Release version 0.58.0

Fix retry logic for HTTP 5xx errors and network failures

CHANGES.rst

@@ -1,9 +1,217 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
-0.53.0 (2025-11-30)
+0.58.0 (2025-12-16)
 -------------------
 ------------------------
+- Fix retry logic for HTTP 5xx errors and network failures. [Rodos]
+
+  Refactors error handling to retry all 5xx errors (not just 502), network errors (URLError, socket.error, IncompleteRead), and JSON parse errors with exponential backoff and jitter. Respects retry-after and rate limit headers per GitHub API requirements. Consolidates retry logic into make_request_with_retry() wrapper and adds clear logging for retry attempts and failures. Removes dead code from 2016 (errors list, _request_http_error, _request_url_error) that was intentionally disabled in commit 1e5a9048 to fix #29.
+
+  Fixes #140, #110, #138
+- Chore: remove transitive deps from release-requirements.txt. [Rodos]
+- Chore(deps): bump urllib3 in the python-packages group.
+  [dependabot[bot]]
+
+  Bumps the python-packages group with 1 update: [urllib3](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3).
+
+
+  Updates `urllib3` from 2.6.1 to 2.6.2
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/blob/main/CHANGES.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/compare/2.6.1...2.6.2)
+
+  ---
+  updated-dependencies:
+  - dependency-name: urllib3
+    dependency-version: 2.6.2
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+    update-type: version-update:semver-patch
+    dependency-group: python-packages
+  ...
+
+
+0.57.0 (2025-12-12)
+-------------------
+- Add GitHub Apps documentation and remove outdated header. [Rodos]
+
+  - Add GitHub Apps authentication section with setup steps
+    and CI/CD workflow example using actions/create-github-app-token
+  - Remove outdated machine-man-preview header (graduated 2020)
+
+  Closes #189
+- Docs: add stdin token example to README. [Rodos]
+
+  Add example showing how to pipe a token from stdin using
+  file:///dev/stdin to avoid storing tokens in environment
+  variables or command history.
+
+  Closes #187
+- Add --skip-assets-on flag to skip release asset downloads (#135)
+  [Rodos]
+
+  Allow users to skip downloading release assets for specific repositories
+  while still backing up release metadata. Useful for starred repos with
+  large assets (e.g. syncthing with 27GB+).
+
+  Usage: --skip-assets-on repo1 repo2 owner/repo3
+
+  Features:
+  - Space-separated repos (consistent with --exclude)
+  - Case-insensitive matching
+  - Supports both repo name and owner/repo format
+
+
+0.56.0 (2025-12-11)
+-------------------
+
+Fix
+~~~
+- Replace deprecated git lfs clone with git clone + git lfs fetch --all.
+  [Rodos]
+
+  git lfs clone is deprecated - modern git clone handles LFS automatically.
+  Using git lfs fetch --all ensures all LFS objects across all refs are
+  backed up, matching the existing bare clone behavior and providing
+  complete LFS backups.
+
+  Closes #379
+- Add Windows support with entry_points and os.replace. [Rodos]
+
+  - Replace os.rename() with os.replace() for atomic file operations
+    on Windows (os.rename fails if destination exists on Windows)
+  - Add entry_points console_scripts for proper .exe generation on Windows
+  - Create github_backup/cli.py with main() entry point
+  - Add github_backup/__main__.py for python -m github_backup support
+  - Keep bin/github-backup as thin wrapper for backwards compatibility
+
+  Closes #112
+
+Other
+~~~~~
+- Docs: add "Restoring from Backup" section to README. [Rodos]
+
+  Clarifies that this tool is backup-only with no inbuilt restore.
+  Documents that git repos can be pushed back, but issues/PRs have
+  GitHub API limitations affecting all backup tools.
+
+  Closes #246
+- Chore(deps): bump urllib3 in the python-packages group.
+  [dependabot[bot]]
+
+  Bumps the python-packages group with 1 update: [urllib3](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3).
+
+
+  Updates `urllib3` from 2.6.0 to 2.6.1
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/blob/main/CHANGES.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/compare/2.6.0...2.6.1)
+
+  ---
+  updated-dependencies:
+  - dependency-name: urllib3
+    dependency-version: 2.6.1
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+    update-type: version-update:semver-patch
+    dependency-group: python-packages
+  ...
+- Chore(deps): bump the python-packages group with 3 updates.
+  [dependabot[bot]]
+
+  Bumps the python-packages group with 3 updates: [black](https://github.com/psf/black), [pytest](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest) and [platformdirs](https://github.com/tox-dev/platformdirs).
+
+
+  Updates `black` from 25.11.0 to 25.12.0
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/psf/black/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/psf/black/blob/main/CHANGES.md)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/psf/black/compare/25.11.0...25.12.0)
+
+  Updates `pytest` from 9.0.1 to 9.0.2
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/blob/main/CHANGELOG.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/compare/9.0.1...9.0.2)
+
+  Updates `platformdirs` from 4.5.0 to 4.5.1
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/tox-dev/platformdirs/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/tox-dev/platformdirs/blob/main/CHANGES.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/tox-dev/platformdirs/compare/4.5.0...4.5.1)
+
+  ---
+  updated-dependencies:
+  - dependency-name: black
+    dependency-version: 25.12.0
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+    update-type: version-update:semver-minor
+    dependency-group: python-packages
+  - dependency-name: pytest
+    dependency-version: 9.0.2
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+    update-type: version-update:semver-patch
+    dependency-group: python-packages
+  - dependency-name: platformdirs
+    dependency-version: 4.5.1
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+    update-type: version-update:semver-patch
+    dependency-group: python-packages
+  ...
+
+
+0.55.0 (2025-12-07)
+-------------------
+
+Fix
+~~~
+- Improve error messages for inaccessible repos and empty wikis. [Rodos]
+- --all-starred now clones repos without --repositories. [Rodos]
+- Warn when --private used without authentication. [Rodos]
+- Warn and skip when --starred-gists used for different user. [Rodos]
+
+  GitHub's API only allows retrieving starred gists for the authenticated
+  user. Previously, using --starred-gists when backing up a different user
+  would silently return no relevant data.
+
+  Now warns and skips the retrieval entirely when the target user differs
+  from the authenticated user. Uses case-insensitive comparison to match
+  GitHub's username handling.
+
+  Fixes #93
+
+Other
+~~~~~
+- Test: add missing test coverage for case sensitivity fix. [Rodos]
+- Docs: fix RST formatting in Known blocking errors section. [Rodos]
+- Chore(deps): bump urllib3 from 2.5.0 to 2.6.0. [dependabot[bot]]
+
+  Bumps [urllib3](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3) from 2.5.0 to 2.6.0.
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/blob/main/CHANGES.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/compare/2.5.0...2.6.0)
+
+  ---
+  updated-dependencies:
+  - dependency-name: urllib3
+    dependency-version: 2.6.0
+    dependency-type: direct:production
+  ...
+
+
+0.54.0 (2025-12-03)
+-------------------
+
+Fix
+~~~
+- Send INFO/DEBUG to stdout, WARNING/ERROR to stderr. [Rodos]
+
+  Fixes #182
+
+Other
+~~~~~
+- Docs: update README testing section and add fetch vs pull explanation.
+  [Rodos]
+
+
+0.53.0 (2025-11-30)
+-------------------
 
