whatisgithub

What is explore?

github/explore — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

4,746RubyAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

In one sentence

The source files behind GitHub's Topics and Collections discovery pages, community-maintained lists of repositories, developers, and articles grouped by subject, with automated format checks written in Ruby.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((github-explore))
    What it is
      GitHub Topics content
      GitHub Collections content
      Community contributions
    Content types
      Subject-area topic pages
      Curated repo collections
      Developer and article picks
    How it works
      Structured text format
      Ruby validation scripts
      Pull request workflow
    Audience
      Open source contributors
      GitHub community members
Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Submit a new GitHub Topic page for a technology or subject area that does not yet have one.

USE CASE 2

Add a repository, developer profile, or article to an existing GitHub Collection.

USE CASE 3

Run the Ruby validation checks locally before submitting a pull request to confirm your content is correctly formatted.

USE CASE 4

Study the structured content format that GitHub uses for Topics pages to understand how the discovery system works.

What is it built with?

RubyBundlerMarkdown

How does it compare?

github/explorered-data-tools/youplotankane/blazer
Stars4,7464,7454,779
LanguageRubyRubyRuby
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity1/51/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperpm founder

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Requires Ruby and Bundler installed locally to run format-validation checks before submitting a pull request.

Creative Commons licensed, content can be broadly reused, but the license does not grant rights to GitHub trademarks.

So what is it?

This repository stores the community-written content that powers GitHub's Topics and Collections pages. Topics are subject-area labels you see on GitHub that help people discover repositories around a theme, such as machine learning or web development. Collections are hand-picked groups of repositories, developers, and articles that share a common purpose. Anyone can suggest changes to existing topic pages or propose entirely new ones by following the contributing guide in the repository. The content is written in a structured text format that GitHub's website reads directly. The project includes a small set of automated checks written in Ruby. These checks verify that each topic page follows the expected format before changes are accepted. Contributors who want to run those checks on their own computer need Ruby and a tool called Bundler installed, then two commands to install and run the checks. The content itself is released under a Creative Commons license that allows broad reuse, though it does not grant trademark rights.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I want to propose a new GitHub Topic page for a technology I work with. Walk me through the correct file structure and required fields for a topic contribution to github/explore.
Prompt 2
Show me how to install Ruby and Bundler and run the github/explore validation checks on my local changes before opening a pull request.
Prompt 3
I want to suggest adding my open-source project to a GitHub Collection. What is the pull request process and what information should I include?

Frequently asked questions

What is explore?

The source files behind GitHub's Topics and Collections discovery pages, community-maintained lists of repositories, developers, and articles grouped by subject, with automated format checks written in Ruby.

What language is explore written in?

Mainly Ruby. The stack also includes Ruby, Bundler, Markdown.

What license does explore use?

Creative Commons licensed, content can be broadly reused, but the license does not grant rights to GitHub trademarks.

How hard is explore to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is explore for?

Mainly developer.

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