anuraghazra/github-readme-stats · error · CustomError

GITHUB_REST_API_ERROR

GITHUB_REST_API_ERROR

Error message

Could not fetch total commits.

What it means

CustomError(GITHUB_REST_API_ERROR) thrown by totalCommitsFetcher when the REST /search/commits response has no usable total_count (!totalCount || isNaN(totalCount)). The retryer returned a response object, but res.data.total_count is missing, 0, or non-numeric. The secondary message is 'Please try again later' (TRY_AGAIN_LATER), framing it as a transient GitHub REST API issue.

Source

Thrown at src/fetchers/stats.js:207

 * #92#issuecomment-661026467 and #211 for more information.
 */
const totalCommitsFetcher = async (username) => {
  if (!githubUsernameRegex.test(username)) {
    logger.log("Invalid username provided.");
    throw new Error("Invalid username provided.");
  }

  let res;
  try {
    res = await retryer(fetchTotalCommits, { login: username });
  } catch (err) {
    logger.log(err);
    throw new Error(err);
  }

  const totalCount = res.data.total_count;
  if (!totalCount || isNaN(totalCount)) {
    throw new CustomError(
      "Could not fetch total commits.",
      CustomError.GITHUB_REST_API_ERROR,
    );
  }
  return totalCount;
};

/**
 * Fetch stats for a given username.
 *
 * @param {string} username GitHub username.
 * @param {boolean} include_all_commits Include all commits.
 * @param {string[]} exclude_repo Repositories to exclude.
 * @param {boolean} include_merged_pull_requests Include merged pull requests.
 * @param {boolean} include_discussions Include discussions.
 * @param {boolean} include_discussions_answers Include discussions answers.
 * @param {number|undefined} commits_year Year to count total commits
 * @returns {Promise<import("./types").StatsData>} Stats data.

View on GitHub (pinned to 54a7985aee)

Solutions

1. Retry after a short delay — the secondary message says 'try again later' and most causes are transient.
2. Verify GitHub REST API status at https://www.githubstatus.com.
3. If the user genuinely has 0 commits, consider whether the !totalCount guard (which treats 0 as failure) is appropriate; report upstream if so.
4. Fall back to include_all_commits=false to use GraphQL contributions instead.

Example fix

// before
// GET /api/?username=X&include_all_commits=true  -> 'Could not fetch total commits.'

// after (fall back to GraphQL contributions count)
// GET /api/?username=X

// Fall back to the GraphQL contributions count when the REST total-count path fails.
try {
  stats.totalCommits = await totalCommitsFetcher(username);
} catch (err) {
  if (err.type === CustomError.GITHUB_REST_API_ERROR) {
  // degrade to GraphQL-sourced contributions instead of failing the whole card
  stats.totalCommits = user.commits.totalCommitContributions;
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: GitHub's /search/commits endpoint returns a payload without total_count (e.g. an error envelope, an empty 200, or a non-JSON body parsed to something unexpected); total_count is literally 0; or the field is present but non-numeric. Because the prior try/catch already handled thrown errors, this is specifically a 'responded but unusable' case.

Common situations: GitHub REST API incident/degraded state returning an unusual body; the cloak-preview Accept header no longer being honored after an API change; or a username that legitimately has zero matching commits (total_count === 0 trips the !totalCount guard).

Related errors

• Invalid username provided.
• ${err}
• GRAPHQL_ERROR
• MAX_RETRY
• USER_NOT_FOUND

AI-assisted analysis of anuraghazra/github-readme-stats@54a7985aee (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/05f6e0813bf8ed4b. Report an issue: GitHub.