` host element, so any CSS selector that targets a
template's class will style the rendered output.
## 4. Core Usage
This section walks through every visible behaviour and screen in the app,
in the order a real visitor encounters them.
### 4.1 Landing page (no username)
When you load the site with no query string, the JavaScript falls into the
`home()` branch and AJAX-loads `views/index.html` into the `#resume`
container. This is the default landing experience — a brief introduction
plus an input field for the username.
### 4.2 Rendering a résumé
When the URL contains a query string, the `run()` function executes a
multi-step pipeline:
1. **Star check** — synchronous `GET https://api.github.com/users/
/starred?per_page=100`,
paginated 100 at a time. The walker stops as soon as it sees
`resume/resume.github.com` in `repo.full_name`. If the user has not
starred the repo, `views/opt_out.html` is shown.
2. **User profile** — `GET https://api.github.com/users/?callback=?`
(JSONP). Populates the identity block, computes *Early Adopter* and
the *Status Label*.
3. **Repositories** — `GET https://api.github.com/users//repos?per_page=100&callback=?`,
paginated. Forks are filtered out. The remainder are sorted by
`watchers + forks`, top five rendered into `#jobs` from `views/job.html`,
and the language histogram populated.
4. **Merged pull requests** — `GET https://api.github.com/search/issues?q=type:pr+is:merged+author:&per_page=100&callback=?`.
Results are bucketed by `repository_url`, sorted by count, and rendered
into `#contrib-jobs` from `views/contrib.html`.
5. **Organisations** — `GET https://api.github.com/users//orgs?callback=?`.
Up to `maxItems` organisations are rendered into `#orgs` from
`views/org.html`.
6. **Title update** — the document title becomes `'s Résumé`.
7. **Print binding** — the `#actions #print` element is wired to call
`window.print()`.
> [!NOTE]
> The user profile, repositories, merged PRs, and organisations calls all
> run **in parallel** as soon as the star check passes. Render order is
> therefore not deterministic — the first block that returns from GitHub
> populates first.
### 4.3 The status label
Your résumé header includes a single status string. It is derived from
this formula:
```text
score = (public_repos * 2.00)
+ (public_gists * 0.25)
+ (followers * 0.50)
+ (following * 0.25)
+ (early_adopter ? 1 : 0)
+ (location && email && blog ? 1 : 0)
```
The score then maps to a label:
| Score | Label |
|------:|-------|
| `0` | Inactive GitHub user |
| `0 < s ≤ 5` | Newbie GitHub user |
| `5 < s ≤ 20` | Regular GitHub user |
| `20 < s ≤ 50` | Advanced GitHub user |
| `50 < s ≤ 150` | Enthusiastic GitHub user |
| `> 150` | Passionate GitHub user |
The *Early Adopter* tag is awarded if your account was created in 2008
through May (or earlier — the original code includes a `since <= '2007'`
branch even though GitHub launched in February 2008).
### 4.4 Featured projects
The repos table renders five rows. Each row pulls from one of your
non-fork repositories, ranked by `watchers + forks` (so popularity, not
recency, drives the order). The shape of each row is:
| Field | Source |
|-------|--------|
| Name | `repo.name` |
| Date | `repo.created_at` year, optionally `created – pushed` if different |
| Language | `repo.language` |
| Description | `repo.description` (with `:emoji:` shortcodes rewritten to GitHub's emoji images) |
| Watchers | `repo.watchers` (label switches between `star` and `stars`) |
| Forks | `repo.forks` (label switches between `fork` and `forks`) |
| Homepage | `repo.homepage` |
> [!NOTE]
> "Watchers" here is the legacy GitHub field — what's now called *Stars*.
> The label `'stars'` is shown on rendered output, but the underlying
> JSON property is `watchers`.
### 4.5 Languages bar
The languages histogram counts each non-fork repo's `language` field once,
sorts by frequency, takes the top nine, and renders each as
`…`
with a percentage of the total. Languages are grouped into rows of three
in the rendered HTML.
### 4.6 Open-source contributions
This block uses GitHub's search-issues endpoint to count merged PRs
authored by the user, grouped by repository. Each row links to the
`/commits?author=` URL on the upstream project.
> [!WARNING]
> The search endpoint is heavily rate-limited (separate from the regular
> 60-per-hour limit) and search results are capped at 1000 items globally.
> Users with very large contribution histories may see incomplete
> contribution lists.
### 4.7 Organisations
The orgs section is rendered from `views/org.html`. It uses the legacy
`/orgs` endpoint without a per-page parameter and shares the `itemCount`
counter with the projects block — so if a user already has five featured
projects rendered, organisations are silently truncated.
### 4.8 Printing
The `#print` button at the top of the page calls `window.print()`. Modern
browsers will offer "Save as PDF" as a destination. The `css/print.css`
sheet handles the print-only layout (fewer colours, removal of
interactive chrome, page-friendly typography).
