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Search users

GET
/search/users

Find users via various criteria. This method returns up to 100 results per page.

When searching for users, you can get text match metadata for the issue login, public email, and name fields when you pass the text-match media type. For more details about highlighting search results, see Text match metadata. For more details about how to receive highlighted search results, see Text match metadata.

For example, if you’re looking for a list of popular users, you might try this query:

q=tom+repos:%3E42+followers:%3E1000

This query searches for users with the name tom. The results are restricted to users with more than 42 repositories and over 1,000 followers.

This endpoint does not accept authentication and will only include publicly visible users. As an alternative, you can use the GraphQL API. The GraphQL API requires authentication and will return private users, including Enterprise Managed Users (EMUs), that you are authorized to view. For more information, see “GraphQL Queries.”

API method documentation

Parameters

Section titled “ Parameters ”

Query Parameters

Section titled “ Query Parameters ”
q
required
string

The query contains one or more search keywords and qualifiers. Qualifiers allow you to limit your search to specific areas of GitHub. The REST API supports the same qualifiers as the web interface for GitHub. To learn more about the format of the query, see Constructing a search query. See “Searching users” for a detailed list of qualifiers.

sort
string
Allowed values: followers repositories joined

Sorts the results of your query by number of followers or repositories, or when the person joined GitHub. Default: best match

order
string
default: desc
Allowed values: desc asc

Determines whether the first search result returned is the highest number of matches (desc) or lowest number of matches (asc). This parameter is ignored unless you provide sort.

per_page
integer
default: 30

The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see “Using pagination in the REST API.”

page
integer
default: 1

The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see “Using pagination in the REST API.”

Responses

Section titled “ Responses ”

200

Section titled “ 200 ”

Response

Media type application/json
object
total_count
required
integer
incomplete_results
required
boolean
items
required
Array<object>
User Search Result Item

User Search Result Item

object
login
required
string
id
required
integer format: int64
node_id
required
string
avatar_url
required
string format: uri
gravatar_id
required
string
nullable
url
required
string format: uri
html_url
required
string format: uri
followers_url
required
string format: uri
subscriptions_url
required
string format: uri
organizations_url
required
string format: uri
repos_url
required
string format: uri
received_events_url
required
string format: uri
type
required
string
score
required
number
following_url
required
string
gists_url
required
string
starred_url
required
string
events_url
required
string
public_repos
integer
public_gists
integer
followers
integer
following
integer
created_at
string format: date-time
updated_at
string format: date-time
name
string
nullable
bio
string
nullable
email
string format: email
nullable
location
string
nullable
site_admin
required
boolean
hireable
boolean
nullable
text_matches
Search Result Text Matches
Array<object>
object
object_url
string
object_type
string
nullable
property
string
fragment
string
matches
Array<object>
object
text
string
indices
Array<integer>
blog
string
nullable
company
string
nullable
suspended_at
string format: date-time
nullable
user_view_type
string
Examples
Example default 
{
  "total_count": 12,
  "incomplete_results": false,
  "items": [
    {
      "login": "mojombo",
      "id": 1,
      "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
      "avatar_url": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/25c7c18223fb42a4c6ae1c8db6f50f9b?d=https://a248.e.akamai.net/assets.github.com%2Fimages%2Fgravatars%2Fgravatar-user-420.png",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/mojombo",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/followers",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/orgs",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/repos",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/received_events",
      "type": "User",
      "score": 1,
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/mojombo/events{/privacy}",
      "site_admin": true
    }
  ]
}

304

Section titled “ 304 ”

Not modified

422

Section titled “ 422 ”

Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

Media type application/json
Validation Error

Validation Error

object
message
required
string
documentation_url
required
string
errors
Array<object>
object
resource
string
field
string
message
string
code
required
string
index
integer
value
One of:
string
nullable
Example generated 
{
  "message": "example",
  "documentation_url": "example",
  "errors": [
    {
      "resource": "example",
      "field": "example",
      "message": "example",
      "code": "example",
      "index": 1,
      "value": [
        "example"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

503

Section titled “ 503 ”

Service unavailable

Media type application/json
object
code
string
message
string
documentation_url
string
Example generated 
{
  "code": "example",
  "message": "example",
  "documentation_url": "example"
}