Github API contributor data vs. git clone / git log

[mayamakarovsky]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

What unique identifiers do Github API requests have compared to using git clone for information about contributors?
Can all contributors pulled from the API be found using git clone, and vice versa? Or is there a discrepancy between the two sources?
How does Github's API store contributor data and how does that compare to how Git Clone does it?

[spenserblack]

Based on my observation, commits are tied to GitHub users via email address. So if you have commit that was authored by Foo Bar <[email protected]>, then whatever GitHub user has that email address will be a contributor. And if the email address is wrong or misspelled, the commit could be attributed to the wrong user or no user at all.

Git can use a .mailmap file to remap or fix email addresses or user names to a single person. I'm not sure if GitHub currently uses .mailmap, but it can fix the contents of a Git log if someone used multiple emails and you want to tie it to one person.

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