@lujax/github-sdk

A TypeScript-first, ergonomic wrapper around the GitHub REST API. Calls api.github.com directly using native fetch — no Octokit, no third-party HTTP library.

• Clean TypeScript domain types — camelCase interfaces instead of raw snake_case API responses
• Typed errors — GithubApiError, InvalidTokenError, MissingConfigError instead of guessing at response shapes
• Service-based API — github.pullRequests.list() instead of hand-building fetch calls
• Built-in rate limiting, retries, and ETag caching — no extra config required
• PAT or GitHub App auth, swappable behind one interface
• Near-zero dependencies — jose for GitHub App JWT signing is the only runtime dependency

Installation

npm install @lujax/github-sdk

Requires Node.js 18 or later (uses native fetch).

Quick start

import { GithubClient } from "@lujax/github-sdk";

const github = new GithubClient({
    token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN,
    owner: "lujax-dev",
    repo: "github-sdk",
});

const pullRequests = await github.pullRequests.list();
const repo = await github.repositories.get();

owner, repo, and org are all optional on GithubClientConfig — each service asserts the config it actually needs at construction time, throwing MissingConfigError immediately if something's missing rather than failing later on a request. A GithubClient instance is scoped to one owner/repo pair; to work with multiple repositories, create multiple clients.

Authentication

Personal Access Token (PAT)

The simplest option — pass a token string directly:

const github = new GithubClient({
    token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN,
    owner: "lujax-dev",
    repo: "github-sdk",
});

GitHub App

For production use as a GitHub App, pass a GitHubAppAuth instance via auth instead of token. It signs a JWT from your App's private key, exchanges it for an installation access token, and refreshes it automatically as it nears expiry — no extra code required:

import { GithubClient, GitHubAppAuth } from "@lujax/github-sdk";

const github = new GithubClient({
    auth: new GitHubAppAuth({
        appId: process.env.GITHUB_APP_ID,
        privateKey: process.env.GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY,
        installationId: process.env.GITHUB_APP_INSTALLATION_ID,
    }),
    owner: "lujax-dev",
    repo: "github-sdk",
});

token and auth are both optional individually, but at least one is required — GithubClient throws InvalidTokenError otherwise. If both are set, auth takes precedence.

Both strategies implement the same GitHubAuth interface ({ getToken(): Promise<string> }), so you can switch between them — e.g. PAT locally, GitHub App in production — without changing any other code. PatAuth (also exported) wraps a token identically to passing token directly; use auth: new PatAuth(token) if you'd rather keep every strategy behind the same auth field.

Services

Each service is scoped to the owner/repo/org set on the client and exposed as a property:

Service	Access	Requires	What it covers
Pull Requests	github.pullRequests	owner, repo	list/get/create/update/merge, commits, files, reviews, cycleTime(), isMerged()
Repositories	github.repositories	owner, repo (some methods need org instead)	get/update/delete, topics, tags, languages, contributors, security settings, org-scoped listing
Issues	github.issues	owner, repo	list/get/create/update, comments
Releases	github.releases	owner, repo	list/get/getLatest/getByTag/create/update/delete
Workflows	github.workflows	owner, repo	list/get workflows, list/get/cancel/re-run runs, trigger dispatch
Organizations	github.organizations	org	get/update, listings, membership management
Users	github.users	—	authenticated user, lookup by username/ID, list

There's no standalone commits service — list commits on a PR via github.pullRequests.listCommits(pullNumber).

Every public method has JSDoc with a runnable example — full signatures are in the source, e.g. PullRequestService.ts, RepositoryService.ts. For complete standalone scripts, see /examples.

Error handling

All non-2xx API responses throw typed errors instead of returning a raw error shape:

import {
    GithubApiError,
    InvalidTokenError,
    MissingConfigError,
} from "@lujax/github-sdk";

try {
    await github.pullRequests.get(9999);
} catch (err) {
    if (err instanceof GithubApiError) {
        console.error(err.status, err.message, err.documentationUrl);
    }
}

• GithubSdkError — base class for every error the SDK throws
• GithubApiError — thrown on any non-ok GitHub API response; carries .status, .documentationUrl, and .details
• InvalidTokenError — thrown when a GithubClient is constructed without token or auth
• MissingConfigError — thrown when a service is constructed without the owner/repo/org it needs

HTTP behaviour

Built into every request, with no configuration needed:

• Rate limiting — proactively waits out the reset window when x-ratelimit-remaining hits 0, instead of letting requests fail with a 403
• Retries — 3 attempts with 1s/2s/4s backoff on 5xx and 429 responses
• ETag caching — repeat GETs send If-None-Match; a 304 returns the cached body for free and doesn't count against your rate limit

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, the module pattern, and the PR process.

License

MIT