Blog · Discovery
How to find abandoned projects on GitHub
Three reliable ways to find abandoned open source projects that are looking for a new maintainer.
Published July 13, 2026 · ~4 min read
The three reliable ways
- GitHub search — the
adopt-metopic, filtered to your language - The BreakPoint feed — per-project story pages, the next-steps section, the conversation thread
- GitHub advanced search — filter by last-updated date and topic
Method 1: GitHub topic search
Search GitHub for the adopt-me topic. The URL https://github.com/topics/adopt-me?l=python filters to Python. The signal vocabulary used by projects looking for a maintainer is well-defined: adopt-me, looking-for-maintainer, unmaintained, NEEDHELP, HANDOFF, ADOPTME. Search all of them.
Method 2: The BreakPoint feed
The BreakPoint feed is purpose-built for this. Every project on the feed has: (1) a story (why was it dropped), (2) a "next steps" section (what should the new maintainer work on first), (3) a conversation thread (the original maintainer is still reachable). Median time from drop to first PR is 23 days. The feed is fresh.
Method 3: GitHub advanced search
Use GitHub's advanced search to find projects matching multiple criteria: pushed:<2024-01-01 (not committed to in 18+ months), stars:>100 (popular enough to be worth adopting), language:python (your stack). Combine with topic filters for the most targeted results. The downside: this finds quiet projects, not necessarily projects that are actively looking for a maintainer.
The signal vocabulary cheat sheet
A project is "actively looking for a new maintainer" if it has at least two of these signals:
- The
adopt-meGitHub topic is set - The
looking-for-maintainershields.io badge is in the README - A pinned "Seeking new maintainer" GitHub issue
- No commits in 12+ months
- No maintainer response to issues in 30+ days
- The package registry has a deprecation flag (npm, PyPI, Packagist, etc.)
Frequently asked questions
How do I find abandoned open source projects on GitHub?
Three ways: GitHub topic search, the BreakPoint feed, GitHub advanced search.
How can I tell if a project is abandoned vs just quiet?
Three signals: ADOPTME/looking-for-maintainer tag, no commits in 12+ months, no maintainer response to issues.
Should I use GitHub search or a dedicated platform?
Both. GitHub for discovery, BreakPoint for the handoff.
Related reading
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Related reading on BreakPoint
The concepts, guides, and reports behind this post.