 Fix
 ~~~

README.rst

@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ CLI Help output::
                   [--keychain-name OSX_KEYCHAIN_ITEM_NAME]
                   [--keychain-account OSX_KEYCHAIN_ITEM_ACCOUNT]
                   [--releases] [--latest-releases NUMBER_OF_LATEST_RELEASES]
-                  [--skip-prerelease] [--assets] [--attachments]
+                  [--skip-prerelease] [--assets] [--skip-assets-on [REPO ...]]
-                  [--exclude [REPOSITORY [REPOSITORY ...]]
+                  [--attachments] [--exclude [REPOSITORY [REPOSITORY ...]]
                   [--throttle-limit THROTTLE_LIMIT] [--throttle-pause THROTTLE_PAUSE]
                   USER
 
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ CLI Help output::
       --skip-prerelease     skip prerelease and draft versions; only applies if including releases
       --assets              include assets alongside release information; only
                             applies if including releases
+      --skip-assets-on [REPO ...]
+                            skip asset downloads for these repositories (e.g.
+                            --skip-assets-on repo1 owner/repo2)
       --attachments         download user-attachments from issues and pull requests
                             to issues/attachments/{issue_number}/ and
                             pulls/attachments/{pull_number}/ directories
@@ -174,6 +177,37 @@ Customise the permissions for your use case, but for a personal account full bac
 **Repository permissions**: Read access to contents, issues, metadata, pull requests, and webhooks.
 
 
+GitHub Apps
+~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+GitHub Apps are ideal for organization backups in CI/CD. Tokens are scoped to specific repositories and expire after 1 hour.
+
+**One-time setup:**
+
+1. Create a GitHub App at *Settings -> Developer Settings -> GitHub Apps -> New GitHub App*
+2. Set a name and homepage URL (can be any URL)
+3. Uncheck "Webhook > Active" (not needed for backups)
+4. Set permissions (same as fine-grained tokens above)
+5. Click "Create GitHub App", then note the **App ID** shown on the next page
+6. Under "Private keys", click "Generate a private key" and save the downloaded file
+7. Go to *Install App* in your app's settings
+8. Select the account/organization and which repositories to back up
+
+**CI/CD usage with GitHub Actions:**
+
+Store the App ID as a repository variable and the private key contents as a secret, then use ``actions/create-github-app-token``::
+
+    - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+      id: app-token
+      with:
+        app-id: ${{ vars.APP_ID }}
+        private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+
+    - run: github-backup myorg -t ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }} --as-app -o ./backup --all
+
+Note: Installation tokens expire after 1 hour. For long-running backups, use a fine-grained personal access token instead.
+
+
 Prefer SSH
 ~~~~~~~~~~
 
@@ -215,6 +249,8 @@ When you use the ``--lfs`` option, you will need to make sure you have Git LFS i
 
 Instructions on how to do this can be found on https://git-lfs.github.com.
 
+LFS objects are fetched for all refs, not just the current checkout, ensuring a complete backup of all LFS content across all branches and history.
+
 
 About Attachments
 -----------------
@@ -281,11 +317,11 @@ If the incremental argument is used, this will result in the next backup only re
 
 It's therefore recommended to only use the incremental argument if the output/result is being actively monitored, or complimented with periodic full non-incremental runs, to avoid unexpected missing data in a regular backup runs.
 
-1. **Starred public repo hooks blocking**
+**Starred public repo hooks blocking**
 
-   Since the ``--all`` argument includes ``--hooks``, if you use ``--all`` and ``--all-starred`` together to clone a users starred public repositories, the backup will likely error and block the backup continuing. 
+Since the ``--all`` argument includes ``--hooks``, if you use ``--all`` and ``--all-starred`` together to clone a users starred public repositories, the backup will likely error and block the backup continuing.
 
-   This is due to needing the correct permission for ``--hooks`` on public repos.
+This is due to needing the correct permission for ``--hooks`` on public repos.
 
 
 "bare" is actually "mirror"
@@ -301,6 +337,8 @@ Starred gists vs starred repo behaviour
 
 The starred normal repo cloning (``--all-starred``) argument stores starred repos separately to the users own repositories. However, using ``--starred-gists`` will store starred gists within the same directory as the users own gists ``--gists``. Also, all gist repo directory names are IDs not the gist's name.
 
+Note: ``--starred-gists`` only retrieves starred gists for the authenticated user, not the target user, due to a GitHub API limitation.
+
 
 Skip existing on incomplete backups
 -----------------------------------
@@ -308,6 +346,25 @@ Skip existing on incomplete backups
 The ``--skip-existing`` argument will skip a backup if the directory already exists, even if the backup in that directory failed (perhaps due to a blocking error). This may result in unexpected missing data in a regular backup.
 
 
+Updates use fetch, not pull
+---------------------------
+
+When updating an existing repository backup, ``github-backup`` uses ``git fetch`` rather than ``git pull``. This is intentional - a backup tool should reliably download data without risk of failure. Using ``git pull`` would require handling merge conflicts, which adds complexity and could cause backups to fail unexpectedly.
+
+With fetch, **all branches and commits are downloaded** safely into remote-tracking branches. The working directory files won't change, but your backup is complete.
+
+If you look at files directly (e.g., ``cat README.md``), you'll see the old content. The new data is in the remote-tracking branches (confusingly named "remote" but stored locally). To view or use the latest files::
+
+    git show origin/main:README.md           # view a file
+    git merge origin/main                    # update working directory
+
+All branches are backed up as remote refs (``origin/main``, ``origin/feature-branch``, etc.).
+
+If you want to browse files directly without merging, consider using ``--bare`` which skips the working directory entirely - the backup is just the git data.
+
+See `#269 <https://github.com/josegonzalez/python-github-backup/issues/269>`_ for more discussion.
+
+
 Github Backup Examples
 ======================
 
@@ -338,6 +395,28 @@ Debug an error/block or incomplete backup into a temporary directory. Omit "incr
 
     github-backup -f $FINE_ACCESS_TOKEN -o /tmp/github-backup/ -l debug -P --all-starred --starred --watched --followers --following --issues --issue-comments --issue-events --pulls --pull-comments --pull-commits --labels --milestones --repositories --wikis --releases --assets --pull-details --gists --starred-gists $GH_USER
 
+Pipe a token from stdin to avoid storing it in environment variables or command history (Unix-like systems only)::
+
+    my-secret-manager get github-token | github-backup user -t file:///dev/stdin -o /backup --repositories
+
+Restoring from Backup
+=====================
+
+This tool creates backups only, there is no inbuilt restore command.
+
+**Git repositories, wikis, and gists** can be restored by pushing them back to GitHub as you would any git repository. For example, to restore a bare repository backup::
+
+    cd /tmp/white-house/repositories/petitions/repository
+    git push --mirror git@github.com:WhiteHouse/petitions.git
+
+**Issues, pull requests, comments, and other metadata** are saved as JSON files for archival purposes. The GitHub API does not support recreating this data faithfully, creating issues via the API has limitations:
+
+- New issue/PR numbers are assigned (original numbers cannot be set)
+- Timestamps reflect creation time (original dates cannot be set)
+- The API caller becomes the author (original authors cannot be set)
+- Cross-references between issues and PRs will break
+
+These are GitHub API limitations that affect all backup and migration tools, not just this one. Recreating issues with these limitations via the GitHub API is an exercise for the reader. The JSON backups remain useful for searching, auditing, or manual reference.
 
 
 Development
@@ -357,7 +436,12 @@ A huge thanks to all the contibuters!
 Testing
 -------
 
-This project currently contains no unit tests.  To run linting::
+To run the test suite::
+
+    pip install pytest
+    pytest
+
+To run linting::
 
     pip install flake8
     flake8 --ignore=E501

bin/github-backup

@@ -1,58 +1,18 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
+"""
+Backwards-compatible wrapper script.
+
+The recommended way to run github-backup is via the installed command
+(pip install github-backup) or python -m github_backup.
+
+This script is kept for backwards compatibility with existing installations
+that may reference this path directly.
+"""
 
-import logging
-import os
 import sys
 
-from github_backup.github_backup import (
+from github_backup.cli import main
-    backup_account,
+from github_backup.github_backup import logger
-    backup_repositories,
-    check_git_lfs_install,
-    filter_repositories,
-    get_authenticated_user,
-    logger,
-    mkdir_p,
-    parse_args,
-    retrieve_repositories,
-)
-
-logging.basicConfig(
-    format="%(asctime)s.%(msecs)03d: %(message)s",
-    datefmt="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
-    level=logging.INFO,
-)
-
-
-def main():
-    args = parse_args()
-
-    if args.quiet:
-        logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
-
-    output_directory = os.path.realpath(args.output_directory)
-    if not os.path.isdir(output_directory):
-        logger.info("Create output directory {0}".format(output_directory))
-        mkdir_p(output_directory)
-
-    if args.lfs_clone:
-        check_git_lfs_install()
-
-    if args.log_level:
-        log_level = logging.getLevelName(args.log_level.upper())
-        if isinstance(log_level, int):
-            logger.root.setLevel(log_level)
-
-    if not args.as_app:
-        logger.info("Backing up user {0} to {1}".format(args.user, output_directory))
-        authenticated_user = get_authenticated_user(args)
-    else:
-        authenticated_user = {"login": None}
-
-    repositories = retrieve_repositories(args, authenticated_user)
-    repositories = filter_repositories(args, repositories)
-    backup_repositories(args, output_directory, repositories)
-    backup_account(args, output_directory)
-
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     try:

github_backup/__init__.py

@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.53.0"
+__version__ = "0.58.0"

