Github Syntax and the LUSOG Tool Release

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Hello IT Recruiters:

We have fixed, improved, and documented the tool I recently announced at Sourcing Summit Tech. Access it here:

LUSOG = Let Us Search On Github.

Ensure you follow the installation and execution instructions strictly, starting with creating a copy of the LUSOG Table. There’s Help and a silent video with guidance. We hope it is straightforward.

The tool is free and provided “as-is,” offering Technical Recruiters massive power in searching for Software Developers. (We are in parallel developing a web-based tool on our future site Brain Gain Soft; please stay tuned.)

LUSOG finds GitHub users based on your search parameters, collects complete user data, including emails, and presents this information in a Google Sheet. 

In the backend, LUSOG runs GitHub’s REST API to search GitHub. The user is responsible for providing the Tool with their (free) personal GitHub API token. To use LUSOG, you must also give AppsScript permission to run and access the GitHub API. (This means you need to have GitHub and Google accounts.)

Select “Search GitHub Users” and enter search parameters according to GitHub’s syntax (see search help and user search help).

By default, LUSOG returns 100 results per query. You can request that the following 100 results be loaded by pressing the “Load More” button at the bottom. The maximum number of results for the same query is 1,000.

Imagine obtaining and exporting information like below in a few minutes while sipping your coffee!

I would be glad to hear how the tool serves you; please email me.

Now, if you are searching for Github users, with LUSOG or not, I must warn you that:

  1. Github Boolean search syntax is a monster, 
  2. Github search documentation contains mistakes in the Boolean section.

Github User Search Syntax

Your typical search for Developers would include the operator language: and several location: operators – or “qualifiers,” as Github calls them.

NOTE: if you search by a keyword, you will find the user’s name, nickname, bio, site, X (Twitter), and company – all the things on the profile page – but not the location or repository languages.

Github User Search supports a few more qualifiers in addition to language: and location:. Search terms can be arranged in a Boolean search statement. The syntax is bizarre (and mis-documented on the site):

Please join me at a new class

Leveraging GitHub: Advanced Data Mining and User Profiling

on August 30th, 2023. We will dive deep into GitHub sourcing and cover less-known approaches. Materials and support are provided. Seating is limited.

I hope to see you there!

 

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