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We've recently moved some of the REST API documentation. If you can't find what you're looking for, you might try the new Branches, Collaborators, Commits, Deploy Keys, Deployments, GitHub Pages, Releases, Metrics, Webhooks REST API pages.

Repository contents

These API endpoints let you create, modify, and delete Base64 encoded content in a repository.

About the Repository contents API

To request the raw format or rendered HTML (when supported), use custom media types for repository contents.

Custom media types for repository contents

READMEs, files, and symlinks support the following custom media types:

application/vnd.github.VERSION.raw
application/vnd.github.VERSION.html

Use the .raw media type to retrieve the contents of the file.

For markup files such as Markdown or AsciiDoc, you can retrieve the rendered HTML using the .html media type. Markup languages are rendered to HTML using our open-source Markup library.

All objects support the following custom media type:

application/vnd.github.VERSION.object

Use the object media type parameter to retrieve the contents in a consistent object format regardless of the content type. For example, instead of an array of objects for a directory, the response will be an object with an entries attribute containing the array of objects.

You can read more about the use of media types in the API here.

Get repository content

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets the contents of a file or directory in a repository. Specify the file path or directory in :path. If you omit :path, you will receive the contents of the repository's root directory. See the description below regarding what the API response includes for directories.

Files and symlinks support a custom media type for retrieving the raw content or rendered HTML (when supported). All content types support a custom media type to ensure the content is returned in a consistent object format.

Notes:

To get a repository's contents recursively, you can recursively get the tree.
This API has an upper limit of 1,000 files for a directory. If you need to retrieve more files, use the Git Trees API.
Download URLs expire and are meant to be used just once. To ensure the download URL does not expire, please use the contents API to obtain a fresh download URL for each download.
This API supports files up to 1 megabyte in size.

If the content is a directory

The response will be an array of objects, one object for each item in the directory. When listing the contents of a directory, submodules have their "type" specified as "file". Logically, the value should be "submodule". This behavior exists in API v3 for backwards compatibility purposes. In the next major version of the API, the type will be returned as "submodule".

If the content is a symlink

If the requested :path points to a symlink, and the symlink's target is a normal file in the repository, then the API responds with the content of the file (in the format shown in the example. Otherwise, the API responds with an object describing the symlink itself.

If the content is a submodule

The submodule_git_url identifies the location of the submodule repository, and the sha identifies a specific commit within the submodule repository. Git uses the given URL when cloning the submodule repository, and checks out the submodule at that specific commit.

If the submodule repository is not hosted on github.com, the Git URLs (git_url and _links["git"]) and the github.com URLs (html_url and _links["html"]) will have null values.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`path`stringRequired path parameter
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`ref`string The name of the commit/branch/tag. Default: the repository’s default branch (usually `master`)

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`302`	Found
`403`	Forbidden
`404`	Resource not found

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/PATH

Response if content is a file

Status: 200

{
  "type": "file",
  "encoding": "base64",
  "size": 5362,
  "name": "README.md",
  "path": "README.md",
  "content": "encoded content ...",
  "sha": "3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
  "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md",
  "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/octokit/octokit.rb/master/README.md",
  "_links": {
    "git": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
    "self": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
    "html": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md"
  }
}

Create or update file contents

Works with GitHub Apps

Creates a new file or replaces an existing file in a repository. You must authenticate using an access token with the workflow scope to use this endpoint.

Note: If you use this endpoint and the "Delete a file" endpoint in parallel, the concurrent requests will conflict and you will receive errors. You must use these endpoints serially instead.

Parameters

Headers

Name, Type, Description

acceptstring

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters

Name, Type, Description

ownerstringRequired

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repostringRequired

The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

pathstringRequired

path parameter

Body parameters

Name, Type, Description

messagestringRequired

The commit message.

contentstringRequired

The new file content, using Base64 encoding.

shastring

Required if you are updating a file. The blob SHA of the file being replaced.

branchstring

The branch name. Default: the repository’s default branch (usually master)

committerobject

The person that committed the file. Default: the authenticated user.

Properties of committer

Name, Type, Description
`name`stringRequired The name of the author or committer of the commit. You'll receive a `422` status code if `name` is omitted.
`email`stringRequired The email of the author or committer of the commit. You'll receive a `422` status code if `email` is omitted.
`date`string

authorobject

The author of the file. Default: The committer or the authenticated user if you omit committer.

Properties of author

Name, Type, Description
`name`stringRequired The name of the author or committer of the commit. You'll receive a `422` status code if `name` is omitted.
`email`stringRequired The email of the author or committer of the commit. You'll receive a `422` status code if `email` is omitted.
`date`string

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`201`	Created
`404`	Resource not found
`409`	Conflict
`422`	Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

Code samples

put/repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}

curl \
  -X PUT \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/PATH \
  -d '{"message":"my commit message","committer":{"name":"Monalisa Octocat","email":"octocat@github.com"},"content":"bXkgbmV3IGZpbGUgY29udGVudHM="}'

Response

Status: 201

{
  "content": {
    "name": "hello.txt",
    "path": "notes/hello.txt",
    "sha": "95b966ae1c166bd92f8ae7d1c313e738c731dfc3",
    "size": 9,
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contents/notes/hello.txt",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/blob/master/notes/hello.txt",
    "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/95b966ae1c166bd92f8ae7d1c313e738c731dfc3",
    "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/octocat/HelloWorld/master/notes/hello.txt",
    "type": "file",
    "_links": {
      "self": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contents/notes/hello.txt",
      "git": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/95b966ae1c166bd92f8ae7d1c313e738c731dfc3",
      "html": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/blob/master/notes/hello.txt"
    }
  },
  "commit": {
    "sha": "7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "node_id": "MDY6Q29tbWl0NzYzODQxN2RiNmQ1OWYzYzQzMWQzZTFmMjYxY2M2MzcxNTU2ODRjZA==",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/git/commit/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "author": {
      "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
      "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
      "email": "octocat@github.com"
    },
    "committer": {
      "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
      "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
      "email": "octocat@github.com"
    },
    "message": "my commit message",
    "tree": {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees/691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb",
      "sha": "691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb"
    },
    "parents": [
      {
        "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/git/commit/1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
        "sha": "1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5"
      }
    ],
    "verification": {
      "verified": false,
      "reason": "unsigned",
      "signature": null,
      "payload": null
    }
  }
}

Delete a file

Works with GitHub Apps

Deletes a file in a repository.

