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sponsor-finder

Finds which dependencies of a GitHub project can be sponsored. It helps identify financial support opportunities for open-source software projects.

What it does

This agent finds which dependencies of an open-source project can be sponsored. It checks if the maintainers of these dependencies receive financial support through GitHub Sponsors.

When to use it

  • ✓When using a project and wanting to support its maintainers.
  • ✓When evaluating the health and support of an open-source project.
  • ✓When looking for ways to financially contribute to projects you use.

Example of what to ask your AI

“Find sponsors for the dependencies of the expressjs/express project”

Want more? Open the sections below.

How to use

The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.

Skill link

https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/skills/sponsor-finder/SKILL.md

Ready-to-paste message

Use this skill to help me: https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/skills/sponsor-finder/SKILL.md Read the SKILL.md file at that link and follow its instructions for my task.
How it works

It examines a project's dependencies, looks for funding information in specific files and on the web, and verifies if the links work. Then, it organizes a report showing who can be sponsored.

Installation

Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.

In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:

npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill sponsor-finder

Or download just the file:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/skills/sponsor-finder/SKILL.md -o SKILL.md
Technical content (original SKILL.md)

Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.

Sponsor Finder

Discover opportunities to support the open source maintainers behind your project's dependencies. Accepts a GitHub owner/repo (e.g. /sponsor expressjs/express), uses the deps.dev API for dependency resolution and project health data, and produces a friendly sponsorship report covering both direct and transitive dependencies.

Your Workflow

When the user types /sponsor {owner/repo} or provides a repository in owner/repo format:

  1. Parse the input — Extract owner and repo.
  2. Detect the ecosystem — Fetch manifest to determine package name + version.
  3. Get full dependency tree — deps.dev GetDependencies (one call).
  4. Resolve repos — deps.dev GetVersion for each dep → relatedProjects gives GitHub repo.
  5. Get project health — deps.dev GetProject for unique repos → OSSF Scorecard.
  6. Find funding links — npm funding field, FUNDING.yml, web search fallback.
  7. Verify every link — fetch each URL to confirm it's live.
  8. Group and report — by funding destination, sorted by impact.

Step 1: Detect Ecosystem and Package

Use get_file_contents to fetch the manifest from the target repo. Determine the ecosystem and extract the package name + latest version:

File Ecosystem Package name from Version from
package.json NPM name field version field
requirements.txt PYPI list of package names use latest (omit version in deps.dev call)
pyproject.toml PYPI [project.dependencies] use latest
Cargo.toml CARGO [package] name [package] version
go.mod GO module path extract from go.mod
Gemfile RUBYGEMS gem names use latest
pom.xml MAVEN groupId:artifactId version

Step 2: Get Full Dependency Tree (deps.dev)

This is the key step. Use web_fetch to call the deps.dev API:

https://api.deps.dev/v3/systems/{ECOSYSTEM}/packages/{PACKAGE}/versions/{VERSION}:dependencies

For example:

https://api.deps.dev/v3/systems/npm/packages/express/versions/5.2.1:dependencies

This returns a nodes array where each node has:

  • versionKey.name — package name
  • versionKey.version — resolved version
  • relation — "SELF", "DIRECT", or "INDIRECT"

This single call gives you the entire dependency tree — both direct and transitive — with exact resolved versions. No need to parse lockfiles.

URL encoding

Package names containing special characters must be percent-encoded:

  • @colors/colors → %40colors%2Fcolors
  • Encode @ as %40, / as %2F

For repos without a single root package

If the repo doesn't publish a package (e.g., it's an app not a library), fall back to reading package.json dependencies directly and calling deps.dev GetVersion for each.


Step 3: Resolve Each Dependency to a GitHub Repo (deps.dev)

For each dependency from the tree, call deps.dev GetVersion:

https://api.deps.dev/v3/systems/{ECOSYSTEM}/packages/{NAME}/versions/{VERSION}

From the response, extract:

  • relatedProjects → look for relationType: "SOURCE_REPO" → projectKey.id gives github.com/{owner}/{repo}
  • links → look for label: "SOURCE_REPO" → url field

This works across all ecosystems — npm, PyPI, Cargo, Go, RubyGems, Maven, NuGet — with the same field structure.

Efficiency rules

  • Process in batches of 10 at a time.
  • Deduplicate — multiple packages may map to the same repo.
  • Skip deps where no GitHub project is found (count as "unresolvable").

Step 4: Get Project Health Data (deps.dev)

For each unique GitHub repo, call deps.dev GetProject:

https://api.deps.dev/v3/projects/github.com%2F{owner}%2F{repo}

From the response, extract:

  • scorecard.checks → find the "Maintained" check → score (0–10)
  • starsCount — popularity indicator
  • license — project license
  • openIssuesCount — activity indicator

Use the Maintained score to label project health:

  • Score 7–10 → ⭐ Actively maintained
  • Score 4–6 → ⚠️ Partially maintained
  • Score 0–3 → 💤 Possibly unmaintained

Efficiency rules

  • Only fetch for unique repos (not per-package).
  • Process in batches of 10 at a time.
  • This step is optional — skip if rate-limited and note in output.

Step 5: Find Funding Links

For each unique GitHub repo, check for funding information using three sources in order:

…

FAQ

What are 'dependencies'?

They are other pieces of code that a project uses to function, like parts of a puzzle.

What is GitHub Sponsors?

It's a platform on GitHub where individuals and companies can financially support open-source developers and projects.

What are 'transitive dependencies'?

These are the dependencies of dependencies. Think of them as friends of your friends; they are also part of your network.

Details

Original description by the author

Find which of a GitHub repository's dependencies are sponsorable via GitHub Sponsors. Uses deps.dev API for dependency resolution across npm, PyPI, Cargo, Go, RubyGems, Maven, and NuGet. Checks npm funding metadata, FUNDING.yml files, and web search. Verifies every link. Shows direct and transitive dependencies with OSSF Scorecard health data. Invoke with /sponsor followed by a GitHub owner/repo (

repo: github/awesome-copilot

Popularity

GitHub stars
40k
Ranking position
#5373
License
MIT
Updated
10/15/2026

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