GitHub is a proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and Github itself provides access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous integration, and wikis for every project. Headquartered in California, it has been a subsidiary of Microsoft since 2018.
The GitHub API has been a foundational part of GitHub from the beginning allowing for automation of code, content, and other artifacts stored within repositories. In 2016, GitHub launched a GraphQL API to augment it’s RESTful API, but the REST API continues to be the dominant way companies are automating with the platform via pipelines and other integrations. Microsoft has continued to invest in the GitHub platform with Copilot being it’s most recent contribution to the artificial intelligence conversation.