📋 Step-by-Step Earning Guide

🔫 Quickdraw

Close a Pull Request or Issue within 5 minutes of it being opened.

Navigate to any repository you own (or create a new one).

Click "Issues" → "New Issue".

Enter any title and click "Submit new issue".

Immediately click "Close issue". Requirement: The closing action must occur within 5 minutes of creation ⏱️

✅ You can do this entirely on your own — no collaborators needed! 💡 Pro Tip: You can also close your own Pull Request (not just an Issue) to earn this badge. Whichever you find faster!

💖 Public Sponsor

Sponsor any GitHub user, organization, or repository.

Find any developer with a "Sponsor" button on their GitHub profile.

Click the "❤️ Sponsor" button.

Select the minimum tier (often $1/month).

Complete payment through GitHub's billing.

Verify the badge appears on your profile instantly 🎉

💡 You can cancel after one month — the badge stays permanently.

🦈 Pull Shark

Merge 2 pull requests.

Open any repository you own.

Create a new branch: git checkout -b feature/my-change

Modify any file with a small edit.

Push the branch: git push origin feature/my-change

Open a Pull Request on GitHub.

Merge the Pull Request ✅

Repeat steps 2–6 once more.

💡 Pro Tips:

You can do this 100% solo in your own repository.

Only merged PRs count — PRs closed without merging do NOT trigger the badge.

Keep merging PRs to level up to Bronze → Silver → Gold tiers!

🤪 YOLO

Merge a pull request without a code review.

Setup: You need 2 GitHub accounts (yours + a friend/alt account).

Account B: Create a repository and add Account A as a collaborator (Settings → Collaborators → Add people).

Account A or B: Create a branch, make a change, and open a Pull Request.

Merge the PR WITHOUT requesting or approving a review.

Success: The badge is awarded to the person who performed the merge ✅

⚠️ Make sure branch protection rules do NOT enforce reviews. 💡 Pro Tip: If you own the repository and no branch protection rules require a review, you can merge your own PR without review — no second account needed!

🧠 Galaxy Brain

Get 2 of your answers accepted in GitHub Discussions on public repositories.

Explore: Navigate to GitHub Explore to find public repositories with Discussions enabled.

Identify: Browse for open, unanswered questions you can genuinely help with.

Contribute: Write a clear, helpful, detailed answer.

Validate: The discussion author marks your reply as "✅ Answered".

Repeat until you have 2 accepted answers.

🚨 Important 2024 Update: You can NO longer earn this badge via the main GitHub Community Discussions. GitHub disabled badge awarding there to combat spam. 💡 Pro Tips:

Focus on repos related to your skillset for higher acceptance rates.

Self-marked answers do NOT count.

Only answers in public repositories count.

👥 Pair Extraordinaire

Be a co-author on a merged pull request.

Download GitHub Desktop (optional, but easiest): https://desktop.github.com

Commit: Open a repository and make a commit.

Format: In the commit message, add this on a new line:

Co-authored-by: FriendName friend@email.com

(Note: Use your collaborator's real GitHub username and email address linked to their account.) 4. Push the branch and open a Pull Request. 5. Merge: Get the PR merged ✅ 6. Reward: Both you AND the co-author earn the badge!

⭐ Starstruck

Get a repository to 16 stars.

Create an awesome, useful, or unique repository.

Document: Write a compelling README.md that clearly explains your project.

Optimize: Add topics/tags to help people discover your repo.

Promote: Share your repo on Reddit (r/github, r/opensource), X/Twitter, or Dev.to.

Engage: Pin the repo to your profile and respond to incoming issues.

Achievement: Once 16 people star your repo → Badge unlocked! 🌟

⚠️ Important: The repository must be owned by you personally — organization-owned repos do NOT count.

🔧 Troubleshooting & FAQ

⏳ Badge Not Appearing?

Processing Delay: Can take 24–48 hours.

Private Activity: Ensure "Show private contributions on my profile" is enabled in settings.

Forks: Activity inside a fork doesn't count until it is merged into the parent repo.

Status Sync: If a badge is stuck, try hiding and unhiding it in your profile settings to force a refresh.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do badges disappear?

A: No, they are permanent once earned.

Q: Can I use a self-marked answer for Galaxy Brain?

A: No. It must be marked by the author or a maintainer.

Q: Do stars from organizations count for Starstruck?

A: No. Only stars on personally owned repositories count.