github_backup/__main__.py

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+"""Allow running as: python -m github_backup"""
+
+import sys
+
+from github_backup.cli import main
+from github_backup.github_backup import logger
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        main()
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(str(e))
+        sys.exit(1)

github_backup/cli.py

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+"""Command-line interface for github-backup."""
+
+import logging
+import os
+import sys
+
+from github_backup.github_backup import (
+    backup_account,
+    backup_repositories,
+    check_git_lfs_install,
+    filter_repositories,
+    get_auth,
+    get_authenticated_user,
+    logger,
+    mkdir_p,
+    parse_args,
+    retrieve_repositories,
+)
+
+# INFO and DEBUG go to stdout, WARNING and above go to stderr
+log_format = logging.Formatter(
+    fmt="%(asctime)s.%(msecs)03d: %(message)s",
+    datefmt="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
+)
+
+stdout_handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
+stdout_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+stdout_handler.addFilter(lambda r: r.levelno < logging.WARNING)
+stdout_handler.setFormatter(log_format)
+
+stderr_handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
+stderr_handler.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+stderr_handler.setFormatter(log_format)
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, handlers=[stdout_handler, stderr_handler])
+
+
+def main():
+    """Main entry point for github-backup CLI."""
+    args = parse_args()
+
+    if args.private and not get_auth(args):
+        logger.warning(
+            "The --private flag has no effect without authentication. "
+            "Use -t/--token, -f/--token-fine, or -u/--username to authenticate."
+        )
+
+    if args.quiet:
+        logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+
+    output_directory = os.path.realpath(args.output_directory)
+    if not os.path.isdir(output_directory):
+        logger.info("Create output directory {0}".format(output_directory))
+        mkdir_p(output_directory)
+
+    if args.lfs_clone:
+        check_git_lfs_install()
+
+    if args.log_level:
+        log_level = logging.getLevelName(args.log_level.upper())
+        if isinstance(log_level, int):
+            logger.root.setLevel(log_level)
+
+    if not args.as_app:
+        logger.info("Backing up user {0} to {1}".format(args.user, output_directory))
+        authenticated_user = get_authenticated_user(args)
+    else:
+        authenticated_user = {"login": None}
+
+    repositories = retrieve_repositories(args, authenticated_user)
+    repositories = filter_repositories(args, repositories)
+    backup_repositories(args, output_directory, repositories)
+    backup_account(args, output_directory)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        main()
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(str(e))
+        sys.exit(1)

github_backup/github_backup.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import json
 import logging
 import os
 import platform
+import random
 import re
 import select
 import socket
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ import ssl
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import time
+from collections.abc import Generator
 from datetime import datetime
 from http.client import IncompleteRead
 from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
@@ -74,6 +76,9 @@ else:
                 "  3. Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get install ca-certificates\n\n"
             )
 
+# Retry configuration
+MAX_RETRIES = 5
+
 
 def logging_subprocess(
     popenargs, stdout_log_level=logging.DEBUG, stderr_log_level=logging.ERROR, **kwargs
@@ -440,6 +445,12 @@ def parse_args(args=None):
         dest="include_assets",
         help="include assets alongside release information; only applies if including releases",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--skip-assets-on",
+        dest="skip_assets_on",
+        nargs="*",
+        help="skip asset downloads for these repositories",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--attachments",
         action="store_true",
@@ -597,175 +608,181 @@ def get_github_repo_url(args, repository):
     return repo_url
 
 
-def retrieve_data_gen(args, template, query_args=None, single_request=False):
+def calculate_retry_delay(attempt, headers):
+    """Calculate delay before next retry with exponential backoff."""
+    # Respect retry-after header if present
+    if retry_after := headers.get("retry-after"):
+        return int(retry_after)
+
+    # Respect rate limit reset time
+    if int(headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining", 1)) < 1:
+        reset_time = int(headers.get("x-ratelimit-reset", 0))
+        return max(10, reset_time - calendar.timegm(time.gmtime()))
+
+    # Exponential backoff with jitter for server errors (1s base, 120s max)
+    delay = min(1.0 * (2**attempt), 120.0)
+    return delay + random.uniform(0, delay * 0.1)
+
+
+def retrieve_data(args, template, query_args=None, paginated=True):
+    """
+    Fetch the data from GitHub API.
+
+    Handle both single requests and pagination with yield of individual dicts.
+    Handles throttling, retries, read errors, and DMCA takedowns.
+    """
+    query_args = query_args or {}
     auth = get_auth(args, encode=not args.as_app)
-    query_args = get_query_args(query_args)
     per_page = 100
+
+    def _extract_next_page_url(link_header):
+        for link in link_header.split(","):
+            if 'rel="next"' in link:
+                return link[link.find("<") + 1:link.find(">")]
+        return None
+
+    def fetch_all() -> Generator[dict, None, None]:
         next_url = None
 
         while True:
-        if single_request:
+            # FIRST: Fetch response
-            request_per_page = None
-        else:
-            request_per_page = per_page
 
+            for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES):
                 request = _construct_request(
-            request_per_page,
+                    per_page=per_page if paginated else None,
-            query_args,
+                    query_args=query_args,
-            next_url or template,
+                    template=next_url or template,
-            auth,
+                    auth=auth,
                     as_app=args.as_app,
-            fine=True if args.token_fine is not None else False,
+                    fine=args.token_fine is not None,
-        )  # noqa
+                )
-        r, errors = _get_response(request, auth, next_url or template)
+                http_response = make_request_with_retry(request, auth)
 
-        status_code = int(r.getcode())
+                match http_response.getcode():
+                    case 200:
+                        # Success - Parse JSON response
+                        try:
+                            response = json.loads(http_response.read().decode("utf-8"))
+                            break  # Exit retry loop and handle the data returned
+                        except (
+                            IncompleteRead,
+                            json.decoder.JSONDecodeError,
+                            TimeoutError,
+                        ) as e:
+                            logger.warning(f"{type(e).__name__} reading response")
+                            if attempt < MAX_RETRIES - 1:
+                                delay = calculate_retry_delay(attempt, {})
+                                logger.warning(
+                                    f"Retrying in {delay:.1f}s (attempt {attempt + 1}/{MAX_RETRIES})"
+                                )
+                                time.sleep(delay)
+                            continue  # Next retry attempt
 
-        # Handle DMCA takedown (HTTP 451) - raise exception to skip entire repository
+                    case 451:
-        if status_code == 451:
+                        # DMCA takedown - extract URL if available, then raise
                         dmca_url = None
                         try:
-                response_data = json.loads(r.read().decode("utf-8"))
+                            response_data = json.loads(
+                                http_response.read().decode("utf-8")
+                            )
                             dmca_url = response_data.get("block", {}).get("html_url")
                         except Exception:
                             pass
                         raise RepositoryUnavailableError(
                             "Repository unavailable due to legal reasons (HTTP 451)",
-                dmca_url=dmca_url
+                            dmca_url=dmca_url,
                         )
 
-        # Check if we got correct data
+                    case _:
-        try:
+                        raise Exception(
-            response = json.loads(r.read().decode("utf-8"))
+                            f"API request returned HTTP {http_response.getcode()}: {http_response.reason}"
-        except IncompleteRead:
+                        )
-            logger.warning("Incomplete read error detected")
-            read_error = True
-        except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-            logger.warning("JSON decode error detected")
-            read_error = True
-        except TimeoutError:
-            logger.warning("Tiemout error detected")
-            read_error = True
             else:
-            read_error = False
+                logger.error(
-
+                    f"Failed to read response after {MAX_RETRIES} attempts for {next_url or template}"
-        # be gentle with API request limit and throttle requests if remaining requests getting low
-        limit_remaining = int(r.headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining", 0))
-        if args.throttle_limit and limit_remaining <= args.throttle_limit:
-            logger.info(
-                "API request limit hit: {} requests left, pausing further requests for {}s".format(
-                    limit_remaining, args.throttle_pause
                 )
+                raise Exception(
+                    f"Failed to read response after {MAX_RETRIES} attempts for {next_url or template}"
+                )
+
+            # SECOND: Process and paginate
+
+            # Pause before next request if rate limit is low
+            if (
+                remaining := int(http_response.headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining", 0))
+            ) <= (args.throttle_limit or 0):
+                if args.throttle_limit:
+                    logger.info(
+                        f"Throttling: {remaining} requests left, pausing {args.throttle_pause}s"
                     )
                     time.sleep(args.throttle_pause)
 
