OctoLinker was a browser extension that enhanced GitHub by making dependencies and module imports clickable links. It allowed developers to navigate repositories more efficiently by turning package names into links.
However, due to changes in GitHub, OctoLinker is no longer functional. Despite various platform updates over the years, we managed to keep it running for nine years, but this latest change has made it impossible to maintain its functionality.
Thank you to everyone who supported and used OctoLinker over the years. It has been an incredible journey, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together.
Below, you’ll find a timeline highlighting key moments from the past nine years of the project.
- 27 December 201327 December 2013
Initial release
OctoLinker was initially released as GitHub Linker.
At launch, it just linked dependencies in a
package.json. It supported 44,930 npm packages (nearly all of the available packages at the time). Yes, the npm registry was that small back then! - 16 June 201416 June 2014
Link require statements
Added support for linkingrequire()statements to their related files or corresponding GitHub repositories, enabling users to explore packages directly from the source code. - 24 August 201424 August 2014
Optimize mapping file creation
As the npm registry grew, so did the mapping file. By now it contained over 75,000 npm packages. Crawling npm became increasingly challenging, and generating the file entirely in memory was no longer feasible. The solution? Streaming. - 25 September 201425 September 2014
PHP Composer support
This was the project's first code contribution, introducing support for a new package manager, made by @barryvdh.
- 24 August 201524 August 2015Huge improvment
Live-Resolver API
Earlier versions relied on large static lists for each supported registry bundled with the extension. This approach was not scalable and as it also impacted the browser performance.
The new Live-Resolver API was introduced to resolve package links in real-time, ensuring up-to-date links and improved performance.
- 27 August 201527 August 2015
Growing user base 🎉
Surpassed 6,000 users after 1.5 years
- 9 December 20159 December 2015
Renaming to OctoLinker
Forced to rename 'GitHub Linker' due to legal reasons, OctoLinker was born. Thanks Christian Kahl for this amazing logo!
- 11 May 201611 May 2016
Support for Ruby
Add support for
requirestatements andrequirements.txt - 15 May 2016
- 21 June 2016OctoLinker is now available for Firefox.21 June 2016
Firefox release - 2 August 2016Added support for Python, Rust, Docker, Vim, and TypeScript.2 August 2016
More language support 🚀
- 1 September 20161 September 2016Millstone
Still Growing 🎉
10,000 active users. - 19 October 201619 October 2016
.NET Core support
Added support for .NET Coreproject.jsonfiles. - 4 December 2016Added support to link dependencies from Readme's and Issues.4 December 2016
README and issues support
- 18 January 201718 January 2017
Stickers
Fresh from the press, 360 OctoLinker stickers
- 31 January 201731 January 2017
Go support
Added support for navigation Go dependecies - 28 March 201728 March 2017
More language support
Added support for Haskell, Sass, and LessCSS. - 9 November 20179 November 2017
Java support
Added Java core class linking, including documentation support. - 10 November 2017
- 20 July 201820 July 2018
Testing made easy
As OctoLinker grew in complexity, we needed a way to ensure that changes made by GitHub didn't break OctoLinker. The solution we came up with is unbelievable simple. It is as simple as adding a code comment.This is a test that checks if OctoLinker can resolve the//@OctoLinker Resolve(https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html)require('fs')require('fs')statement to thefs.htmldocumentation page on the Node.js website. If you want to learn more about this, check out my blog post where I went into more detail about how we do end-to-end testing works. - 13 August 201813 August 2018
Pull Requests support
Link dependencies in Pull Requests to make you the world's fastest code reviewer
- 6 June 20196 June 2019
Major rework of link resolution
Major rewrite to resolve links during initial page load, allowing to insert actual links into the DOM instead of just listening to click events. This also meant to upgrade our resolver API to handle the new load. Luckily we had two amazing sponsors.
- 27 December 201927 December 2019
6-year anniversary 🎈
25,000 active users and 4,000 GitHub stars - 13 January 2020OctoLinker is now available for Edge.13 January 2020
Edge release - 12 April 202012 April 2020
Hovercard
Added hovercards for quick dependency insights, allowing users to view package details without leaving the page.
- 4 May 20204 May 2020
API load
Our RESTful API resolved 1.8 million links each week or three links per second.
- 19 August 202019 August 2020
GitHub Actions support
Support linking of GitHub Actions defined in workflow YAML files, making it easier to explore actions directly from any workflow file. - 12 January 2021
- 17 January 2021OctoLinker is now available for Safari.17 January 2021
Safari release - 29 April 202129 April 2021
Arctic Code Vault
OctoLinker selected as one of the 17,000 Greatest Hits for the GitHub Archive Project. - 26 April 202226 April 2022
Chrome Web Store badge
Received Established Publisher badge on Chrome Web Store.
- 8 May 20238 May 2023
The End
On May 8, 2023, GitHub released a new code view that broke OctoLinker. Despite various platform updates over the years, we managed to keep it running for nine years. Unfortunately, this latest change has made it impossible to maintain its functionality.
What's next?
There are plenty other great browser extensions out there aiming to improve your GitHub experience. You can find some of them on the Awesome Browser Extensions for GitHub list.
Stefan Buck, the creator of OctoLinker, is now working on Pull Request Badge GitHub App, contininung his passion for consitency and productivity on GitHub.
Pull RequestBadge