> [!TIP]
> For the cleanest printable output, set your browser's print preview to
> *No headers and footers* and *Default* margins. Chrome and Edge both
> respect `@media print` and `@page` directives shipped in `print.css`.
## 5. Common Tasks
A handful of recipes for things visitors and self-hosters routinely need.
### 5.1 Save your résumé as a PDF
1. Visit `https://resume.github.com/?yourusername` and wait for the page
to fully render.
2. Click the **Print** button or press `Ctrl+P` (`Cmd+P` on macOS).
3. In the print dialog, choose **Save as PDF** as the destination.
4. Check **Background graphics** is enabled if you want the avatar and
colour accents to survive the export.
5. Save. Done.
### 5.2 Share your résumé as a link
There is nothing to share other than the URL itself. Send
`https://resume.github.com/?yourusername` in an email, in your LinkedIn
*Featured* section, or as a `vCard` URL. The page is fully public — no
authentication is required for the recipient.
> [!TIP]
> If the recipient does not have a GitHub account, they can still view
> your résumé. The star check applies only to the **subject** of the
> résumé (the user being looked up), not the visitor.
### 5.3 Use the project for an organisation
Organisations and users share the same URL pattern:
`https://resume.github.com/?orgname` will render an organisation résumé
using the `views/resumeOrgs.html` template instead of the user template.
The decision is made at runtime based on `data.type === 'Organization'`
in the `/users/` response.
### 5.4 Customise styling on a fork
1. Fork `resume/resume.github.com` to your own GitHub account.
2. Edit `css/resume.css` and `css/print.css` — these contain all visible
styling.
3. Push to your fork's `master` (or `main`) branch.
4. Enable **GitHub Pages** for your fork on the `master` branch root.
5. Visit `https://.github.io/resume.github.com/?`.
### 5.5 Embed in another site
Because the project is purely static and uses `window.location.search`
for input, embedding via `
```
> [!NOTE]
> The frame will inherit the parent page's print CSS only when the user
> right-clicks the iframe and chooses *Print*. A regular full-page print
> from the parent will not include the iframe content.
### 5.6 Disable Google Analytics on a fork
Open `js/githubresume.js`, find the `var trackerId = 'UA-21222559-1';`
line, and either delete it, comment it out, or set it to a falsy value.
The trailing analytics block will skip itself when `trackerId` is falsy.
## 6. Troubleshooting
Common failure modes, the cause behind each, and how to recover.
### Error: page shows the *Opt out* screen instead of a résumé
**Cause:** The user being looked up has not starred the
`resume/resume.github.com` repository on GitHub, so the
`github_user_starred_resume()` check returned `false`.
**Solution:**
1. Sign in to GitHub as the user whose résumé you want to display.
2. Visit `https://github.com/resume/resume.github.com`.
3. Click the **Star** button at the top right of the repo page.
4. Reload `https://resume.github.com/?yourusername` and wait for the
star to propagate to GitHub's API cache (usually instant).
**Prevention:** Star the repo as the very first step. Bookmark the star
URL: `https://github.com/resume/resume.github.com`.
### Error: page shows the *API limit reached* screen
**Cause:** Your IP has hit GitHub's unauthenticated rate limit (60
requests per hour). The starred-repos check alone consumes one request
per 100 starred repos; users with many stars can blow through the budget
quickly.
**Solution:**
1. Wait until the next hour rolls over (the limit is per UTC hour, not
sliding).
2. Switch to a different network — a mobile hotspot or VPN egress with a
different IP often has fresh quota.
3. If you self-host, see the Admin Guide for the unsupported pattern of
adding personal access tokens (the upstream project does not
authenticate any of its requests).
**Prevention:** Avoid reloading the page repeatedly during testing.
Cache responses if forking.
### Error: page shows the *Not found* screen
**Cause:** The `?username` you supplied does not match any GitHub user or
organisation, so the `/users//starred` call returned HTTP 404.
**Solution:**
1. Double-check the GitHub username for typos (case-insensitive but exact
otherwise).
2. Confirm the account still exists at `https://github.com/`.
3. If the account was renamed, use the new login.
**Prevention:** Use the exact login string from the user's GitHub URL
(`https://github.com/`).
### Error: blank page, console shows a `$ is not defined` or AJAX error
**Cause:** Either jQuery / Mustache failed to load, or you opened
`index.html` over the `file://` protocol where AJAX is blocked.
**Solution:**
1. Always serve the site over HTTP — see Section 2 for one-liner
commands using Rack, Python, or Node.
2. Open your browser's network tab and confirm the external scripts
(jQuery, Mustache) are resolving without 404s.
3. If on a corporate network, verify there's no proxy stripping
third-party scripts.