You can provide an additional committer parameter, which is an object containing information about the committer. Or, you can provide an author parameter, which is an object containing information about the author.

The author section is optional and is filled in with the committer information if omitted. If the committer information is omitted, the authenticated user's information is used.

You must provide values for both name and email, whether you choose to use author or committer. Otherwise, you'll receive a 422 status code.

Note: If you use this endpoint and the "Create or update file contents" endpoint in parallel, the concurrent requests will conflict and you will receive errors. You must use these endpoints serially instead.

Parameters

Headers

Name, Type, Description

acceptstring

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters

Name, Type, Description

ownerstringRequired

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repostringRequired

The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

pathstringRequired

path parameter

Body parameters

Name, Type, Description

messagestringRequired

The commit message.

shastringRequired

The blob SHA of the file being deleted.

branchstring

The branch name. Default: the repository’s default branch (usually master)

committerobject

object containing information about the committer.

Properties of committer

Name, Type, Description
`name`string The name of the author (or committer) of the commit
`email`string The email of the author (or committer) of the commit

authorobject

object containing information about the author.

Properties of author

Name, Type, Description
`name`string The name of the author (or committer) of the commit
`email`string The email of the author (or committer) of the commit

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`404`	Resource not found
`409`	Conflict
`422`	Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.
`503`	Service unavailable

Code samples

delete/repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}

curl \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/PATH \
  -d '{"message":"my commit message","committer":{"name":"Monalisa Octocat","email":"octocat@github.com"},"sha":"329688480d39049927147c162b9d2deaf885005f"}'

Response

Status: 200

{
  "content": null,
  "commit": {
    "sha": "7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "node_id": "MDY6Q29tbWl0NzYzODQxN2RiNmQ1OWYzYzQzMWQzZTFmMjYxY2M2MzcxNTU2ODRjZA==",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/git/commit/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "author": {
      "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
      "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
      "email": "octocat@github.com"
    },
    "committer": {
      "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
      "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
      "email": "octocat@github.com"
    },
    "message": "my commit message",
    "tree": {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees/691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb",
      "sha": "691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb"
    },
    "parents": [
      {
        "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/git/commit/1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
        "sha": "1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5"
      }
    ],
    "verification": {
      "verified": false,
      "reason": "unsigned",
      "signature": null,
      "payload": null
    }
  }
}

Get a repository README

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets the preferred README for a repository.

READMEs support custom media types for retrieving the raw content or rendered HTML.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`ref`string The name of the commit/branch/tag. Default: the repository’s default branch (usually `master`)

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`404`	Resource not found
`422`	Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/readme

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/readme

Response

Status: 200

{
  "type": "file",
  "encoding": "base64",
  "size": 5362,
  "name": "README.md",
  "path": "README.md",
  "content": "encoded content ...",
  "sha": "3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
  "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md",
  "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/octokit/octokit.rb/master/README.md",
  "_links": {
    "git": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
    "self": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
    "html": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md"
  }
}

Get a repository README for a directory

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets the README from a repository directory.

READMEs support custom media types for retrieving the raw content or rendered HTML.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`dir`stringRequired The alternate path to look for a README file
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`ref`string The name of the commit/branch/tag. Default: the repository’s default branch (usually `master`)

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`404`	Resource not found
`422`	Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/readme/{dir}

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/readme/DIR

Response

Status: 200

{
  "type": "file",
  "encoding": "base64",
  "size": 5362,
  "name": "README.md",
  "path": "README.md",
  "content": "encoded content ...",
  "sha": "3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
  "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md",
  "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/octokit/octokit.rb/master/README.md",
  "_links": {
    "git": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/git/blobs/3d21ec53a331a6f037a91c368710b99387d012c1",
    "self": "https://api.github.com/repos/octokit/octokit.rb/contents/README.md",
    "html": "https://github.com/octokit/octokit.rb/blob/master/README.md"
  }
}

Download a repository archive (tar)

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets a redirect URL to download a tar archive for a repository. If you omit :ref, the repository’s default branch (usually master) will be used. Please make sure your HTTP framework is configured to follow redirects or you will need to use the Location header to make a second GET request. Note: For private repositories, these links are temporary and expire after five minutes.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`ref`stringRequired

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`302`	Found

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/tarball/{ref}

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/tarball/REF

Response

Status: 302

Download a repository archive (zip)

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets a redirect URL to download a zip archive for a repository. If you omit :ref, the repository’s default branch (usually master) will be used. Please make sure your HTTP framework is configured to follow redirects or you will need to use the Location header to make a second GET request.

Note: For private repositories, these links are temporary and expire after five minutes. If the repository is empty, you will receive a 404 when you follow the redirect.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`ref`stringRequired

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`302`	Found

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/zipball/{ref}

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/zipball/REF

Response

Status: 302