GitHub File Read API

About this tool

Read any text file from a GitHub repository. The API automatically decodes the base64 content returned by the GitHub Contents API and returns it as plain UTF-8 text. Specify an optional ref (branch name, tag, or commit SHA) to read from a specific point in history. Maximum file size: 1MB.

Quick Start

curl -X POST https://api.iteratools.com/github/file/read \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "owner": "vercel",
    "repo": "next.js",
    "path": "README.md",
    "ref": "canary"
  }'

Body Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
`owner`	string	Yes	Repository owner
`repo`	string	Yes	Repository name
`path`	string	Yes	File path within the repository (e.g. `src/index.js`)
`ref`	string	No	Branch, tag, or commit SHA (default: default branch)
`token`	string	No	GitHub PAT (for private repos or higher rate limits)

Response

{"path":"README.md","sha":"a1b2c3d4e5f67890...","size":4821,"content":"# Next.js\n\nThe React Framework for the Web...","encoding":"utf-8","url":"https://github.com/vercel/next.js/blob/canary/README.md"}

Pricing

$0.001 per request via x402 micropayment on Base (USDC). System token used automatically for public repos — no token required from users for read-only access.

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