Branch
Branch
Section titled “Branch”Live at: https://branch.quarterly.systems
Find the “hidden influencers” in your GitHub network - developers who many of your connections follow, but you don’t yet.
What It Does
Section titled “What It Does”Branch analyzes GitHub’s social graph to find developers you should probably be following. It looks at who your connections follow and identifies people with lots of mutual connections that you haven’t discovered yet.
Think of it as “people you may know” for GitHub, but smarter - focusing on genuine influence within your specific development community.
Who It’s For
Section titled “Who It’s For”- Developers looking to expand their professional network
- Tech recruiters finding talented developers in specific communities
- Open source maintainers discovering active contributors
- Tech leads identifying thought leaders in their tech stack
- Anyone building their GitHub network strategically
How to Use It
Section titled “How to Use It”Getting Started
Section titled “Getting Started”- Visit https://branch.quarterly.systems
- Enter your GitHub username
- Let Branch analyze your network (this takes a minute)
- Review your recommendations
Understanding Recommendations
Section titled “Understanding Recommendations”High mutual connections = More people you follow also follow them
- Strong signal they’re influential in your community
- Likely to share relevant content and projects
- Higher chance you’ll find their work interesting
Your network’s network
- Branch looks at who your connections follow
- Finds overlap and patterns
- Surfaces people at the center of your community
Finding the Right People
Section titled “Finding the Right People”Filter by mutual connections
- Start with highest mutual counts
- These are the “obvious misses” - people you should probably already follow
Check their activity
- Click through to their GitHub profile
- Review recent repositories and contributions
- See if their work aligns with your interests
Follow strategically
- Don’t bulk-follow everyone
- Pick people whose work genuinely interests you
- Quality over quantity
Best Practices
Section titled “Best Practices”Getting Good Recommendations
Section titled “Getting Good Recommendations”- Follow more people first - Recommendations improve with more data
- Follow diverse developers - Not just from one company/project
- Update periodically - Run Branch every few months as your network grows
Using Recommendations
Section titled “Using Recommendations”- Check recent activity before following
- Look at repositories - are they still active?
- Read their READMEs - get context on their work
- Start small - Follow 5-10 new people, see if their updates are valuable
Building Your Network
Section titled “Building Your Network”- Follow people working on technologies you use
- Follow maintainers of tools you depend on
- Follow developers from companies you admire
- Follow people who contribute to interesting discussions
Common Questions
Section titled “Common Questions”How does Branch find recommendations? It analyzes follower/following relationships using breadth-first search, counting mutual connections to identify influential developers.
Is this creepy? No - Branch only uses public GitHub data that anyone can see. It just makes patterns visible.
Why do I need this when GitHub has suggestions? GitHub’s suggestions are generic. Branch is personalized to your specific network, finding people actually relevant to your community.
How often should I use it? Every 2-3 months, or whenever you want to refresh your network.
Does it store my data? Branch processes your public GitHub data to generate recommendations. All data used is already public on GitHub.
What if I have a small network? Start by following 20-30 developers in your field, then run Branch. It needs some initial data to work well.
Tips & Tricks
Section titled “Tips & Tricks”Finding Niche Communities
Section titled “Finding Niche Communities”- Search for developers in specific tech stacks
- Follow a few key people in that niche
- Run Branch to find their network
- Discover the whole community
Recruitment Use
Section titled “Recruitment Use”- Follow engineers at companies you’re hiring from
- Find their connections who work on similar tech
- Identify passive candidates
- See who’s actively contributing
Learning & Growth
Section titled “Learning & Growth”- Follow people slightly ahead of you in your career
- Find developers working on technologies you’re learning
- Discover mentors and thought leaders
- Stay current with industry trends
Network Hygiene
Section titled “Network Hygiene”- Unfollow inactive accounts periodically
- Re-run Branch to refresh recommendations
- Follow people who engage, not just post
- Build a network that actually adds value
Understanding the Metrics
Section titled “Understanding the Metrics”Mutual Connections Count
- Number of people you both follow who also follow this person
- Higher = More central to your network
- 10+ mutual = Very strong recommendation
- 3-9 mutual = Good recommendation
- 1-2 mutual = Weak signal
Activity Level
- Recent commits, repos, and contributions
- Active developers provide more value to follow
- Check if they’re still engaged with the community
Next Steps After Finding People
Section titled “Next Steps After Finding People”- Follow them on GitHub - See their activity in your feed
- Star their repos - Bookmark interesting projects
- Engage with their work - Open issues, contribute PRs
- Connect on other platforms - Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
- Learn from their code - Study their repositories
Status: Beta Updates: Continuous crawling Data: Public GitHub only
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