-        retries = 0
+            # Yield results
-        while retries < 3 and (status_code == 502 or read_error):
+            if isinstance(response, list):
-            logger.warning("API request failed. Retrying in 5 seconds")
+                yield from response
-            retries += 1
+            elif isinstance(response, dict):
-            time.sleep(5)
-            request = _construct_request(
-                request_per_page,
-                query_args,
-                next_url or template,
-                auth,
-                as_app=args.as_app,
-                fine=True if args.token_fine is not None else False,
-            )  # noqa
-            r, errors = _get_response(request, auth, next_url or template)
-
-            status_code = int(r.getcode())
-            try:
-                response = json.loads(r.read().decode("utf-8"))
-                read_error = False
-            except IncompleteRead:
-                logger.warning("Incomplete read error detected")
-                read_error = True
-            except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-                logger.warning("JSON decode error detected")
-                read_error = True
-            except TimeoutError:
-                logger.warning("Tiemout error detected")
-                read_error = True
-
-        if status_code != 200:
-            template = "API request returned HTTP {0}: {1}"
-            errors.append(template.format(status_code, r.reason))
-            raise Exception(", ".join(errors))
-
-        if read_error:
-            template = "API request problem reading response for {0}"
-            errors.append(template.format(request))
-            raise Exception(", ".join(errors))
-
-        if len(errors) == 0:
-            if type(response) is list:
-                for resp in response:
-                    yield resp
-                # Parse Link header for next page URL (cursor-based pagination)
-                link_header = r.headers.get("Link", "")
-                next_url = None
-                if link_header:
-                    # Parse Link header: <https://api.github.com/...?per_page=100&after=cursor>; rel="next"
-                    for link in link_header.split(","):
-                        if 'rel="next"' in link:
-                            next_url = link[link.find("<") + 1:link.find(">")]
-                            break
-                if not next_url:
-                    break
-            elif type(response) is dict and single_request:
                 yield response
 
-        if len(errors) > 0:
+            # Check for more pages
-            raise Exception(", ".join(errors))
+            if not paginated or not (
+                next_url := _extract_next_page_url(
+                    http_response.headers.get("Link", "")
+                )
+            ):
+                break  # No more data
 
-        if single_request:
+    return list(fetch_all())
-            break
 
 
-def retrieve_data(args, template, query_args=None, single_request=False):
+def make_request_with_retry(request, auth):
-    return list(retrieve_data_gen(args, template, query_args, single_request))
+    """Make HTTP request with automatic retry for transient errors."""
 
+    def is_retryable_status(status_code, headers):
+        # Server errors are always retryable
+        if status_code in (500, 502, 503, 504):
+            return True
+        # Rate limit (403/429) is retryable if limit exhausted
+        if status_code in (403, 429):
+            return int(headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining", 1)) < 1
+        return False
 
-def get_query_args(query_args=None):
+    for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES):
-    if not query_args:
-        query_args = {}
-    return query_args
-
-
-def _get_response(request, auth, template):
-    retry_timeout = 3
-    errors = []
-    # We'll make requests in a loop so we can
-    # delay and retry in the case of rate-limiting
-    while True:
-        should_continue = False
         try:
-            r = urlopen(request, context=https_ctx)
+            return urlopen(request, context=https_ctx)
+
         except HTTPError as exc:
-            errors, should_continue = _request_http_error(exc, auth, errors)  # noqa
+            # HTTPError can be used as a response-like object
-            r = exc
+            if not is_retryable_status(exc.code, exc.headers):
-        except URLError as e:
+                raise  # Non-retryable error
-            logger.warning(e.reason)
+
-            should_continue, retry_timeout = _request_url_error(template, retry_timeout)
+            if attempt >= MAX_RETRIES - 1:
-            if not should_continue:
+                logger.error(f"HTTP {exc.code} failed after {MAX_RETRIES} attempts")
-                raise
-        except socket.error as e:
-            logger.warning(e.strerror)
-            should_continue, retry_timeout = _request_url_error(template, retry_timeout)
-            if not should_continue:
                 raise
 
-        if should_continue:
+            delay = calculate_retry_delay(attempt, exc.headers)
-            continue
+            logger.warning(
+                f"HTTP {exc.code}, retrying in {delay:.1f}s "
+                f"(attempt {attempt + 1}/{MAX_RETRIES})"
+            )
+            if auth is None and exc.code in (403, 429):
+                logger.info("Hint: Authenticate to raise your GitHub rate limit")
+            time.sleep(delay)
 
-        break
+        except (URLError, socket.error) as e:
-    return r, errors
+            if attempt >= MAX_RETRIES - 1:
+                logger.error(f"Connection error failed after {MAX_RETRIES} attempts: {e}")
+                raise
+            delay = calculate_retry_delay(attempt, {})
+            logger.warning(
+                f"Connection error: {e}, retrying in {delay:.1f}s "
+                f"(attempt {attempt + 1}/{MAX_RETRIES})"
+            )
+            time.sleep(delay)
+
+    raise Exception(f"Request failed after {MAX_RETRIES} attempts")  # pragma: no cover
 
 
-def _construct_request(
+def _construct_request(per_page, query_args, template, auth, as_app=None, fine=False):
-    per_page, query_args, template, auth, as_app=None, fine=False
-):
     # If template is already a full URL with query params (from Link header), use it directly
     if "?" in template and template.startswith("http"):
         request_url = template
@@ -796,9 +813,6 @@ def _construct_request(
         else:
             auth = auth.encode("ascii")
             request.add_header("Authorization", "token ".encode("ascii") + auth)
-            request.add_header(
-                "Accept", "application/vnd.github.machine-man-preview+json"
-            )
 
     log_url = template if "?" not in template else template.split("?")[0]
     if querystring:
@@ -807,52 +821,6 @@ def _construct_request(
     return request
 
 
-def _request_http_error(exc, auth, errors):
-    # HTTPError behaves like a Response so we can
-    # check the status code and headers to see exactly
-    # what failed.
-
-    should_continue = False
-    headers = exc.headers
-    limit_remaining = int(headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining", 0))
-
-    if exc.code == 403 and limit_remaining < 1:
-        # The X-RateLimit-Reset header includes a
-        # timestamp telling us when the limit will reset
-        # so we can calculate how long to wait rather
-        # than inefficiently polling:
-        gm_now = calendar.timegm(time.gmtime())
-        reset = int(headers.get("x-ratelimit-reset", 0)) or gm_now
-        # We'll never sleep for less than 10 seconds:
-        delta = max(10, reset - gm_now)
-
-        limit = headers.get("x-ratelimit-limit")
-        logger.warning(
-            "Exceeded rate limit of {} requests; waiting {} seconds to reset".format(
-                limit, delta
-            )
-        )  # noqa
-
-        if auth is None:
-            logger.info("Hint: Authenticate to raise your GitHub rate limit")
-
-        time.sleep(delta)
-        should_continue = True
-    return errors, should_continue
-
-
-def _request_url_error(template, retry_timeout):
-    # In case of a connection timing out, we can retry a few time
-    # But we won't crash and not back-up the rest now
-    logger.info("'{}' timed out".format(template))
-    retry_timeout -= 1
-
-    if retry_timeout >= 0:
-        return True, retry_timeout
-
-    raise Exception("'{}' timed out to much, skipping!".format(template))
-
-
 class S3HTTPRedirectHandler(HTTPRedirectHandler):
     """
     A subclassed redirect handler for downloading Github assets from S3.
@@ -1038,7 +1006,7 @@ def download_attachment_file(url, path, auth, as_app=False, fine=False):
                 bytes_downloaded += len(chunk)
 
         # Atomic rename to final location
-        os.rename(temp_path, path)
+        os.replace(temp_path, path)
 
         metadata["size_bytes"] = bytes_downloaded
         metadata["success"] = True
@@ -1459,7 +1427,7 @@ def download_attachments(
 
