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Licenses

In this article

The Licenses API lets you to retrieve popular open source licenses and information about a particular project's license file.

The Licenses API returns metadata about popular open source licenses and information about a particular project's license file.

The Licenses API uses the open source Ruby Gem Licensee to attempt to identify the project's license. Licensee matches the contents of a project's LICENSE file (if it exists) against a short list of known licenses. As a result, the API does not take into account the licenses of project dependencies or other means of documenting a project's license such as references to the license name in the documentation.

If a license is matched, the license key and name returned conforms to the SPDX specification.

Note: These endpoints will also return a repository's license information:

GitHub is a lot of things, but it’s not a law firm. As such, GitHub does not provide legal advice. Using the Licenses API or sending us an email about it does not constitute legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. If you have any questions about what you can and can't do with a particular license, you should consult with your own legal counsel before moving forward. In fact, you should always consult with your own lawyer before making any decisions that might have legal ramifications or that may impact your legal rights.

GitHub created the License API to help users get information about open source licenses and the projects that use them. We hope it helps, but please keep in mind that we’re not lawyers (at least most of us aren't) and that we make mistakes like everyone else. For that reason, GitHub provides the API on an "as-is" basis and makes no warranties regarding any information or licenses provided on or through it, and disclaims liability for damages resulting from using the API.

Get all commonly used licenses

get /licenses

Parameters

NameTypeInDescription
acceptstringheader

Setting toapplication/vnd.github.v3+json is recommended.

featuredbooleanquery
per_pageintegerquery

Results per page (max 100)

Default: 30

pageintegerquery

Page number of the results to fetch.

Default: 1

Code samples

Shell
 curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/licenses
JavaScript (@octokit/core.js)
 await octokit.request('GET /licenses')

Response

 Status: 200 OK
 [
  {
    "key": "mit",
    "name": "MIT License",
    "spdx_id": "MIT",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/mit",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "lgpl-3.0",
    "name": "GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0",
    "spdx_id": "LGPL-3.0",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/lgpl-3.0",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "mpl-2.0",
    "name": "Mozilla Public License 2.0",
    "spdx_id": "MPL-2.0",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/mpl-2.0",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "agpl-3.0",
    "name": "GNU Affero General Public License v3.0",
    "spdx_id": "AGPL-3.0",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/agpl-3.0",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "unlicense",
    "name": "The Unlicense",
    "spdx_id": "Unlicense",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/unlicense",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "apache-2.0",
    "name": "Apache License 2.0",
    "spdx_id": "Apache-2.0",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/apache-2.0",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  },
  {
    "key": "gpl-3.0",
    "name": "GNU General Public License v3.0",
    "spdx_id": "GPL-3.0",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/gpl-3.0",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  }
]

Not modified

 Status: 304 Not Modified

Notes

Get a license

get /licenses/{license}

Parameters

NameTypeInDescription
acceptstringheader

Setting toapplication/vnd.github.v3+json is recommended.

licensestringpath

Code samples

Shell
 curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/licenses/LICENSE
JavaScript (@octokit/core.js)
 await octokit.request('GET /licenses/{license}', {
  license: 'license'
})

Response

 Status: 200 OK
 {
  "key": "mit",
  "name": "MIT License",
  "spdx_id": "MIT",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/mit",
  "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA==",
  "html_url": "http://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/",
  "description": "A permissive license that is short and to the point. It lets people do anything with your code with proper attribution and without warranty.",
  "implementation": "Create a text file (typically named LICENSE or LICENSE.txt) in the root of your source code and copy the text of the license into the file. Replace [year] with the current year and [fullname] with the name (or names) of the copyright holders.",
  "permissions": [
    "commercial-use",
    "modifications",
    "distribution",
    "sublicense",
    "private-use"
  ],
  "conditions": [
    "include-copyright"
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "no-liability"
  ],
  "body": "\n\nThe MIT License (MIT)\n\nCopyright (c) [year] [fullname]\n\nPermission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy\nof this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"), to deal\nin the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights\nto use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell\ncopies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is\nfurnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:\n\nThe above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all\ncopies or substantial portions of the Software.\n\nTHE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR\nIMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,\nFITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE\nAUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER\nLIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,\nOUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE\nSOFTWARE.\n",
  "featured": true
}

Not modified

 Status: 304 Not Modified

Forbidden

 Status: 403 Forbidden

Resource not found

 Status: 404 Not Found

Notes

Get the license for a repository

This method returns the contents of the repository's license file, if one is detected.

Similar to Get repository content, this method also supports custom media types for retrieving the raw license content or rendered license HTML.

get /repos/{owner}/{repo}/license

Parameters

NameTypeInDescription
acceptstringheader

Setting toapplication/vnd.github.v3+json is recommended.

ownerstringpath
repostringpath

Code samples

Shell
 curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/license
JavaScript (@octokit/core.js)
 await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/license', {
  owner: 'octocat',
  repo: 'hello-world'
})

Response

 Status: 200 OK
 {
  "name": "LICENSE",
  "path": "LICENSE",
  "sha": "401c59dcc4570b954dd6d345e76199e1f4e76266",
  "size": 1077,
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/benbalter/gman/contents/LICENSE?ref=master",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/benbalter/gman/blob/master/LICENSE",
  "git_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/benbalter/gman/git/blobs/401c59dcc4570b954dd6d345e76199e1f4e76266",
  "download_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/benbalter/gman/master/LICENSE?lab=true",
  "type": "file",
  "content": "VGhlIE1JVCBMaWNlbnNlIChNSVQpCgpDb3B5cmlnaHQgKGMpIDIwMTMgQmVu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\nSEUgVVNFIE9SIE9USEVSIERFQUxJTkdTIElOIFRIRSBTT0ZUV0FSRS4K\n",
  "encoding": "base64",
  "_links": {
    "self": "https://api.github.com/repos/benbalter/gman/contents/LICENSE?ref=master",
    "git": "https://api.github.com/repos/benbalter/gman/git/blobs/401c59dcc4570b954dd6d345e76199e1f4e76266",
    "html": "https://github.com/benbalter/gman/blob/master/LICENSE"
  },
  "license": {
    "key": "mit",
    "name": "MIT License",
    "spdx_id": "MIT",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/mit",
    "node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA=="
  }
}

Notes