your own.
Easy to install and use across macOS, Linux, and Windows.
Open-source and community-supported.
Cons
Requires a GitHub token for continuous use due to API rate limits.
Cannot display certain GitHub profile elements like achievements or the PRO badge due to API limitations.
Primarily a read-only tool; no interactive GitHub actions can be performed.
Key Features
At-a-glance GitHub profile dashboard (name, bio, company, location, years on GitHub)Social metrics display (followers, following, total stars received)Activity summary (lifetime PRs authored/merged, issues opened, commits in last year, languages bar)Operational insights (public repositories, forks received, open issues/PRs)Network visibility (organizations, verified social accounts)Live feedback with accent-pink flashes for changing values (e.g., new stars, followers, merged PRs)Native system notifications for stars and followers changesAuto-refreshing dashboard every 60 seconds
Pricing
Free
octoscope is completely free to use with no hidden costs.
octoscope is a command-line interface (CLI) tool that provides a real-time, at-a-glance dashboard of GitHub profiles. It allows users to view their own GitHub statistics, or those of any other public GitHub user, directly in their terminal. The dashboard includes personal profile details, social metrics like followers and stars, activity summaries such as PRs and commits, and operational insights into repositories and issues.
Designed for developers and anyone who wants to quickly track GitHub activity without leaving their terminal, octoscope offers features like live feedback on changes (e.g., new stars, followers, merged PRs), native system notifications for significant events, and an auto-refreshing dashboard. It also includes a detailed activity heatmap and tabbed navigation for different data views, making it a comprehensive tool for monitoring GitHub engagement and contributions.
How does octoscope handle GitHub API rate limits for unauthenticated users?
octoscope reads your $GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable first, or falls back to gh auth token. If no token is provided, it relies on GitHub's unauthenticated rate limit of 60 requests per hour. With the default 60-second auto-refresh, this limit will quickly be exceeded, making a token effectively required for continuous use.
What specific GitHub profile information is octoscope unable to display?
octoscope cannot display GitHub achievements (like Pull Shark or Starstruck), Highlights such as the PRO badge, or the local time next to the location field. This is because these elements are not exposed through GitHub's GraphQL or REST APIs and would require HTML scraping, which octoscope does not perform.
Can I use octoscope to monitor the GitHub activity of other users?
Yes, you can. While running octoscope with no arguments (and a token) shows your own dashboard, you can pass any GitHub username (e.g., octoscope torvalds) to view their public statistics. A token is optional when viewing public profiles, but recommended for continuous monitoring.
How does octoscope provide 'live feedback' when GitHub metrics change?
When a value on the dashboard changes between refreshes – for example, if you gain a new star, a follower, or a pull request merges – the border of the affected card will flash accent-pink for two seconds. This visual cue helps you quickly identify what has updated without manually comparing numbers.
What are the different tabs available in the octoscope dashboard and how do I navigate them?
The octoscope dashboard features five distinct tabs: Overview, Repos, PRs, Issues, and Activity. You can quickly switch between these tabs by pressing the number keys 1–5, or by cycling through them using the tab and shift+tab keys. Your profile and identity information remain pinned at the top regardless of the active tab.
Does octoscope support custom refresh intervals or only the default 60 seconds?
octoscope automatically refreshes its data every 60 seconds to ensure the displayed numbers are always up-to-date. While there isn't an option to configure a custom auto-refresh interval, you can manually trigger an on-demand refresh at any time by pressing the r key while the dashboard is running.