Github Recent Activity Extension

📖 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. ➤ About The Project
2. ➤ Preview
3. ➤ Features
4. ➤ Installation
5. ➤ Usage
6. ➤ Authors

📝 About The Project

❌ The Problem

GitHub's homepage sidebar used to show your recent activity and pull requests, making it easy to keep track of your work and contributions. However, this feature was removed, leaving users without a convenient way to quickly access their open PRs, reviews, and recent activity directly from the homepage.

✅ The Solution: Github Recent Activity Extension

Github Recent Activity Extension is a lightweight browser extension that brings back the Recent Activity section to your GitHub homepage sidebar. It displays your open pull requests, draft PRs, and recent contributions in a clean, integrated interface that feels native to GitHub.

🛠️ How It Works

🔹 Seamless Integration – Adds a "Recent Activity" section above the "Top Repositories" in your sidebar
🔹 Real-time Data – Fetches your latest PRs and activity using GitHub's own APIs and page data
🔹 Native Feel – Uses GitHub's authentic icons, colors, and styling for perfect integration
🔹 Smart Display – Shows PR status (open/draft), repository info, and includes hover cards for detailed previews

🎯 Why Use It?

✨ Stay Productive – Quick access to your active work without navigating multiple pages
⚡ Save Time – Instantly see your open PRs and their status from the homepage
🎨 Native Experience – Looks and feels like a built-in GitHub feature
🔄 Always Updated – Automatically refreshes to show your latest activity

This extension is perfect for developers, maintainers, and contributors who want to quickly access their GitHub activity without losing the convenience that was once built into the platform! 🚀

👁️ Preview

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⭐ Features

🎯 Core Functionality

• ✅ Recent Activity Section - Displays your latest pull requests in the sidebar
• ✅ PR Status Indicators - Shows open and draft PRs with authentic GitHub icons
• ✅ Repository Links - Quick access to repository pages with hover previews
• ✅ Markdown Support - Renders bold text and code snippets in PR titles

🎨 UI/UX Features

• ✅ GitHub-Native Styling - Uses GitHub's CSS variables and design system
• ✅ Responsive Layout - Adapts to narrow sidebars with proper text wrapping
• ✅ Hover Cards - GitHub-style previews for PRs and repositories
• ✅ Smart Navigation - Opens links in the current tab with GitHub's navigation

⚙️ Technical Features

• ✅ Dual Data Sources - Web scraping with API fallback for maximum reliability
• ✅ Modular Architecture - Clean, maintainable code split into focused modules
• ✅ Performance Optimized - Minimal resource usage and fast loading
• ✅ Error Handling - Graceful fallbacks when GitHub's structure changes

🛠️ Installation

Google Chrome

Currently, this extension is not available in the Chrome Web Store, but it may be in the future.

In the meantime, you can install it manually by loading it as an unpacked extension in Chrome:

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/ 🌐
2. Enable Developer mode by toggling the switch in the top right corner ⚙️
3. Click Load unpacked 📂
4. Locate and select the Github Recent Activity Extension extension chrome folder 📁

Firefox

Currently, this extension is not available in the Firefox Add-ons store, but it may be in the future.

In the meantime, you can install it manually by loading it as a temporary add-on in Firefox:

1. Open Firefox and navigate to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox 🌐
2. Click Load Temporary Add-on... 📂
3. Locate and select the manifest.json file in the Github Recent Activity Extension extension firefox folder 📄

💻 Usage

🚀 Getting Started

1. Install the extension following the instructions above
2. Navigate to GitHub.com and log into your account
3. Visit your homepage - you'll see the new "Recent Activity" section above "Top Repositories"
4. Click on any PR to navigate directly to it
5. Hover over PRs or repositories to see detailed preview cards

🎯 What You'll See

• 🔀 Open PRs - Your currently open pull requests with green icons
• 📝 Draft PRs - Your draft pull requests with gray icons
• Repository Info - Quick links to the repositories with hover previews
• Markdown Formatting - Bold text and code snippets rendered properly

⚡ Pro Tips

• The extension automatically updates when you navigate between GitHub pages
• Works on all GitHub pages, but the sidebar is most visible on the homepage
• Hover over any PR or repository name for detailed information
• Click repository names to quickly navigate to the repo

📜 Authors

Emanuele Dall'Ara