GitHub Downloads Action

Track total, daily, weekly, and monthly release downloads with JSON and optional SVG charts.

Overview

GitHub Downloads Action checks your release asset download totals, writes a static `downloads.json`, and can also publish SVG charts to your `gh-pages` branch for README embeds. Use the template table below, then use Generator Lab to build badge URLs, README snippets, and action settings with live preview feedback.

Setup: pick a template, add it to `.github/workflows`, then run once
Daily and rolling metrics: total/day/week/month
Optional chart matrix by chart type and theme
Badge and chart markdown snippets ready to paste
Shareable generator links for collaborators
No external API service required for badge source JSON

Project links

View on GitHub Marketplace

GitHub repository Documentation

Use the template table in Recommended quick start to pick and download the setup that fits your repo.

Scroll to Generator Lab to build badge/chart snippets after setup.

Recommended quick start

Pick a template, download it, place it in your repo, then run it once.

Template	Best for	Schedule	Charts	Download
`gh-dl-daily.yml`	Badge JSON only	Daily	No	Download
`gh-dl-hourly.yml`	More frequent refresh	Hourly	No	Download
`gh-dl-daily-with-chart.yml`	Badges + chart files	Daily	Yes	Download

If clicking Download opens the YAML in your browser, right-click the page and choose Save as, then save it as a .yml file in .github/workflows/.

Set up and run

Choose the row that matches your goal (daily JSON, hourly, or daily with charts).
Click Download for that row.
Create the folder .github/workflows/ in your repository if it does not exist.
Save the file in that folder using the same filename shown in the table.
Commit and push the workflow file.
Open the Actions tab and run the workflow once with workflow_dispatch.
After the first run, use Generator Lab to generate badge/chart snippets for your README.

Generator Lab

Enter repository details, choose `Basic` or `Advanced`, preview output, then copy snippets.

Start in Basic for common setup. Use Advanced for branch, provider, cache, and action tuning.

Generate badge

Build a Shields dynamic JSON badge URL and markdown line.

Badge preview

Waiting for input.

GitHub username/owner Repository Branch Metric Source provider Color (hex)

Pick

Label Style Logo (optional) Cache seconds

Badge URL

Markdown

Generate chart

Generate chart embed markdown and action config snippets.

Chart preview

Waiting for input.

GitHub username/owner Repository Branch Source provider Embed mode Primary chart path Charts directory Preview chart type Preview theme Image alt text Chart width Chart height Y ticks X labels every days Date label format Title mode Custom title

zero baseline show value labels show generated footer

Chart URL

Markdown

Action snippet

Open source links

The action is open source and designed to be easy to set up in any repository.

GitHub Releases Documentation License