GitHub Repo Size

2026-04-09 · Source: Simon Willison's Weblog · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Cloud Computing & IT Infrastructure · Depth: Novice, quick

Summary

The "GitHub Repo Size" tool, created on April 9th, 2026, addresses a limitation in GitHub's user interface by providing the size of a repository, which is not natively displayed. This utility leverages the CORS-friendly GitHub API to fetch repository size information. For instance, the `simonw/datasette` repository is shown to be 8.1MB using this tool, offering a quick way to check repository dimensions.

Key takeaway

The GitHub Repo Size tool provides instant repository size visibility, addressing the UI's omission of this critical metric. It leverages the CORS-friendly GitHub API, allowing users to quickly check sizes like `simonw/datasette` at 8.1MB. This enables developers and project managers to efficiently monitor repository bloat and manage project dependencies.

Topics

• GitHub Repo Size
• GitHub API
• Repository Management
• Developer Tools
• UI Limitations

Best for: Software Engineer, DevOps Engineer

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Simon Willison's Weblog.