GitHub

Github is an internet hosting service for developers, and can be used to track changes in your projects.

What can I beemind with GitHub?

Gitminder goals are Do More goals that track either number of commits or number of issues closed. You can choose to track all your activity across all repos, or just activity in a particular repo.

Can I beemind work on a private repo?

Yes. As long as the Beeminder application has access permissions granted, that should not be a problem. You can check the permissions when signed into your GitHub account.

Why do you need both read and write access to my GitHub account?

When the Github integration was created, it wasn't possible to only request read privileges for a private repo. As far as we know, that's still true, but if you've found evidence to the contrary then we'd love to take a look and hopefully tighten up our scopes so we're only requesting what we need. Contact us!

Beeminder isn't adding my recent activity to my goal.

There are a few possible reasons for this:

  • Commits were made to a different repo than the one your goal is tracking.
  • Your commits were not signed with an email address tied to your GitHub account. You can check the emails associated with your account.
  • Beeminder does not have permission to access the repo containing that activity. You can check the permissions.
  • You are only tracking a specific repo, and commits were made to a non-main/non-master branch. Beeminder only looks at activity on the main/master branch.
  • Your GitHub-Beeminder authorization has failed. You can revoke and reauthorize it. You should see a blue banner across the top of the goal page if this is the case, and we'll send you an email with the same info!
  • The issues weren't assigned to your GitHub account when closed.

Sample GitHub goal setup

  1. Head to create a new goal.
  2. Click the GitHub icon to start a new goal using GitHub data.

    GitHub icon

  3. First, select the metric you want to track: commits or issues closed. Enter the amount that you want to commit to in the +/- stepper. Finally, decide whether you want to track all of your activity, or only activity on a specific repo. If you choose to track a specific repo, enter it in the text box below the radio button using the form shown below.

    If you want to delay your goal's start a few days (maybe you're traveling this weekend), be sure to tick the "Start this goal with extra leeway" box. Enter the number of days you want to delay and press Continue.

    GitHub goal setup, showing the Beeminder and Github icons at the top. The first radio buttons choose between tracking commits and issues closed, and then you have to decide how many commits/issues you have to do per day via stepper buttons. Then you need to choose via radio buttons whether to track a specific repo or across your GitHub. Finally there's a checkbox for starting the goal with extra buffer, which opens up an extra box to configure how many days you want.
  4. Give your goal a brief name. If you want, you can also write a short description with more information.

    Shows the "Give your goal a name" dialog, where you should first choose a short name for the goal that will appear in the URL, and then optionally you can write a description of the goal
  5. Finally, choose your initial pledge. This is the amount you will pay the first time you derail on the goal. After derailing, the pledge will increase by default — use the dropdown below to control how high it goes. In the example below, I have chosen to start at a $5 pledge, which will increase each time I derail, until it reaches $270 — the pledge cap. (To read more about pledges and payments, check out some FAQs!)

    Screenshot of the "Pledge your money" screen, showing the starting stakes (choosing between $0 and $5 using radio buttons). The text below that says "Your pledge will increase each time you derail until you reach your pledge cap", with a demonstration below showing the pledge progression: 5, 10, 30, 90... to the pledge cap, which is a set of stepper buttons currently showing $270.
  6. And that's it! If I don't add at least one commit to the repo in the next 4 days, I'll be paying Beeminder $5.

    Screenshot of an example goal with +1 due in 4 days


Keywords: autodata integrations, coding, productivity, developers, programmers

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