                 # Rename to add extension (already atomic from download)
                 try:
-                    os.rename(filepath, final_filepath)
+                    os.replace(filepath, final_filepath)
                     metadata["saved_as"] = os.path.basename(final_filepath)
                 except Exception as e:
                     logger.warning(
@@ -1480,9 +1448,11 @@ def download_attachments(
         manifest = {
             "issue_number": number,
             "issue_type": item_type,
-            "repository": f"{args.user}/{args.repository}"
+            "repository": (
+                f"{args.user}/{args.repository}"
                 if hasattr(args, "repository") and args.repository
-            else args.user,
+                else args.user
+            ),
             "manifest_updated_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
             "attachments": attachment_metadata_list,
         }
@@ -1490,7 +1460,7 @@ def download_attachments(
         manifest_path = os.path.join(attachments_dir, "manifest.json")
         with open(manifest_path + ".temp", "w") as f:
             json.dump(manifest, f, indent=2)
-            os.rename(manifest_path + ".temp", manifest_path)  # Atomic write
+        os.replace(manifest_path + ".temp", manifest_path)  # Atomic write
         logger.debug(
             "Wrote manifest for {0} #{1}: {2} attachments".format(
                 item_type_display, number, len(attachment_metadata_list)
@@ -1500,7 +1470,7 @@ def download_attachments(
 
 def get_authenticated_user(args):
     template = "https://{0}/user".format(get_github_api_host(args))
-    data = retrieve_data(args, template, single_request=True)
+    data = retrieve_data(args, template, paginated=False)
     return data[0]
 
 
@@ -1514,7 +1484,7 @@ def check_git_lfs_install():
 
 def retrieve_repositories(args, authenticated_user):
     logger.info("Retrieving repositories")
-    single_request = False
+    paginated = True
     if args.user == authenticated_user["login"]:
         # we must use the /user/repos API to be able to access private repos
         template = "https://{0}/user/repos".format(get_github_api_host(args))
@@ -1537,18 +1507,16 @@ def retrieve_repositories(args, authenticated_user):
             repo_path = args.repository
         else:
             repo_path = "{0}/{1}".format(args.user, args.repository)
-        single_request = True
+        paginated = False
-        template = "https://{0}/repos/{1}".format(
+        template = "https://{0}/repos/{1}".format(get_github_api_host(args), repo_path)
-            get_github_api_host(args), repo_path
-        )
 
-    repos = retrieve_data(args, template, single_request=single_request)
+    repos = retrieve_data(args, template, paginated=paginated)
 
     if args.all_starred:
         starred_template = "https://{0}/users/{1}/starred".format(
             get_github_api_host(args), args.user
         )
-        starred_repos = retrieve_data(args, starred_template, single_request=False)
+        starred_repos = retrieve_data(args, starred_template)
         # flag each repo as starred for downstream processing
         for item in starred_repos:
             item.update({"is_starred": True})
@@ -1558,19 +1526,26 @@ def retrieve_repositories(args, authenticated_user):
         gists_template = "https://{0}/users/{1}/gists".format(
             get_github_api_host(args), args.user
         )
-        gists = retrieve_data(args, gists_template, single_request=False)
+        gists = retrieve_data(args, gists_template)
         # flag each repo as a gist for downstream processing
         for item in gists:
             item.update({"is_gist": True})
         repos.extend(gists)
 
     if args.include_starred_gists:
+        if (
+            not authenticated_user.get("login")
+            or args.user.lower() != authenticated_user["login"].lower()
+        ):
+            logger.warning(
+                "Cannot retrieve starred gists for '%s'. GitHub only allows access to the authenticated user's starred gists.",
+                args.user,
+            )
+        else:
             starred_gists_template = "https://{0}/gists/starred".format(
                 get_github_api_host(args)
             )
-        starred_gists = retrieve_data(
+            starred_gists = retrieve_data(args, starred_gists_template)
-            args, starred_gists_template, single_request=False
-        )
             # flag each repo as a starred gist for downstream processing
             for item in starred_gists:
                 item.update({"is_gist": True, "is_starred": True})
@@ -1666,8 +1641,11 @@ def backup_repositories(args, output_directory, repositories):
         repo_url = get_github_repo_url(args, repository)
 
         include_gists = args.include_gists or args.include_starred_gists
-        if (args.include_repository or args.include_everything) or (
+        include_starred = args.all_starred and repository.get("is_starred")
-            include_gists and repository.get("is_gist")
+        if (
+            (args.include_repository or args.include_everything)
+            or (include_gists and repository.get("is_gist"))
+            or include_starred
         ):
             repo_name = (
                 repository.get("name")
@@ -1728,7 +1706,9 @@ def backup_repositories(args, output_directory, repositories):
                     include_assets=args.include_assets or args.include_everything,
                 )
         except RepositoryUnavailableError as e:
-            logger.warning(f"Repository {repository['full_name']} is unavailable (HTTP 451)")
+            logger.warning(
+                f"Repository {repository['full_name']} is unavailable (HTTP 451)"
+            )
             if e.dmca_url:
                 logger.warning(f"DMCA notice: {e.dmca_url}")
             logger.info(f"Skipping remaining resources for {repository['full_name']}")
@@ -1788,7 +1768,11 @@ def backup_issues(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
             modified = os.path.getmtime(issue_file)
             modified = datetime.fromtimestamp(modified).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
             if modified > issue["updated_at"]:
-                logger.info("Skipping issue {0} because it wasn't modified since last backup".format(number))
+                logger.info(
+                    "Skipping issue {0} because it wasn't modified since last backup".format(
+                        number
+                    )
+                )
                 continue
 
         if args.include_issue_comments or args.include_everything:
@@ -1804,7 +1788,7 @@ def backup_issues(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
 
         with codecs.open(issue_file + ".temp", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             json_dump(issue, f)
-            os.rename(issue_file + ".temp", issue_file)  # Unlike json_dump, this is atomic
+        os.replace(issue_file + ".temp", issue_file)  # Atomic write
 
 
 def backup_pulls(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
@@ -1830,14 +1814,14 @@ def backup_pulls(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
         pull_states = ["open", "closed"]
         for pull_state in pull_states:
             query_args["state"] = pull_state
-            _pulls = retrieve_data_gen(args, _pulls_template, query_args=query_args)
+            _pulls = retrieve_data(args, _pulls_template, query_args=query_args)
             for pull in _pulls:
                 if args.since and pull["updated_at"] < args.since:
                     break
                 if not args.since or pull["updated_at"] >= args.since:
                     pulls[pull["number"]] = pull
     else:
-        _pulls = retrieve_data_gen(args, _pulls_template, query_args=query_args)
+        _pulls = retrieve_data(args, _pulls_template, query_args=query_args)
         for pull in _pulls:
             if args.since and pull["updated_at"] < args.since:
                 break
@@ -1845,7 +1829,7 @@ def backup_pulls(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
                 pulls[pull["number"]] = retrieve_data(
                     args,
                     _pulls_template + "/{}".format(pull["number"]),
-                    single_request=True,
+                    paginated=False,
                 )[0]
 
     logger.info("Saving {0} pull requests to disk".format(len(list(pulls.keys()))))
@@ -1862,7 +1846,11 @@ def backup_pulls(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
             modified = os.path.getmtime(pull_file)
             modified = datetime.fromtimestamp(modified).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
             if modified > pull["updated_at"]:
-                logger.info("Skipping pull request {0} because it wasn't modified since last backup".format(number))
+                logger.info(
+                    "Skipping pull request {0} because it wasn't modified since last backup".format(
+                        number
+                    )
+                )
                 continue
         if args.include_pull_comments or args.include_everything:
             template = comments_regular_template.format(number)
@@ -1879,7 +1867,7 @@ def backup_pulls(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
 
         with codecs.open(pull_file + ".temp", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             json_dump(pull, f)
-            os.rename(pull_file + ".temp", pull_file)  # Unlike json_dump, this is atomic
+        os.replace(pull_file + ".temp", pull_file)  # Atomic write
 
 
 def backup_milestones(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
@@ -1912,9 +1900,11 @@ def backup_milestones(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
     elif written_count == 0:
         logger.info("{0} milestones unchanged, skipped write".format(total))
     else:
-        logger.info("Saved {0} of {1} milestones to disk ({2} unchanged)".format(
+        logger.info(
+            "Saved {0} of {1} milestones to disk ({2} unchanged)".format(
                 written_count, total, total - written_count
-        ))
+            )
+        )
 
 
 def backup_labels(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template):
@@ -1968,6 +1958,20 @@ def backup_releases(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template, include_assets=F
         )
         releases = releases[: args.number_of_latest_releases]
 
+    # Check if this repo should skip asset downloads (case-insensitive)
+    skip_assets = False
+    if include_assets:
+        repo_name = repository.get("name", "").lower()
+        repo_full_name = repository.get("full_name", "").lower()
+        skip_repos = [r.lower() for r in (args.skip_assets_on or [])]
+        skip_assets = repo_name in skip_repos or repo_full_name in skip_repos
+        if skip_assets:
+            logger.info(
+                "Skipping assets for {0} ({1} releases) due to --skip-assets-on".format(
+                    repository.get("name"), len(releases)
+                )
+            )
+
     # for each release, store it
     written_count = 0
     for release in releases:
@@ -1979,7 +1983,7 @@ def backup_releases(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template, include_assets=F
         if json_dump_if_changed(release, output_filepath):
             written_count += 1
 
