feat: auto-fetch GitHub stars, forks, and open issues from GitHub API instead of manual updates

[Sachinchaurasiya360]

Bug Report

Route: /student/opensource?repo=22
Example URL: https://www.internhack.xyz/student/opensource?repo=22

Problem

On the open-source repo detail page, the following stats always show 0 regardless of the actual repository data:

• Stars
• Forks
• Open Issues

These values are stored statically in the database and require an admin to manually update them. They are never automatically refreshed from GitHub.

Expected Behaviour

Stars, forks, and open issues should reflect live (or recently cached) data pulled directly from the GitHub API for the repository's repoUrl.

Proposed Solution

When a repo detail page is loaded (or when a repo is created/approved), fetch live stats from the GitHub API and store/cache them:

GET https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}

Response fields to use:

• stargazers_count → stars
• forks_count → forks
• open_issues_count → open issues
• watchers_count → watchers (bonus)
• language → primary language (bonus)

Implementation options

Option A — On-demand fetch with DB cache (recommended):

1. When GET /api/opensource/:id is called, check if githubStatsUpdatedAt is older than 6 hours
2. If stale, fetch live stats from the GitHub API and update stars, forks, openIssues on the DB row
3. Return the updated row

Option B — Background cron sync:

1. Add a cron job that runs every 6 hours
2. For each approved repo, fetch GitHub stats and update the DB row
3. No per-request latency overhead

Option C — Fetch on admin approval:

1. When an admin approves a repo request (PUT /api/opensource/requests/:id/approve), immediately fetch stats from GitHub and populate the fields
2. Combine with Option A or B for periodic refresh

Fields to Add / Update

The opensource Prisma model likely already has stars, forks, and openIssues fields. Add:

• githubStatsUpdatedAt: DateTime? — timestamp of last sync, to throttle API calls

Acceptance Criteria

• Stars, forks, and open issues show real values from GitHub on the repo detail page
• Stats are automatically refreshed (at minimum when a repo is approved, ideally every 6 hours)
• GitHub API rate limits are handled gracefully (use a GITHUB_TOKEN env var if available)
• If the GitHub API is unavailable, the last known values are shown (no crash)
• githubStatsUpdatedAt is stored so we can throttle re-fetches

[Rajal-ui]

Hi @Sachinchaurasiya360 , I'd love to work on this issue.
My approach would be:

Database

Add githubStatsUpdatedAt DateTime? to opensourceRepo model. Run prisma migrate dev.

GitHub fetch utility (server/src/lib/github.ts)

Create a fetchGithubStats(repoUrl: string) helper:

• Parse owner/repo from repoUrl using URL parsing
• GET https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}
• Set Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN} header if env var exists
• Return { stars, forks, openIssues, watchers, language }
• On any error (404, rate limit, network) return null — never throw

Option A — On-demand fetch with 6h cache (primary)

In GET /opensource/:id handler, after fetching repo from DB:

• Check if githubStatsUpdatedAt is null or older than 6 hours
• If stale: call fetchGithubStats(repo.repoUrl) in background (non-blocking — don't await, use .then().catch() fire-and-forget)
• Update DB with new stats + githubStatsUpdatedAt = now()
• Return current DB values immediately — next request gets fresh data

Option C — Fetch on approval (bonus)

In the admin approve handler, after status update:

• Call fetchGithubStats and update stats immediately
• This ensures newly approved repos show real data right away

Rate limit handling

• GITHUB_TOKEN env var: 5000 req/hr authenticated vs 60 unauthenticated
• 6h cache per repo means minimal API calls even at scale
• On rate limit (403/429): log warning, skip update, keep old values
• On 404: log warning, skip update — invalid repo URL

Outcome

• Stars, forks, open issues show real GitHub values
• First approval populates stats immediately
• Subsequent visits refresh if data is older than 6 hours
• No request latency added — fire-and-forget background update
• GitHub API unavailability never crashes the page
• GITHUB_TOKEN optional — works without it at lower rate limit

Files to Change

server/src/database/prisma/schema/base.prisma
server/src/lib/github.ts (new file)
server/src/module/opensource/opensource.service.ts
server/src/module/opensource/opensource.controller.ts (approve handler for Option C)
server/.env.example (add GITHUB_TOKEN=)

Happy to open a PR if assigned. Thank you!