Why Can Anyone Download My Repo Without Me Ever Knowing?

[Neodevils]

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Product Feedback

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Right now on GitHub, people can just smash the Code → Download ZIP button, grab my entire repo, and disappear into the void.
No fork. No star. No visibility. Nothing.

As a repo owner, I get zero awareness of who’s actually pulling my work.
Forks and stars show up, sure, but downloads? They’re basically invisible.

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Why this is a problem

• Ghost users everywhere – People could be actively using your repo and you’d never know.
• Lost community potential – How are we supposed to collaborate, get feedback, or even know who’s interested if downloads are hidden?
• Transparency gap – Forks at least show attribution. Direct downloads? They leave no trace.

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Possible fixes

• Make fork + clone the default way to download, so repo owners get visibility.
• Or add an Insight: Repository Downloads section that shows who (logged-in users) downloaded, while still letting anonymous users download if they want.

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Right now, downloading is a one-way street.
Maintainers give, but never know who’s on the other end.
I believe that should change, no?

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[Leorev01]

Hey @Neodevils,
I completely agree, thanks for bringing this up

[jfullstackdev]

because it's an Open Source, what you can only do is put a License, even then, you are not sure someone used your code because anyone can remove the license and not recognize the original Dev, up to the point that one day, it becomes significant and you claim that it's your code but it requires legal process, which is way too stressful

it was also my concern back then even like putting a version of Watermark for code only so that no one can use it without your approval but this was not pursued even by Devs themselves who can make this, so it means the strong urge / need is not there

but I reframed my way of thinking regarding this, that first, no one cares about any code, because most features, systems are written any way already by other devs, the only reason why we still write code is because we want exactly this way or that way

what GitHub offers is the Insight Tab but it's not like exactly what you want, but still at least you are informed that you repo has traffic

also there is the download_count in the API, so at least you know how many downloads it had, but still it cannot identify whose who

GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/assets/{asset_id}

[Neodevils]

because it's an Open Source, what you can only do is put a License, even then, you are not sure someone used your code because anyone can remove the license and not recognize the original Dev, up to the point that one day, it becomes significant and you claim that it's your code but it requires legal process, which is way too stressful

it was also my concern back then even like putting a version of Watermark for code only so that no one can use it without your approval but this was not pursued even by Devs themselves who can make this, so it means the strong urge / need is not there

but I reframed my way of thinking regarding this, that first, no one cares about any code, because most features, systems are written any way already by other devs, the only reason why we still write code is because we want exactly this way or that way

what GitHub offers is the Insight Tab but it's not like exactly what you want, but still at least you are informed that you repo has traffic

also there is the `download_count` in the API, so at least you know how many downloads it had, but still it cannot identify whose who

GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/assets/{asset_id}

Seeing who cloned and your repo is seem valid reason to have this feature. We repo owners won't lose anything either the cloner. It's win-win.

[jfullstackdev]

again, let me tell you that it's possible to be developed, just like a Watermark in an image, despite that, no developer is heavily interested in it, or maybe there were open source like that, but it did not gain traction, meaning, most of the Devs are not interested in it, as again, I was interested in that too back then

if GitHub or any other platform feels it's really needed, for sure they will certainly develop it

[Neodevils]

I get that it could be developed and maybe nobody has pursued it seriously yet—but brushing it off because "developers aren’t interested" misses the point. Just because something hasn’t gained traction doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable

The core problem is that GitHub’s current download system is a black hole for maintainers: people can take your work and you have zero visibility. It’s a real gap in transparency and community engagement in my opinion

Yes, this could've been done by user with GitHub Actions but built-in is always better