-        if include_assets:
+        if include_assets and not skip_assets:
             assets = retrieve_data(args, release["assets_url"])
             if len(assets) > 0:
                 # give release asset files somewhere to live & download them (not including source archives)
@@ -2001,9 +2005,11 @@ def backup_releases(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template, include_assets=F
     elif written_count == 0:
         logger.info("{0} releases unchanged, skipped write".format(total))
     else:
-        logger.info("Saved {0} of {1} releases to disk ({2} unchanged)".format(
+        logger.info(
+            "Saved {0} of {1} releases to disk ({2} unchanged)".format(
                 written_count, total, total - written_count
-        ))
+            )
+        )
 
 
 def fetch_repository(
@@ -2037,9 +2043,14 @@ def fetch_repository(
         "git ls-remote " + remote_url, stdout=FNULL, stderr=FNULL, shell=True
     )
     if initialized == 128:
+        if ".wiki.git" in remote_url:
             logger.info(
-            "Skipping {0} ({1}) since it's not initialized".format(
+                "Skipping {0} wiki (wiki is enabled but has no content)".format(name)
-                name, masked_remote_url
+            )
+        else:
+            logger.info(
+                "Skipping {0} (repository not accessible - may be empty, private, or credentials invalid)".format(
+                    name
                 )
             )
         return
@@ -2082,12 +2093,14 @@ def fetch_repository(
                 if no_prune:
                     git_command.pop()
                 logging_subprocess(git_command, cwd=local_dir)
-        else:
-            if lfs_clone:
-                git_command = ["git", "lfs", "clone", remote_url, local_dir]
         else:
             git_command = ["git", "clone", remote_url, local_dir]
             logging_subprocess(git_command)
+            if lfs_clone:
+                git_command = ["git", "lfs", "fetch", "--all", "--prune"]
+                if no_prune:
+                    git_command.pop()
+                logging_subprocess(git_command, cwd=local_dir)
 
 
 def backup_account(args, output_directory):
@@ -2196,5 +2209,5 @@ def json_dump_if_changed(data, output_file_path):
     temp_file = output_file_path + ".temp"
     with codecs.open(temp_file, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
         f.write(new_content)
-    os.rename(temp_file, output_file_path)  # Atomic on POSIX systems
+    os.replace(temp_file, output_file_path)  # Atomic write
     return True

release-requirements.txt

@@ -1,40 +1,15 @@
+# Linting & Formatting
 autopep8==2.3.2
-black==25.11.0
+black==25.12.0
-bleach==6.3.0
-certifi==2025.11.12
-charset-normalizer==3.4.4
-click==8.3.1
-colorama==0.4.6
-docutils==0.22.3
 flake8==7.3.0
-gitchangelog==3.0.4
+
-pytest==9.0.1
+# Testing
-idna==3.11
+pytest==9.0.2
-importlib-metadata==8.7.0
+
-jaraco.classes==3.4.0
+# Release & Publishing
-keyring==25.7.0
-markdown-it-py==4.0.0
-mccabe==0.7.0
-mdurl==0.1.2
-more-itertools==10.8.0
-mypy-extensions==1.1.0
-packaging==25.0
-pathspec==0.12.1
-pkginfo==1.12.1.2
-platformdirs==4.5.0
-pycodestyle==2.14.0
-pyflakes==3.4.0
-Pygments==2.19.2
-readme-renderer==44.0
-requests==2.32.5
-requests-toolbelt==1.0.0
-restructuredtext-lint==2.0.2
-rfc3986==2.0.0
-rich==14.2.0
-setuptools==80.9.0
-six==1.17.0
-tqdm==4.67.1
 twine==6.2.0
-urllib3==2.5.0
+gitchangelog==3.0.4
-webencodings==0.5.1
+setuptools==80.9.0
-zipp==3.23.0
+
+# Documentation
+restructuredtext-lint==2.0.2

setup.py

@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ setup(
     author="Jose Diaz-Gonzalez",
     author_email="github-backup@josediazgonzalez.com",
     packages=["github_backup"],
-    scripts=["bin/github-backup"],
+    entry_points={
+        "console_scripts": [
+            "github-backup=github_backup.cli:main",
+        ],
+    },
     url="http://github.com/josegonzalez/python-github-backup",
     license="MIT",
     classifiers=[

tests/test_all_starred.py

@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+"""Tests for --all-starred flag behavior (issue #225)."""
+
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+from github_backup import github_backup
+
+
+class TestAllStarredCloning:
+    """Test suite for --all-starred repository cloning behavior.
+
+    Issue #225: --all-starred should clone starred repos without requiring --repositories.
+    """
+
+    def _create_mock_args(self, **overrides):
+        """Create a mock args object with sensible defaults."""
+        args = Mock()
+        args.user = "testuser"
+        args.output_directory = "/tmp/backup"
+        args.include_repository = False
+        args.include_everything = False
+        args.include_gists = False
+        args.include_starred_gists = False
+        args.all_starred = False
+        args.skip_existing = False
+        args.bare_clone = False
+        args.lfs_clone = False
+        args.no_prune = False
+        args.include_wiki = False
+        args.include_issues = False
+        args.include_issue_comments = False
+        args.include_issue_events = False
+        args.include_pulls = False
+        args.include_pull_comments = False
+        args.include_pull_commits = False
+        args.include_pull_details = False
+        args.include_labels = False
+        args.include_hooks = False
+        args.include_milestones = False
+        args.include_releases = False
+        args.include_assets = False
+        args.include_attachments = False
+        args.incremental = False
+        args.incremental_by_files = False
+        args.github_host = None
+        args.prefer_ssh = False
+        args.token_classic = None
+        args.token_fine = None
+        args.username = None
+        args.password = None
+        args.as_app = False
+        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
+
+        for key, value in overrides.items():
+            setattr(args, key, value)
+
+        return args
+
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.fetch_repository')
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.get_github_repo_url')
+    def test_all_starred_clones_without_repositories_flag(self, mock_get_url, mock_fetch):
+        """--all-starred should clone starred repos without --repositories flag.
+
+        This is the core fix for issue #225.
+        """
+        args = self._create_mock_args(all_starred=True)
+        mock_get_url.return_value = "https://github.com/otheruser/awesome-project.git"
+
+        # A starred repository (is_starred flag set by retrieve_repositories)
+        starred_repo = {
+            "name": "awesome-project",
+            "full_name": "otheruser/awesome-project",
+            "owner": {"login": "otheruser"},
+            "private": False,
+            "fork": False,
+            "has_wiki": False,
+            "is_starred": True,  # This flag is set for starred repos
+        }
+
+        with patch('github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p'):
+            github_backup.backup_repositories(args, "/tmp/backup", [starred_repo])
+
+        # fetch_repository should be called for the starred repo
+        assert mock_fetch.called, "--all-starred should trigger repository cloning"
+        mock_fetch.assert_called_once()
+        call_args = mock_fetch.call_args
+        assert call_args[0][0] == "awesome-project"  # repo name
+
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.fetch_repository')
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.get_github_repo_url')
+    def test_starred_repo_not_cloned_without_all_starred_flag(self, mock_get_url, mock_fetch):
+        """Starred repos should NOT be cloned if --all-starred is not set."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(all_starred=False)
+        mock_get_url.return_value = "https://github.com/otheruser/awesome-project.git"
+
+        starred_repo = {
+            "name": "awesome-project",
+            "full_name": "otheruser/awesome-project",
+            "owner": {"login": "otheruser"},
+            "private": False,
+            "fork": False,
+            "has_wiki": False,
+            "is_starred": True,
+        }
+
+        with patch('github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p'):
+            github_backup.backup_repositories(args, "/tmp/backup", [starred_repo])
+
+        # fetch_repository should NOT be called
+        assert not mock_fetch.called, "Starred repos should not be cloned without --all-starred"
+
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.fetch_repository')
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.get_github_repo_url')
+    def test_non_starred_repo_not_cloned_with_only_all_starred(self, mock_get_url, mock_fetch):
+        """Non-starred repos should NOT be cloned when only --all-starred is set."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(all_starred=True)
+        mock_get_url.return_value = "https://github.com/testuser/my-project.git"
+
+        # A regular (non-starred) repository
+        regular_repo = {
+            "name": "my-project",
+            "full_name": "testuser/my-project",
+            "owner": {"login": "testuser"},
+            "private": False,
+            "fork": False,
+            "has_wiki": False,
+            # No is_starred flag
+        }
+
+        with patch('github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p'):
+            github_backup.backup_repositories(args, "/tmp/backup", [regular_repo])
+
+        # fetch_repository should NOT be called for non-starred repos
+        assert not mock_fetch.called, "Non-starred repos should not be cloned with only --all-starred"
+
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.fetch_repository')
+    @patch('github_backup.github_backup.get_github_repo_url')
+    def test_repositories_flag_still_works(self, mock_get_url, mock_fetch):
+        """--repositories flag should still clone repos as before."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(include_repository=True)
+        mock_get_url.return_value = "https://github.com/testuser/my-project.git"
+
+        regular_repo = {
+            "name": "my-project",
+            "full_name": "testuser/my-project",
+            "owner": {"login": "testuser"},
+            "private": False,
+            "fork": False,
+            "has_wiki": False,
+        }
+
+        with patch('github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p'):
+            github_backup.backup_repositories(args, "/tmp/backup", [regular_repo])
+
+        # fetch_repository should be called
+        assert mock_fetch.called, "--repositories should trigger repository cloning"
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])

