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Mohammad AbdulHakim

Posted on May 28, 2023 • Updated on May 30, 2023

How I Used Github API to Generate a Dynamic Name Updating Every Minute!

#javascript #node #beginners #api

abomisr / TheTimeIs

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

All praise is due to The Creator of the heavens and the earth

How I Used Github API to Generate a Dynamic Name Updating Every Minute!

1- Getting the current time in GMT

const currentDate = new Date().toUTCString();
console.log(currentDate)   // Sun, 28 May 2023 08:00:48 GMT

we only want "08:00"

const hoursAndMinutes = currentDate.slice(currentDate.indexOf(":")-2,22);

2- Generating the new name

so, the whole new name will be

const newname = `The time is ${hoursAndMinutes} GMT`;
console.log(newname) // The time is 08:00 GMT

make a function which return the new name;

const generateNewName = () => {
  const currentDate = new Date().toUTCString();
  const hoursAndMinutes =

…

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
All praise is due to The Creator of the heavens and the earth

1- Getting the current time in GMT

const currentDate = new Date().toUTCString();

console.log(currentDate)   // Sun, 28 May 2023 08:00:48 GMT

we only want "08:00"


const hoursAndMinutes = currentDate.slice(currentDate.indexOf(":")-2,22);

2- Generating the new name

so, the whole new name will be


const newname = `The time is ${hoursAndMinutes} GMT`;
console.log(newname) // The time is 08:00 GMT

make a function which return the new name;


const generateNewName = () => {
  const currentDate = new Date().toUTCString();
  const hoursAndMinutes = currentDate.slice(currentDate.indexOf(":") - 2, 22);

  const newname = `The time is ${hoursAndMinutes} GMT`;
  return newname;
};
console.log(generateNewName()) // logs "The time is 08:00 GMT"

3- Getting the github token

you will need your github token to use it when update your account.

you can find the steps get your token in github docs

https://github.com/settings/tokens
Generate new token (classic)
select scopes you want, (be sure to select "user" scope to be able to "Update ALL user data")
then generate token, and copy this.
add this token to .env

4- installing packages

npm i dotenv
npm i cross-fetch

5- update account name with github api


const updateAccount = () =>{
    fetch('https://api.github.com/user', {
      method: 'PATCH',
      body: JSON.stringify({
        name: generateNewName(),
      }),
      headers: {
        'Content-type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      },
    })
}

and run this function in interval each 60000ms


setInterval(() => {
    updateAccount()
}, 60000)

6- run the code

write node {filename}.js in the terminal.
e.g. node index.js

so, the whole code will be


const dotenv = require("dotenv");
const fetch = require("cross-fetch")

dotenv.config()
const token = process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN


//*========> [ GENERATE THE NEW NAME ] <============= 
const generateNewName = () => {
  const currentDate = new Date().toUTCString();
  const hoursAndMinutes = currentDate.slice(currentDate.indexOf(":") - 2, 22);

  const newname = `The time is ${hoursAndMinutes} GMT`;
  return newname;
};
//!======================


//*========> [ UPDATE ACCOUNT FUNCTION ] <============= 
const updateAccount = async() =>{
    let res = await fetch('https://api.github.com/user', {
      method: 'PATCH',
      body: JSON.stringify({
        name: generateNewName(),
      }),
      headers: {
        'Content-type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      },
    })
    console.log(res.status)
}
//!=====================================


//*========> [ EVERY MINUTE ] <============= 
setInterval(() => {
    updateAccount()
}, 60000)
// !================