public-apis: A Development History
A factual reconstruction of public-apis's evolution, drawn from 10.5 years of commits, 0 releases and 100+ contributors.
The Beginning
2016 · first commit
In 2016, public-apis published the first commit to public-apis, a Python project. It set out to a collective list of free APIs.
From the outset the repository was written chiefly in Python and Shell. What began as a single initiative would, over the next 10.5 years, accumulate 483.8k stars and draw 100+ contributors into its orbit.
Building Foundations
Structure and the first releases
The early period was about foundations, laid commit by commit; formal releases would come later.
matheusfelipeog authored the largest share of this groundwork, shaping an architecture the project still rests on.
Rapid Growth
Acceleration
Momentum built. Activity peaked around Sep '26, among the busiest stretches on record. Commits arrived at roughly 175 per week as the project's reach widened to 483.8k stars.
commit10 drove much of the new functionality, while davemachado kept regressions in check. On the project's DNA it scored 93 for innovation and 95 for growth.
The cadence itself was steady, with 50% of recent commits landing on weekends — a signature of how the work was paced.
Community Expansion
100+ contributors
As public-apis grew, so did the circle around it. 100+ contributors took part, with the top 3 authoring more than half of all commits, and 53.4k forks branching into experiments and downstream work.
jbrooksuk helped connect the project to its wider audience. pawelborkar kept the machinery running — dependencies current, the pipeline green. Community strength registered at 65 in its DNA.
Of the pull requests it received, 97% were ultimately merged, typically within 20 hours — a measure of how readily outside work was absorbed.
Present Day
Maturity
Today public-apis sits in its Maturity phase. A well-established project: broadly adopted, steadily released, and dependable. Its most recent activity was today.
After 10.5 years, public-apis stands at 483.8k stars and 100+ contributors, its history still being written.