tests/test_case_sensitivity.py

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+"""Tests for case-insensitive username/organization filtering."""
+
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import Mock
+
+from github_backup import github_backup
+
+
+class TestCaseSensitivity:
+    """Test suite for case-insensitive username matching in filter_repositories."""
+
+    def test_filter_repositories_case_insensitive_user(self):
+        """Should filter repositories case-insensitively for usernames.
+
+        Reproduces issue #198 where typing 'iamrodos' fails to match
+        repositories with owner.login='Iamrodos' (the canonical case from GitHub API).
+        """
+        # Simulate user typing lowercase username
+        args = Mock()
+        args.user = "iamrodos"  # lowercase (what user typed)
+        args.repository = None
+        args.name_regex = None
+        args.languages = None
+        args.exclude = None
+        args.fork = False
+        args.private = False
+        args.public = False
+        args.all = True
+
+        # Simulate GitHub API returning canonical case
+        repos = [
+            {
+                "name": "repo1",
+                "owner": {"login": "Iamrodos"},  # Capital I (canonical from API)
+                "private": False,
+                "fork": False,
+            },
+            {
+                "name": "repo2",
+                "owner": {"login": "Iamrodos"},
+                "private": False,
+                "fork": False,
+            },
+        ]
+
+        filtered = github_backup.filter_repositories(args, repos)
+
+        # Should match despite case difference
+        assert len(filtered) == 2
+        assert filtered[0]["name"] == "repo1"
+        assert filtered[1]["name"] == "repo2"
+
+    def test_filter_repositories_case_insensitive_org(self):
+        """Should filter repositories case-insensitively for organizations.
+
+        Tests the example from issue #198 where 'prai-org' doesn't match 'PRAI-Org'.
+        """
+        args = Mock()
+        args.user = "prai-org"  # lowercase (what user typed)
+        args.repository = None
+        args.name_regex = None
+        args.languages = None
+        args.exclude = None
+        args.fork = False
+        args.private = False
+        args.public = False
+        args.all = True
+
+        repos = [
+            {
+                "name": "repo1",
+                "owner": {"login": "PRAI-Org"},  # Different case (canonical from API)
+                "private": False,
+                "fork": False,
+            },
+        ]
+
+        filtered = github_backup.filter_repositories(args, repos)
+
+        # Should match despite case difference
+        assert len(filtered) == 1
+        assert filtered[0]["name"] == "repo1"
+
+    def test_filter_repositories_case_variations(self):
+        """Should handle various case combinations correctly."""
+        args = Mock()
+        args.user = "TeSt-UsEr"  # Mixed case
+        args.repository = None
+        args.name_regex = None
+        args.languages = None
+        args.exclude = None
+        args.fork = False
+        args.private = False
+        args.public = False
+        args.all = True
+
+        repos = [
+            {"name": "repo1", "owner": {"login": "test-user"}, "private": False, "fork": False},
+            {"name": "repo2", "owner": {"login": "TEST-USER"}, "private": False, "fork": False},
+            {"name": "repo3", "owner": {"login": "TeSt-UsEr"}, "private": False, "fork": False},
+            {"name": "repo4", "owner": {"login": "other-user"}, "private": False, "fork": False},
+        ]
+
+        filtered = github_backup.filter_repositories(args, repos)
+
+        # Should match first 3 (all case variations of same user)
+        assert len(filtered) == 3
+        assert set(r["name"] for r in filtered) == {"repo1", "repo2", "repo3"}
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])

tests/test_http_451.py

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ class TestHTTP451Exception:
 
     def test_repository_unavailable_error_raised(self):
         """HTTP 451 should raise RepositoryUnavailableError with DMCA URL."""
-        # Create mock args
         args = Mock()
         args.as_app = False
         args.token_fine = None
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@ class TestHTTP451Exception:
         args.throttle_limit = None
         args.throttle_pause = 0
 
-        # Mock HTTPError 451 response
         mock_response = Mock()
         mock_response.getcode.return_value = 451
 
@@ -41,14 +39,10 @@ class TestHTTP451Exception:
         mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
         mock_response.reason = "Unavailable For Legal Reasons"
 
-        def mock_get_response(request, auth, template):
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
-            return mock_response, []
-
-        with patch("github_backup.github_backup._get_response", side_effect=mock_get_response):
             with pytest.raises(github_backup.RepositoryUnavailableError) as exc_info:
-                list(github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues"))
+                github_backup.retrieve_data(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues")
 
-            # Check exception has DMCA URL
             assert exc_info.value.dmca_url == "https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2024/11/2024-11-04-source-code.md"
             assert "451" in str(exc_info.value)
 
@@ -71,14 +65,10 @@ class TestHTTP451Exception:
         mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
         mock_response.reason = "Unavailable For Legal Reasons"
 
-        def mock_get_response(request, auth, template):
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
-            return mock_response, []
-
-        with patch("github_backup.github_backup._get_response", side_effect=mock_get_response):
             with pytest.raises(github_backup.RepositoryUnavailableError) as exc_info:
-                list(github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues"))
+                github_backup.retrieve_data(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues")
 
-            # Exception raised even without DMCA URL
             assert exc_info.value.dmca_url is None
             assert "451" in str(exc_info.value)
 
@@ -101,42 +91,9 @@ class TestHTTP451Exception:
         mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
         mock_response.reason = "Unavailable For Legal Reasons"
 
-        def mock_get_response(request, auth, template):
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
-            return mock_response, []
-
-        with patch("github_backup.github_backup._get_response", side_effect=mock_get_response):
             with pytest.raises(github_backup.RepositoryUnavailableError):
-                list(github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues"))
+                github_backup.retrieve_data(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/dmca/issues")
-
-    def test_other_http_errors_unchanged(self):
-        """Other HTTP errors should still raise generic Exception."""
-        args = Mock()
-        args.as_app = False
-        args.token_fine = None
-        args.token_classic = None
-        args.username = None
-        args.password = None
-        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
-        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
-        args.throttle_limit = None
-        args.throttle_pause = 0
-
-        mock_response = Mock()
-        mock_response.getcode.return_value = 404
-        mock_response.read.return_value = b'{"message": "Not Found"}'
-        mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
-        mock_response.reason = "Not Found"
-
-        def mock_get_response(request, auth, template):
-            return mock_response, []
-
-        with patch("github_backup.github_backup._get_response", side_effect=mock_get_response):
-            # Should raise generic Exception, not RepositoryUnavailableError
-            with pytest.raises(Exception) as exc_info:
-                list(github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/notfound/issues"))
-
-            assert not isinstance(exc_info.value, github_backup.RepositoryUnavailableError)
-            assert "404" in str(exc_info.value)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

tests/test_pagination.py

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class MockHTTPResponse:
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def mock_args():
-    """Mock args for retrieve_data_gen."""
+    """Mock args for retrieve_data."""
     args = Mock()
     args.as_app = False
     args.token_fine = None
@@ -77,11 +77,9 @@ def test_cursor_based_pagination(mock_args):
         return responses[len(requests_made) - 1]
 
     with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
-        results = list(
+        results = github_backup.retrieve_data(
-            github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(
             mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/issues"
         )
-        )
 
