Homepage (https://docusaurus.io/) GitHub Stars button links to broken stargazers page and returns a 404 error

[dtymoszenko]

Have you read the Contributing Guidelines on issues?

• I have read the Contributing Guidelines on issues.

Prerequisites

• I'm using the latest version of Docusaurus.
• I have tried the npm run clear or yarn clear command.
• I have tried rm -rf node_modules yarn.lock package-lock.json and re-installing packages.
• I have tried creating a repro with https://new.docusaurus.io.
• I have read the console error message carefully (if applicable).

Description

The GitHub Stars button on the Docusaurus homepage (docusaurus.io) currently links to the repository’s /stargazers page, which is no longer accessible as expected. Clicking the button leads users to a broken/inaccessible destination instead of a useful GitHub page.

This is caused by github recently changing the watchers and stargazers endpoints to be solely for admins and contributors on June 30th 2026: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-06-30-upcoming-access-restrictions-to-public-api-endpoints-and-ui-views/ It has since been replaced by a new endpoint: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-09-04-new-api-endpoint-provides-privacy-safe-star-history-data/

Reproducible demo

This issue can be reproduced directly on the live Docusaurus homepage, so a separate reproduction repository is not necessary. Steps to reproduce: Open the Docusaurus homepage. Click the GitHub Stars button in the hero section. The link navigates to the Docusaurus repository’s /stargazers page. The destination is no longer accessible/working as expected. Expected behavior: The GitHub Stars button should lead to a valid GitHub destination rather than a broken/inaccessible page.

Steps to reproduce

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open the Docusaurus homepage. (https://docusaurus.io/)
2. Click the GitHub Stars button in the hero section.
3. The link navigates to the Docusaurus repository’s /stargazers page.
4. The destination is no longer accessible/working as expected.

Expected behavior

I expected the GitHub Stars widget on the Docusaurus homepage to lead to a valid GitHub destination instead of the now-inaccessible /stargazers page.

Looking at the implementation, Docusaurus currently embeds the ghbtns.com GitHub button in website/src/pages/index.tsx using type=star&count=true. The ghbtns implementation links the main Star button to https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus, but links the displayed star count separately to ${repo}/stargazers, which is what produces the broken destination.

One option would be to address this upstream in mdo/github-buttons, since that project currently generates the /stargazers link. There is already an upstream issue about this behavior that has been open for around two weeks without a resolution, so it may also be worth considering a Docusaurus-specific solution rather than depending on an upstream change. For example, the current iframe could be replaced with a small local GitHub Stars component that preserves the existing Star + count appearance while linking to a valid destination such as the main source repository at https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus.

I’d really love to work on this fix. I’ve been actively looking for opportunities to contribute to open source, so if the maintainers have a preferred direction, please let me know and I’d be happy to start working on it right away.

Actual behavior

Clicking the displayed GitHub star count on the Docusaurus homepage navigates to https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/stargazers. That page now returns a 404/inaccessible page for users without the required repository permissions.

The main Star button itself still links to the Docusaurus repository correctly. The issue is specifically with the clickable star count, which is generated by the embedded ghbtns.com widget and points to the now-restricted /stargazers route.

Your environment

• OS: Windows 11
• Browser: Chrome 153
• Docusaurus site: https://docusaurus.io/
• Affected area: Homepage GitHub Stars widget
• Reproduced on: Live production site
• Logged into GitHub: Yes
• This does not appear to be browser-specific, since the issue is caused by the star-count link pointing to the restricted /stargazers GitHub route.

Self-service

• I'd be willing to fix this bug myself.

[slorber]

Our homepage code:

          <span className={styles.indexCtasGitHubButtonWrapper}>
            <iframe
              className={styles.indexCtasGitHubButton}
              src="https://ghbtns.com/github-btn.html?user=facebook&amp;repo=docusaurus&amp;type=star&amp;count=true&amp;size=large"
              width={160}
              height={30}
              title="GitHub Stars"
            />
          </span>

Should be fixed in the upstream repo: mdo/github-buttons#219

There's no PR there so if you want to contribute, submit them a PR?

[crossxr]

Opened a PR upstream for this: mdo/github-buttons#220. It points the star count at the repo page instead of /stargazers. Once it's merged and ghbtns.com redeploys, the homepage button should be fixed with no change needed here.