What should I use for the value of source_blob when creating apps via the Platform API?

Issue

You're creating apps (CI, review apps) via the Builds API but you're not sure what does use as the value of the source_blob parameter.

Resolution

If you are using a public GitHub repo for your source code, GitHub provides a specific URL for each repo that resolves to a tarball of the repo’s contents. This URL typically looks like:

https://api.github.com/repos/<username>/<repo name>/tarball/master/

If the repository is private you may need to include a username and token:

https://user:token@api.github.com/repos/<username>/<repo name>/tarball/master/

See this article for a step-by-step walkthrough of setting up apps using the Platform API.

Note: Github is deprecating authentication query paramaters for accessing private repositories. The following was the previously recommended URL. This should no longer be used.

https://api.github.com/repos/<username>/<repo name>/tarball/master/?access_token=<github access token>