Audit your GitHub repository's search ranking signals.
Checks name, description, topics, README, stars, and activity. Scores each factor 0-100.

buygithub.com · How GitHub SEO Works

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What it does

Pass any GitHub repository and get a search ranking audit. The tool checks six signals that affect where your repo appears in GitHub search results, scores each one, and gives you an overall grade with actionable tips.

Signals checked:

• Name — does it contain the keywords people search for?
• Description — is it complete and under 300 characters?
• Topics — how many, and are they relevant?
• README — word count and keyword presence in the first 200 words
• Stars — competitive positioning
• Activity — last push date (repos updated in the last 90 days rank higher)

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/nMaas8388/github-ranking-audit.git
cd github-ranking-audit
pip install requests
python ranking_audit.py facebook/react

Usage

Audit a single repository

python ranking_audit.py torvalds/linux

Auditing torvalds/linux...

  Repository:   torvalds/linux
  Description:  Linux kernel source tree
  Language:     C
  Stars:        183,247
  Forks:        54,102
  Topics:       3 (linux, kernel, c)
  Last push:    2026-09-16
  README words: 847

  Scores:
    name            75/100  [###############.....]
    description     60/100  [############........]
    topics          40/100  [########............]
    readme         100/100  [####################]
    stars          100/100  [####################]
    activity       100/100  [####################]

  Overall: 82/100 (Grade B)

  Tip: add 8-15 relevant topics to improve discoverability

Audit with a target search query

python ranking_audit.py owner/repo --query "cloudflare turnstile solver"

Audit multiple repos

python ranking_audit.py facebook/react vuejs/vue sveltejs/svelte

JSON output

python ranking_audit.py owner/repo --json

Scoring

Signal	Weight	What it checks
Name	25%	Query keyword match
Description	15%	Length and completeness
Topics	15%	Count (8-15 is optimal)
README	15%	Word count, first 200 words
Stars	20%	Logarithmic scale
Activity	10%	Days since last push

Grades: A (85+), B (70-84), C (50-69), D (30-49), F (<30)

How GitHub search ranking works

GitHub's "Best match" sort combines text relevance (name > description > topics > README) with popularity signals (stars > forks > watchers > recent activity). The exact weights aren't published, but the ranking order is well-documented by the community.

Read the full analysis: How GitHub SEO Works

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• requests
• Optional: GITHUB_TOKEN env var for higher API rate limits

License

MIT