GitHub Pulse Screensaver
The GitHub Pulse screensaver is a live stream of public GitHub activity — pushes, new stars and forks across the open-source world — raining down in a code-terminal style from the key-less GitHub events API. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the GitHub Pulse screensaver works
The saver polls GitHub's public events feed, the firehose of activity across open-source repositories, with no key.
Each event — a push, a star, a fork, a pull request — streams by as a terminal line, colored by type.
New events are fed in gradually between refreshes so the stream keeps flowing, and duplicates are filtered out.
Because the public feed is rate-limited, the saver refreshes gently and pauses politely if it's asked to slow down.
A worked example
Lines scroll by like a build log — ★ WatchEvent user → repo, PushEvent dev → project — the constant pulse of people starring, forking and pushing code across the open-source world, drawn live.
Settings & tips
- Fall speed sets how fast the events stream by.
- Accent recolours the default event lines.
- Background sets the terminal backdrop.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the activity live?
- Yes. It comes from GitHub's public events feed and refreshes regularly, so you see real pushes, stars and forks as they happen.
- Does it need a key?
- No. GitHub's public events API is key-less. It is rate-limited, so the saver refreshes gently and pauses if asked to.
- Why did it pause?
- If GitHub's rate limit is reached the saver shows a brief notice and backs off, then resumes once the limit resets.
- What events does it show?
- Public pushes, stars (watches), forks, pull requests and issues from across open-source repositories.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.