Tags and Releases
Tags
Tags (Ctrl+4) lists the repository’s
tags and the commit each points at. Enter opens a tag on
GitHub.
Releases
Releases (Ctrl+5) lists releases with
their tag, name, date and downloads: how many times the
files attached to each were downloaded, added together. View →
Columns adds the number of files and whether a release is a
draft or a prerelease.
The status bar totals the downloads of every release currently
loaded, for example “owner/name — 30 releases. 12,408 downloads across
them.” Ctrl++ loads more releases, and the total grows with
them.
The details panel shows a release’s downloads file by file, most downloaded first, followed by its release notes.
A release’s files
Enter on a release lists its files, each with its
download count and size, and the status bar gives the total: “Showing 6
assets for v1.2.0, 3,204 downloads in total”. A release with no files
says so instead.
In that list, Enter downloads the selected file through
your browser, and Backspace returns to the releases.
Reading download counts
A download count is a running total kept by GitHub for the life of the file. It is not broken down by date, and GitHub offers no way to get it by date, so to see downloads over time you have to note the numbers and compare them later. Counts include automated downloads, such as other software checking for updates, so a sudden spike on one release deserves some suspicion.