@DozenLimeStone What if the project has multiple folders with multiple files?

@DozenLimeStone Yep, So you mean I should first create a .zip file of my project convert it into base64 string then upload it?

@xts-bit Yes, I mean that. If there is nobody to see the contents, and used to store the data, yes.

@DozenLimeStone What do you mean by. "If there is nobody to see the contents, and used to store the data" I just tried to upload .zip file but it only uploaded that file with a base64 string like "YW1vZ3VzLmh0bWw=" instead of my code files

any idea?

@xts-bit You probably should just read the file in binary, then convert contents into base64 and send.

@xts-bit Sorry for late response, what does btoa function do?

@DozenLimeStone "The btoa function in JavaScript stands for "binary to ASCII," and it is used to encode binary data (like a string of characters) into a base64-encoded ASCII string. In the provided code snippet, it is used to encode the content of a file before sending it in the body of a PUT request to the GitHub API."

btw recursively get them all approach suggested by you worked fine, Thanks!

@xts-bit Hmmm, okay. Happy New Year!

@DozenLimeStone You too!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

filed another #88796

you dont even know whats he talking abt lol

Your function works only for updating a single file, but it cannot upload a folder.
GitHub’s REST API does not support uploading an entire folder in one request — you must upload each file individually, one at a time, using the same PUT /contents/{path} endpoint.

Let’s break down what your code is doing and what you need to change.

✅ What your current code does

Your function:

• Fetches metadata for an existing file at my-project
• Sends a PUT request to update that file
• Encodes the content using btoa()

This works only if my-project is a file, not a folder.

If my-project is a folder, GitHub returns an array of items, not a single file object — so existingFile.sha will be undefined, and the update will fail.

❗ Why uploading a folder doesn’t work

GitHub’s API requires:

• One request per file
• A correct path including the filename
• A correct sha only when updating an existing file

There is no API endpoint that accepts a folder upload.

✅ How to upload a folder programmatically

You must:

1. Read all files in the folder (using Node.js fs if running locally)
2. Loop through each file
3. Check if it already exists
4. Upload or update it

Here’s a clean Node.js example:

import fs from 'fs';
import path from 'path';
import fetch from 'node-fetch';

const owner = 'MY-USERNAME';
const repo = 'MY-REPO-NAME';
const folderPath = './my-project'; // local folder
const githubFolder = 'my-project'; // folder in repo
const auth = '{MY ACCESS TOKEN HERE}';

async function uploadFile(filePath, githubPath) {
  const content = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
  const encoded = Buffer.from(content).toString('base64');

  // Check if file exists
  const res = await fetch(
    `https://api.github.com/repos/${owner}/${repo}/contents/${githubPath}`,
    {
      headers: {
        Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${auth}`
      }
    }
  );

  let sha = undefined;
  if (res.status === 200) {
    const data = await res.json();
    sha = data.sha;
  }

  // Upload or update
  await fetch(
    `https://api.github.com/repos/${owner}/${repo}/contents/${githubPath}`,
    {
      method: 'PUT',
      headers: {
        Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${auth}`
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        message: `Upload ${githubPath}`,
        content: encoded,
        sha
      })
    }
  );
}

async function uploadFolder() {
  const files = fs.readdirSync(folderPath);

  for (const file of files) {
    const localFile = path.join(folderPath, file);
    const githubFile = `${githubFolder}/${file}`;

    if (fs.lstatSync(localFile).isFile()) {
      await uploadFile(localFile, githubFile);
    }
  }
}

uploadFolder();

⭐ Key takeaways

• GitHub API cannot upload folders directly.
• You must upload each file individually.
• Use sha only when updating an existing file.
• Encode file contents using Buffer.from(...).toString('base64') (not btoa in Node).

If you want, I can help you:

• Recursively upload nested folders
• Upload binary files (images, executables)
• Turn this into a reusable CLI tool

Just tell me what direction you want to take.

github users are a shame