| title | REST API endpoints for watching | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| shortTitle | Watching | ||||||
| intro | Use the REST API to subscribe to notifications for activity in a repository. | ||||||
| allowTitleToDifferFromFilename | true | ||||||
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| autogenerated | rest | ||||||
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You can use the REST API to subscribe to notifications for activity in a repository. To bookmark a repository instead, see AUTOTITLE.
In August 2012, we changed the way watching works on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. Some API client applications may still be using the original "watcher" endpoints for accessing this data. You should now use the "star" endpoints instead. For more information, AUTOTITLE and the changelog post.
In responses from the REST API, subscribers_count corresponds to the number of watchers, whereas watchers, watchers_count, and stargazers_count correspond to the number of users that have starred a repository.
In July 2026, to ensure responsible use of this data and to protect users from misuse, we are introducing new access restrictions to several public API endpoints related to watching. Access to the subscribers and subscriptions listing endpoints will be limited to admins and collaborators, and the endpoint that lists repositories watched by a user is being deprecated. During the deprecation period, the endpoint will remain available but will return empty responses, and it will be fully removed in a later phase. For more information, see the changelog post.