Monitor pull requests, issues, and releases across multiple GitHub repositories from a Chrome extension. It keeps a local activity feed, badge counts, and optional browser notifications without adding another hosted service to the workflow.
- Guided Setup - Built-in GitHub sign-in flow and repository selection
- Browser Notifications - Get notified about new PRs, issues, and releases
- Multi-Repo Monitoring - Watch up to 50 repositories from one interface
- Configurable Updates - Check every 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes
- Activity Filtering - Search and filter by repo and activity type
- Badge Counts - Unread count on the extension icon
- Direct API Access - Talks to GitHub directly, with optional npm registry lookups only when you use package-name import
- Visit the Chrome Web Store
- Click "Add to Chrome"
- Grant permissions when prompted
- Follow the guided setup wizard on first launch
GitHub Sign-In Permissions: DevWatch uses GitHub OAuth device flow and requests repo plus read:user so it can monitor private repositories and show the connected account in the UI.
- Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/jonmartin721/devwatch-github.git
cd devwatch-github-
Load the extension in Chrome:
- Open Chrome and go to
chrome://extensions/ - Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
- Click "Load unpacked"
- Select the extension directory
- Open Chrome and go to
-
Click the extension icon and follow the setup wizard
The built-in setup flow walks you through:
- Connect your GitHub account
- Add repositories to watch
- Choose activity types (PRs, Issues, Releases)
- The extension automatically checks for activity at your configured interval (default: 15 minutes)
- Click the extension icon to view your activity feed
- Get browser notifications for new activity
- Badge count shows unread items at a glance
- Manage repositories and preferences anytime in Settings
Filter by type (All/PRs/Issues/Releases), search activities, refresh manually, or browse the archive. Click any item to open in GitHub.
Manage your GitHub connection, watched repositories, activity filters, check interval, notifications, and theme. Export/import settings for backup.
Here's what using the extension looks like day-to-day:
- You're working and get a notification: "2 new activities in your-org/api-server"
- Click the extension icon to see the feed
- See "Pull Request #145: Add OAuth2 authentication" (3 minutes ago)
- Click the item to open it in GitHub
- Review and comment on the PR
- When you return to the extension, it's marked as read
The extension keeps up to 2000 items in your local history, so you can always check something you saw earlier. Badge count updates automatically as you read items.
The UI includes keyboard navigation, visible focus styles, semantic controls, and ARIA labeling in key flows. The test suite also includes automated axe-core checks and keyboard-focused UI tests.
That said, this project has not gone through a formal accessibility audit or documented screen reader certification. If you run into an accessibility issue, please open an issue.
The extension talks directly to GitHub's API and does not use a separate analytics or sync backend. It stores settings and cached activity in Chrome extension storage, and the current build encrypts the GitHub auth session before persisting it locally while keeping a decrypted session copy available at runtime.
- Direct network access - Requests go to
api.github.com, plusregistry.npmjs.orgonly when you use package-name lookup - Scoped browser permissions - The manifest asks for
storage,alarms, andnotifications - Defensive client code - The codebase includes URL validation, content security policy rules, and sanitization tests
- No formal audit claim - These measures improve the local handling of data, but they are not a substitute for securing the browser profile and GitHub account you use with the extension
The extension stores up to 2000 activity items locally in Chrome storage. This limit ensures the extension stays performant while providing plenty of history.
You can optionally configure automatic expiry of old items:
- Auto-removal: Enable time-based expiry to automatically remove items older than a specified time
- Configurable Duration: Set expiry time from 1 to 168 hours (1 week)
- Applies to All Items: When enabled, both feed and archived items older than the threshold are removed
- Manual Control: Clear archive manually anytime with the "Clear Archive" button
Items are automatically removed when they exceed the 2000 item limit (keeping the most recent) or when they're older than your configured expiry time (if enabled).
GitHub gives authenticated users 5,000 API requests per hour. Each repo check uses 1-3 requests, so even checking 50 repos every 15 minutes keeps you well under the limit.
The extension defaults to checking every 15 minutes. You can change this to 5, 30, or 60 minutes in settings. The 50-repo limit is just to keep things reasonable - you won't hit GitHub's rate limits even at that level.
/devwatch-github
/icons # Extension icons in various sizes
/popup # Popup interface
/controllers # Popup business logic
/views # Popup view components
popup.html
popup.js
popup.css
/options # Settings page
/controllers # Settings business logic
/views # Settings view components
options.html
options.js
/shared # Shared utilities
/api # GitHub API integration
/ui # Shared UI components
background.js # Service worker for background tasks
manifest.json # Extension manifest (Manifest V3)
- Vanilla JavaScript - No frameworks, pure JS for maximum compatibility
- Chrome Extension Manifest V3 - Latest extension standards
- GitHub REST API - Direct integration with GitHub's API
- Chrome APIs - Storage, Notifications, and Alarms for core functionality
npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run buildThe automated checks cover shared logic, UI behavior, and a range of mocked extension flows. They do not replace manual testing in Chrome for permissions, service worker lifecycle behavior, or end-to-end interactions against live GitHub data.
Jest enforces minimum global coverage thresholds of 47% lines, 46% branches, and 44% functions. That is a floor for the suite, not a claim of exhaustive coverage.
- Clone the repository
- Run
npm installfor dependencies - Load as unpacked extension in Chrome
- Make changes and reload the extension from
chrome://extensions/
Contributions welcome! Submit issues or pull requests. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
- Bug Reports: Use GitHub Issues with clear reproduction steps
- Feature Requests: Open an issue describing the feature and use case
- Pull Requests: Fork, branch, and submit with clear commit messages
- Code Style: Follow existing patterns and use ESLint configuration
- Privacy Policy - How we handle your data
- Changelog - Version history and release notes
- License - MIT License
- Contributing Guidelines - How to contribute
This is an actively maintained side project. Some features under consideration:
- Comment notifications - Track new comments on issues and PRs
- Mention tracking - Get notified when you're mentioned
- Multiple GitHub accounts - Switch between different accounts
- GitHub OAuth - Simplified authentication with one-click login
- Internationalization - Support for multiple languages
- Dashboard view - Full-page dashboard for all activity
If any of these sound useful, open an issue or submit a PR!
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jonathan Martin
- Report issues: GitHub Issues
- Feature requests: GitHub Discussions
