What is a Scout Score?

A Scout Score is a 0–100 grade computed from your public GitHub starring history. It measures how many validated unicorn outcomes you starred *before* the funding, acquisition, or $1B-valuation event. Score normalises so five clean early calls equals 100. Backwards-looking proof of taste — pair with the forward-looking Scout Game at /predict for a complete public track record.

No login, no OAuth, no signup. Receipts reads only your public GitHub starring history via the standard GitHub REST API. Anyone with a GitHub username can run it on themselves or any other public profile.

Which unicorns count toward the Scout Score?

A curated panel of ~75 validated outcomes — companies that crossed $1B valuation, were acquired for $250M+, or raised a public Series C+ at unicorn pricing. The full panel is documented at /methodology and mirrored in lib/validated-wins.json. Stars must predate the event by at least 30 days to count.

Can I share my Scout Score?

Yes. Each result generates a permalinked 1200×630 OG card and an embeddable shields.io-style SVG badge — drop the markdown into any GitHub README, dev.to bio, LinkedIn, or Twitter post. The badge auto-updates as your starring history grows.

Is the Scout Score actually predictive?

It's a proof-of-taste metric over a fixed validation panel, not a forward-looking predictor. A high Scout Score says you've consistently identified breakout teams early; it does not project that pattern forward. The forward-looking artifact is the Scout Game at /predict — it auto-resolves over a six-month window and produces an accuracy ladder (Curious → Scout → Sharp → Elite → Oracle). Use both together for a defensible public track record.

Free tool · No login · No OAuth

Get your GitHub Scout Score.
Every dev has invested in unicorns. They just don’t know it.

Your GitHub stars are receipts. Paste your username and we’ll grade your public starring history against ~75 validated unicorns / Series A / acquisitions — counting only the ones you starred before the news broke. Free Scout Score (0–100) and a shareable card in under 8 seconds.

Try it on a public dev:

github.com/tj github.com/sindresorhus github.com/gaearon

No personal GitHub starring history to score? That’s fine — you don’t need one to use the product. The Scout Score is a side door for developers who already star repos. The product itself reads the signal for you, in plain business English. You never open GitHub.

TL;DRGitHub Receipts is a free, no-login tool that grades any developer's GitHub starring history against a curated database of ~75 validated unicorns. Paste a username, get a Scout Score (0-100), a rank from Curious to Oracle, and a shareable 1200×630 OG card. Same data is available via /api/receipts/{username}, an embeddable SVG badge, and the get_scout_receipts MCP tool.

Scoring is deterministic: months_early × weight, capped at 24 months early. Top 5 wins normalized so 5 perfect early calls = 100. (Methodology)
Embeddable Scout Score badge endpoint at /api/badge/scout/{username}/svg renders a shields.io-style SVG, CDN-cached 24h. (Badge builder)
Free MCP tool — get_scout_receipts(github_username) — exposes the same scoring from Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP host. (agents.md)

Cite as: VC Deal Flow Signal — Receipts (signals.gitdealflow.com/receipts), Q2 2026. · Data current as of 2026-06-11.

If you want to verify the claim

The scoring logic is public. Read the definition page, inspect the methodology, and place Scout Score inside the broader startup-signal stack before you decide how much weight to give it.

What a GitHub Scout Score tells you Read the methodology Best startup signal tools for investors

How the score works

01We pull your public starred repos from the GitHub API (no login, no OAuth, no private data).
02We cross-reference each repo against our database of ~75 validated unicorns — companies that hit a $1B+ valuation, raised a Series A+, were acquired, or crossed 25K+ stars in the last 5 years.
03For every match, we compare your star date vs the event date. The earlier you starred, the more points. Late stars are worth zero.
04Top 5 wins are summed and normalized to a 0–100 Scout Score. Five perfect early calls = 100. You get a rank from Curious to Oracle.

Receipts are backwards. The Scout game is forwards.

Receipts grade your past. The Scout game tracks your future. Pick any GitHub org and predict whether they raise in 6 months — we resolve every call automatically. Free tier: 3 predictions a month. Top 1% earn an Oracle badge.

Try the Scout game →

We never read private repos, DMs, or starred lists you’ve made private. Read the methodology.

Maintainer with no time? Grab the SVG badge and skip the form — it auto-renders any handle’s live score.

No GitHub stars to score? You don't need them — we read the signal for you.

You don’t read the code — we do

See the signal on your own sector before you commit a euro

You never open a repo. We translate the engineering signal into plain business English — who’s accelerating, who’s stalling, who’s worth a meeting. No GitHub account, no terminal, nothing to install.

Get the free Sunday issue Or test one sector for €7

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Signed The Data Nerd · pseudonymous narrator · methodology over personality

What to read next

Get your GitHub Scout Score.
Every dev has invested in unicorns. They just don’t know it.

How the score works

01We pull your public starred repos from the GitHub API (no login, no OAuth, no private data).

02We cross-reference each repo against our database of ~75 validated unicorns — companies that hit a $1B+ valuation, raised a Series A+, were acquired, or crossed 25K+ stars in the last 5 years.

03For every match, we compare your star date vs the event date. The earlier you starred, the more points. Late stars are worth zero.

04Top 5 wins are summed and normalized to a 0–100 Scout Score. Five perfect early calls = 100. You get a rank from Curious to Oracle.