GitHub API (PyGithub)

2.8.1 verified Tue May 12 auth: no python install: verified quickstart: verified

Community-maintained Python library for GitHub REST API v3. Current version is 2.8.1 (Feb 2026). Note: package name on PyPI is 'PyGithub' (capital P and G) but imports as 'github' (lowercase). Not an official GitHub SDK.

pip install PyGithub

Common errors

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'github' ↓

cause The PyGithub package is not installed or is installed in a different Python environment.

fix

Ensure PyGithub is installed in your current environment using: pip install PyGithub

error ImportError: cannot import name 'Auth' from 'github' ↓

cause The 'Auth' module is not available in the installed version of PyGithub.

fix

Use the older authentication method: from github import Github; g = Github('access_token')

error ImportError: cannot import name 'GitHub' from 'github' ↓

cause The class name is case-sensitive; 'GitHub' should be 'Github'.

fix

Correct the import statement to: from github import Github

error AttributeError: 'Repository' object has no attribute 'get_contents' ↓

cause The 'get_contents' method is not available in the 'Repository' class.

fix

Use the 'get_dir_contents' method instead: contents = repo.get_dir_contents('path')

error TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not iterable ↓

cause A method returned None, possibly due to an invalid repository or user.

fix

Ensure the repository or user exists and is accessible: repo = g.get_repo('owner/repo')

Warnings

breaking Github(login_or_token='token') is the old 1.x pattern. In 2.x use Auth.Token() and pass via auth= argument. ↓

fix auth = Auth.Token('ghp_...'); g = Github(auth=auth)

breaking Commit.files used to return list[File], now returns PaginatedList[File]. len(commit.files) raises TypeError. ↓

fix Use commit.files.totalCount or iterate instead of len()

breaking repo.compare().commits used to return list[Commit], now returns PaginatedList[Commit]. len() raises TypeError. ↓

fix Use .totalCount property instead of len()

breaking datetime objects returned by the API are now timezone-aware (UTC). Comparing with naive datetime instances breaks. ↓

fix Add tzinfo=timezone.utc to any datetime instances used in comparisons

gotcha pip install name is PyGithub (capital P, G) but the import is 'from github import Github'. The casing mismatch trips up agents constantly. ↓

fix pip install PyGithub && from github import Github

gotcha g.close() must be called after use to close the underlying connection pool. Omitting causes ResourceWarning in tests. ↓

fix Use as context manager: with Github(auth=auth) as g: ...

gotcha PullRequest.create_review_comment argument renamed from position= to line=. Keyword callers break silently. ↓

fix Replace position=N with line=N

gotcha This is a community SDK, not an official GitHub product. GitHub has no official Python SDK. Agents often assume otherwise. ↓

fix For official REST access use requests + Authorization header directly, or use PyGithub.

breaking The provided GitHub token is invalid, expired, or lacks the necessary permissions (e.g., 'public_repo' for public repos, 'repo' for private). This results in a BadCredentialsException. ↓

fix Ensure the GitHub token is correct, not expired, and has the required scopes for the API calls being made. Check GitHub token settings or regenerate a new token with appropriate permissions.

Install compatibility verified last tested: 2026-05-12

python os / libc status wheel install import disk

3.10 alpine (musl) - - 0.82s 44.7M

3.10 slim (glibc) - - 0.61s 45M

3.11 alpine (musl) - - 1.11s 48.3M

3.11 slim (glibc) - - 0.93s 49M

3.12 alpine (musl) - - 1.38s 39.8M

3.12 slim (glibc) - - 1.37s 40M

3.13 alpine (musl) - - 0.87s 39.5M

3.13 slim (glibc) - - 0.91s 40M

3.9 alpine (musl) - - 0.81s 44.8M

3.9 slim (glibc) - - 0.71s 45M

Imports

Github, Auth
wrong
```
import PyGithub
```
correct
```
from github import Github, Auth
```
Package installs as PyGithub but imports as github. import PyGithub raises ModuleNotFoundError.

Quickstart verified last tested: 2026-05-12

Minimal authenticated GitHub API call using PyGithub 2.x auth pattern.

from github import Github, Auth

auth = Auth.Token("your_token")
g = Github(auth=auth)

repo = g.get_repo("owner/repo")
for issue in repo.get_issues(state='open'):
    print(issue.title)

g.close()