Extract threaded comments from Github Discussions pages in DevTools

README.md

GitHub Discussion Thread Extractor

A Chrome DevTools script to extract structured comment data from GitHub discussion threads.

Usage

1. Navigate to a GitHub discussion page
2. Open Chrome DevTools Console (Cmd+Option+J on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows)
3. Paste the extraction script
4. Run it to get JSON structured data

Script

See: ./gh-discussion-threads.js

Output Schema

interface GitHubDiscussionThread {
  id: string;           // GitHub internal ID (e.g., "DC_kwDOEfmk4M4Azg4f")
  anchor: string;       // URL anchor (e.g., "discussioncomment-13044518")
  author: string;       // GitHub username
  timestamp: string;    // ISO 8601 datetime
  content: string;      // Full comment text
  reactions: string[];  // Emoji reactions with counts (e.g., ["👍 6", "🎉 1"])
  replies: Reply[];     // Nested replies
}

interface Reply {
  id: string;           // GitHub internal ID
  anchor: string;       // URL anchor
  author: string;       // GitHub username
  timestamp: string;    // ISO 8601 datetime
  content: string;      // Full reply text
}

Example Output

{
  "id": "DC_kwDOEfmk4M4Azg4f",
  "anchor": "discussioncomment-13044518",
  "author": "jhiesey",
  "timestamp": "2025-09-19T17:01:13Z",
  "content": "Is the replication feed down/blocked?...",
  "reactions": ["👍 6", "🎉 1"],
  "replies": [
    {
      "id": "DC_kwDOEfmk4M4A3KH4",
      "anchor": "discussioncomment-12647262",
      "author": "michelleqyun",
      "timestamp": "2025-09-19T17:04:34Z",
      "content": "I'm seeing the same issue"
    }
  ]
}

Direct Link Construction

const discussionUrl = 'https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/152515';
const directLink = `${discussionUrl}#${comment.anchor}`;

gh-discussion-threads.js

function extractDiscussionThreads() {
    const comments = [];
    const nestedIds = new Set();

    // First pass: collect all nested comment IDs
    document.querySelectorAll('.discussion-nested-comment-timeline-item [data-gid]').forEach(el => {
      nestedIds.add(el.dataset.gid);
    });

    // Second pass: process only parent-level comments
    document.querySelectorAll('.timeline-comment').forEach(commentEl => {
      const container = commentEl.closest('[data-gid]');
      if (!container) return;

      const commentId = container.dataset.gid;

      // Skip if this is a nested comment
      if (nestedIds.has(commentId)) return;

      // Find the anchor ID
      const permalinkEl = commentEl.querySelector('[id^="discussioncomment-"][id$="-permalink"]');
      const anchorId = permalinkEl?.id.replace('-permalink', '') ||
                       commentEl.querySelector('[href^="#discussioncomment-"]')?.href.split('#')[1] ||
                       container.id;

      const comment = {
        id: commentId,
        anchor: anchorId,  // e.g., "discussioncomment-13044518"
        author: commentEl.querySelector('[data-hovercard-type="user"]')?.textContent?.trim(),
        timestamp: commentEl.querySelector('relative-time')?.getAttribute('datetime'),
        content: commentEl.querySelector('.comment-body')?.textContent?.trim(),
        reactions: [],
        replies: []
      };

      // Get reactions
      commentEl.querySelectorAll('.social-reaction-summary-item').forEach(reaction => {
        const emoji = reaction.querySelector('g-emoji')?.textContent || '';
        const count = reaction.querySelector('span[class*="count"]')?.textContent ||
                       reaction.textContent.match(/\d+/)?.[0] || '';
        if (emoji) {
          comment.reactions.push(`${emoji} ${count}`.trim());
        }
      });

      // Find the reply container for this comment
      const parentContainer = commentEl.closest('.js-comment-container');
      if (parentContainer) {
        const replies = parentContainer.querySelectorAll('.discussion-nested-comment-timeline-item');

        replies.forEach(replyEl => {
          // Get anchor for reply
          const replyPermalink = replyEl.querySelector('[id^="discussioncomment-"][id$="-permalink"]');
          const replyAnchor = replyPermalink?.id.replace('-permalink', '') ||
                             replyEl.querySelector('[href^="#discussioncomment-"]')?.href.split('#')[1] ||
                             replyEl.id;

          const replyData = {
            id: replyEl.querySelector('[data-gid]')?.dataset.gid,
            anchor: replyAnchor,  // e.g., "discussioncomment-12647262"
            author: replyEl.querySelector('[data-hovercard-type="user"]')?.textContent?.trim(),
            timestamp: replyEl.querySelector('relative-time')?.getAttribute('datetime'),
            content: replyEl.querySelector('.comment-body')?.textContent?.trim()
          };

          if (replyData.id) {
            comment.replies.push(replyData);
          }
        });
      }

      comments.push(comment);
    });

    return comments;
  }

  const threads = extractDiscussionThreads();
  console.log(JSON.stringify(threads, null, 2));