Build and explore apps, to extend GitHub, and automate and improve your workflow.
Probot — Framework to build apps for GitHub
GitHub is a very popular web-based hosting service for version control using Git. When one thinks of Open Source, GitHub is the first thing that comes to their mind.
Due to it’s highly increasing popularity, with over 27 million users and 80 million repositories hosted on GitHub, and increasing demand of features, GitHub introduced GitHub Marketplace on May 2017, which provides a common platform to discover tools that help you to improve your workflow while working with your repository.
GitHub is how people build software — GitHub
Some of the popular applications hosted here are Travis CI, Codacy, Dependabot and many others.
The home page of GitHub Marketplace
That’s awesome about GitHub, but what’s Probot?
Probot is a framework used to build GitHub Apps in Node.js. It removes all the boring job of receiving and validating webhooks, and doing authentication handstands, and let us focus on the features that we want to build.
Official Logo of Probot
Also, an app built on Probot is easy to write, deploy, and share. Many of the most popular Probot apps are hosted, so there’s nothing for you to deploy and manage.
Some Apps built on Probot
Let me share some popular applications built using Probot, ready to be used, just by clicking install.
Welcome Bot
Example of a welcome GIF by Welcome Bot
This bot welcomes new user when they create a new issue, new pull request or first merge. Personally, this one’s my favorite.
Install Link: WelcomeDeveloper: Bex WarnerGitHub Repository Link: behaviorbot/welcomeSee it in live action: Click here to see Welcome Bot in Live actionUsed By: Vue.js, Electron
Stale Bot
Example of a comment by Stale Bot on a Pull Request
This bot closes stale issues and pull requests. Really handy if you have large contributors working on your repository and receive many issues and pull request.Install Link: StaleDeveloper: Brandon KeepersGitHub Repository Link: probot/staleSee it in live action: Click here to see Stale in Live actionUsed By: Atom, Facebook and Homebrew
Work In Progress
Example of Work In Progress Bot in action
This bot prevents merging of pull requests by adding WIP in the title.Install Link: Work in ProgressDeveloper: Gregor MartynusGitHub Repository Link: gr2m/wip-botSee it in live action: Click here to see Work in Progress in Live actionUsed By: Microsoft, Jekyll and Home Assistant
Unfurl Links Bot
Example of links unfurled by Unfurl Links Bot
This bot adds more information about the link added in the comment. Personally, this is my second favorite.Install Link: Unfurl LinksDeveloper: Brandon KeepersGitHub Repository Link: probot/unfurlSee it in live action: Click here to see Unfurl Links in Live actionUsed By: Reactive, Goreleaser and Game Server Managers.
Todo Bot
Example of an issue opened by todo
This bot creates new issues from actionable comments in your code.Install Link: todo BotDeveloper: Jason EtcovitchGitHub Repository Link: JasonEtco/todoSee it in live action: Click here to see todo in Live actionUsed By: Mas-CLI, Laravel Backpack and SpoonX.
Reminders Bot
Example of a reminder opened by the reminder bot
This bot set reminders on issues and pull requests.
Install Link: todo BotDeveloper: Brandon KeepersGitHub Repository Link: JasonEtco/todoSee it in live action: Click here to see Reminders in Live actionUsed By: Git for Windows, ChaiJS, Devtools-HTML.
And the list goes on. Click here to explore more apps built on Probot.
Probot sounds interesting. But where should I get started?
Probot provides a really simple and easy to go documentation. The Getting Started section of Probot helps you to build your basic GitHub application based on Probot within a few minutes.
Click here to visit Probot Documentations and Start Building your own app.
“I wish if GitHub could…”
Have any idea? Share it with us!
Have a great idea? Please don’t limit the idea to yourself!**Share your ideas with us! We’d all love to hear them.**You can also discover other ideas for bots and create your own bots.Click here to share your idea with us and discover more ideas, by opening an issue here.Many developers are already working and have created few bots based on ideas suggested by people — like you!
Need help!?
“Building GitHub application using Probot is fun. I have been building a GitHub app, but now I am struck. How can I get help?”
That’s the beauty of Open Source Community! Got struck somewhere, and here comes your help.
Probot has a really cool community with really smart developers. Apart from the discussions which happen on Probot on GitHub, Probot is also available on Twitter.
The best way to give feedback, ask questions, get help or just chat about ideas is via joining Probot’s Slack Community. Click here to visit Join the Community page of Probot.
Additionally, you can add a question on Stack Overflow with the tag [probot](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/probot) and share the question with us in the community
That’s all for Discover Probot — A Framework to Build Apps for GitHub. I hope my article helped you to discover Probot — framework to build apps for GitHub.
So, what are you waiting for? Share your awesome GitHub app idea with us and join this awesome community of awesome developers, and be a part of it!
I will be publishing another article on How to build Applications for GitHub using Probot. Till then, stay tuned.
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