**Prevention:** Use one of the supported local-dev paths in Section 2.
### Error: Google Analytics throws a CSP violation in the console
**Cause:** Your hosting environment enforces a Content Security Policy
that blocks Google Analytics scripts.
**Solution:**
1. Edit `js/githubresume.js` and remove or comment out the trailing
`if (trackerId)` block.
2. Or extend your CSP to allow `https://www.google-analytics.com` and
`https://ssl.google-analytics.com`.
**Prevention:** When forking, decide upfront whether you want analytics —
many forks delete the block by default.
### Error: page renders but the language list is empty
**Cause:** All of the user's non-fork repositories have a `null`
`language` field (typical for documentation-only or assets-only
repositories).
**Solution:** Nothing to do — the `#mylanguages` block is hidden via
`$('#mylanguages').hide();` when there are no languages to show.
**Prevention:** This is by design.
### Error: only forks listed, message *"All of this user's repositories seem to be forks"*
**Cause:** The user genuinely has only forked repositories. The renderer
filters out forks before sorting, so an empty `sorted` array reaches the
template.
**Solution:** None — the message is the intended display. The user must
publish original repositories on GitHub to populate the projects block.
**Prevention:** N/A — this reflects the source data accurately.
### Error: organisation count is wrong
**Cause:** The `itemCount` counter is shared between the projects block
and the organisations block. If the user already has five featured
projects, no organisations are rendered.
**Solution:** Hard-fork and split the counter into `projectCount` and
`orgCount` if you need both blocks fully populated. Edit the `run()`
function in `js/githubresume.js`.
**Prevention:** This is a known quirk of the original code path.
## 7. FAQ
**Q: Do I need to install anything to use this?**
No. Visit `https://resume.github.com/?yourusername` after starring the
`resume/resume.github.com` repo on GitHub. There is no app, no extension,
no account.
**Q: Why do I have to star the repo?**
Starring is the project's opt-in mechanism. Without a star, the front-end
shows the *opt out* screen rather than rendering your data. It also acts
as a lightweight "thanks" to the project maintainers.
**Q: Can I look up someone else's résumé?**
Yes — the URL `?username` works for any public user or organisation,
provided that user has starred the repo. If they haven't, you'll see the
opt-out screen.
**Q: Is any data sent to a server I don't control?**
The page makes calls to `api.github.com` (public REST API, JSONP) and to
Google Analytics (`google-analytics.com`). No other endpoints are
contacted. There is no first-party backend in this project.
**Q: How do I stop people from rendering my profile?**
Unstar `resume/resume.github.com` on GitHub. The next visitor will see
the opt-out screen.
**Q: Can I use my own domain?**
Yes — fork the repo, edit `css/resume.css` to your taste, and serve the
files from any static host (GitHub Pages, S3 + CloudFront, Netlify,
Vercel). See Section 2, Path B.
**Q: Does this work on mobile?**
Yes for viewing. Printing from mobile browsers is generally less reliable
than desktop — the *Save as PDF* destination is hidden behind different
menus depending on the OS. For best results, generate PDFs from a
desktop browser.
**Q: Why is my year listed as "last year" or "this year"?**
The renderer collapses year labels relative to the current year for
recently-created GitHub accounts. If you joined this calendar year, you
will see *this year*; if you joined the previous calendar year, *last
year*. Older accounts show the four-digit year.
**Q: Why does my contribution list look truncated?**
GitHub's search-issues API caps results at 1000 items. Users with very
high contribution counts will only see the first page of merged PRs. The
project does not work around this limit.
**Q: Will an organisation account work?**
Yes. The renderer checks `data.type === 'Organization'` and uses
`views/resumeOrgs.html` instead of the user template. The avatar URL is
also rewritten to a Gravatar-only form for organisation accounts.
**Q: How do I report a bug?**
Open an issue at `https://github.com/resume/resume.github.com/issues`.
Include the username you were trying to render, the browser version, and
any console output. Note that the project has been quiet for years.
**Q: Where is the source for the screen I'm seeing?**
Each visible state corresponds to one HTML file in `views/`:
`index.html` (landing), `resume.html` (user résumé), `resumeOrgs.html`
(organisation résumé), `job.html` (one project row), `org.html` (one
organisation row), `contrib.html` (one contribution row), `error.html`,
`api_limit.html`, `not_found.html`, `opt_out.html`.
**Q: Is there a CLI?**
No. The project is browser-only.
**Q: Is there a public API?**
No. The project consumes GitHub's REST API but exposes none of its own.
**Q: Are there any configuration files?**
No. Apart from `config.ru` (which is two lines of Rack to serve static
files), there are no configuration files.
---
_Generated April 2026 from resume/resume.github.com at f599075. AI-generated documentation. The library is checked by sampling (three repositories so far); this guide was not individually reviewed. Verify against the project before relying on it. Unofficial; not affiliated with or reviewed by the project._