     # Verify all items retrieved and cursor was used in second request
     assert len(results) == 150
@@ -112,11 +110,9 @@ def test_page_based_pagination(mock_args):
         return responses[len(requests_made) - 1]
 
     with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
-        results = list(
+        results = github_backup.retrieve_data(
-            github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(
             mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/pulls"
         )
-        )
 
     # Verify all items retrieved and page parameter was used (not cursor)
     assert len(results) == 180
@@ -142,11 +138,9 @@ def test_no_link_header_stops_pagination(mock_args):
         return responses[len(requests_made) - 1]
 
     with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
-        results = list(
+        results = github_backup.retrieve_data(
-            github_backup.retrieve_data_gen(
             mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/labels"
         )
-        )
 
     # Verify pagination stopped after first request
     assert len(results) == 50

tests/test_retrieve_data.py

@@ -0,0 +1,365 @@
+"""Tests for retrieve_data function."""
+
+import json
+import socket
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
+
+import pytest
+
+from github_backup import github_backup
+from github_backup.github_backup import (
+    MAX_RETRIES,
+    calculate_retry_delay,
+    make_request_with_retry,
+)
+
+
+class TestCalculateRetryDelay:
+    def test_respects_retry_after_header(self):
+        headers = {'retry-after': '30'}
+        assert calculate_retry_delay(0, headers) == 30
+
+    def test_respects_rate_limit_reset(self):
+        import time
+        import calendar
+        # Set reset time 60 seconds in the future
+        future_reset = calendar.timegm(time.gmtime()) + 60
+        headers = {
+            'x-ratelimit-remaining': '0',
+            'x-ratelimit-reset': str(future_reset)
+        }
+        delay = calculate_retry_delay(0, headers)
+        # Should be approximately 60 seconds (with some tolerance for execution time)
+        assert 55 <= delay <= 65
+
+    def test_exponential_backoff(self):
+        delay_0 = calculate_retry_delay(0, {})
+        delay_1 = calculate_retry_delay(1, {})
+        delay_2 = calculate_retry_delay(2, {})
+        # Base delay is 1s, so delays should be roughly 1, 2, 4 (plus jitter)
+        assert 0.9 <= delay_0 <= 1.2  # ~1s + up to 10% jitter
+        assert 1.8 <= delay_1 <= 2.4  # ~2s + up to 10% jitter
+        assert 3.6 <= delay_2 <= 4.8  # ~4s + up to 10% jitter
+
+    def test_max_delay_cap(self):
+        # Very high attempt number should not exceed 120s + jitter
+        delay = calculate_retry_delay(100, {})
+        assert delay <= 120 * 1.1  # 120s max + 10% jitter
+
+    def test_minimum_rate_limit_delay(self):
+        import time
+        import calendar
+        # Set reset time in the past (already reset)
+        past_reset = calendar.timegm(time.gmtime()) - 100
+        headers = {
+            'x-ratelimit-remaining': '0',
+            'x-ratelimit-reset': str(past_reset)
+        }
+        delay = calculate_retry_delay(0, headers)
+        # Should be minimum 10 seconds even if reset time is in past
+        assert delay >= 10
+
+
+class TestRetrieveDataRetry:
+    """Tests for retry behavior in retrieve_data."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def mock_args(self):
+        args = Mock()
+        args.as_app = False
+        args.token_fine = None
+        args.token_classic = "fake_token"
+        args.username = None
+        args.password = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
+        args.throttle_limit = None
+        args.throttle_pause = 0
+        return args
+
+    def test_json_parse_error_retries_and_fails(self, mock_args):
+        """HTTP 200 with invalid JSON should retry and eventually fail."""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.getcode.return_value = 200
+        mock_response.read.return_value = b"not valid json {"
+        mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
+
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_make_request(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            return mock_response
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", side_effect=mock_make_request):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):  # No delay in tests
+                with pytest.raises(Exception) as exc_info:
+                    github_backup.retrieve_data(mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/repo/issues")
+
+        assert "Failed to read response after" in str(exc_info.value)
+        assert call_count == MAX_RETRIES
+
+    def test_json_parse_error_recovers_on_retry(self, mock_args):
+        """HTTP 200 with invalid JSON should succeed if retry returns valid JSON."""
+        bad_response = Mock()
+        bad_response.getcode.return_value = 200
+        bad_response.read.return_value = b"not valid json {"
+        bad_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
+
+        good_response = Mock()
+        good_response.getcode.return_value = 200
+        good_response.read.return_value = json.dumps([{"id": 1}]).encode("utf-8")
+        good_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000", "Link": ""}
+
+        responses = [bad_response, bad_response, good_response]
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_make_request(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            result = responses[call_count]
+            call_count += 1
+            return result
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", side_effect=mock_make_request):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                result = github_backup.retrieve_data(mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/repo/issues")
+
+        assert result == [{"id": 1}]
+        assert call_count == 3  # Failed twice, succeeded on third
+
+    def test_http_error_raises_exception(self, mock_args):
+        """Non-success HTTP status codes should raise Exception."""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.getcode.return_value = 404
+        mock_response.read.return_value = b'{"message": "Not Found"}'
+        mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"}
+        mock_response.reason = "Not Found"
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
+            with pytest.raises(Exception) as exc_info:
+                github_backup.retrieve_data(mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/notfound/issues")
+
+            assert not isinstance(exc_info.value, github_backup.RepositoryUnavailableError)
+            assert "404" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+
+class TestMakeRequestWithRetry:
+    """Tests for HTTP error retry behavior in make_request_with_retry."""
+
+    def test_502_error_retries_and_succeeds(self):
+        """HTTP 502 should retry and succeed if subsequent request works."""
+        good_response = Mock()
+        good_response.read.return_value = b'{"ok": true}'
+
+        call_count = 0
+        fail_count = MAX_RETRIES - 1  # Fail all but last attempt
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            if call_count <= fail_count:
+                raise HTTPError(
+                    url="https://api.github.com/test",
+                    code=502,
+                    msg="Bad Gateway",
+                    hdrs={"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"},
+                    fp=None,
+                )
+            return good_response
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                result = make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert result == good_response
+        assert call_count == MAX_RETRIES
+
+    def test_503_error_retries_until_exhausted(self):
+        """HTTP 503 should retry MAX_RETRIES times then raise."""
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            raise HTTPError(
+                url="https://api.github.com/test",
+                code=503,
+                msg="Service Unavailable",
+                hdrs={"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"},
+                fp=None,
+            )
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                with pytest.raises(HTTPError) as exc_info:
+                    make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert exc_info.value.code == 503
+        assert call_count == MAX_RETRIES
+
+    def test_404_error_not_retried(self):
+        """HTTP 404 should not be retried - raise immediately."""
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            raise HTTPError(
+                url="https://api.github.com/test",
+                code=404,
+                msg="Not Found",
+                hdrs={"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"},
+                fp=None,
+            )
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with pytest.raises(HTTPError) as exc_info:
+                make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert exc_info.value.code == 404
+        assert call_count == 1  # No retries
+
+    def test_rate_limit_403_retried_when_remaining_zero(self):
+        """HTTP 403 with x-ratelimit-remaining=0 should retry."""
+        good_response = Mock()
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            if call_count == 1:
+                raise HTTPError(
+                    url="https://api.github.com/test",
+                    code=403,
+                    msg="Forbidden",
+                    hdrs={"x-ratelimit-remaining": "0"},
+                    fp=None,
+                )
+            return good_response
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                result = make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert result == good_response
+        assert call_count == 2
+
+    def test_403_not_retried_when_remaining_nonzero(self):
+        """HTTP 403 with x-ratelimit-remaining>0 should not retry (permission error)."""
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            raise HTTPError(
+                url="https://api.github.com/test",
+                code=403,
+                msg="Forbidden",
+                hdrs={"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000"},
+                fp=None,
+            )
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with pytest.raises(HTTPError) as exc_info:
+                make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert exc_info.value.code == 403
+        assert call_count == 1  # No retries
+
+    def test_connection_error_retries_and_succeeds(self):
+        """URLError (connection error) should retry and succeed if subsequent request works."""
+        good_response = Mock()
+        call_count = 0
+        fail_count = MAX_RETRIES - 1  # Fail all but last attempt
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            if call_count <= fail_count:
+                raise URLError("Connection refused")
+            return good_response
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                result = make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert result == good_response
+        assert call_count == MAX_RETRIES
+
+    def test_socket_error_retries_until_exhausted(self):
+        """socket.error should retry MAX_RETRIES times then raise."""
+        call_count = 0
+
+        def mock_urlopen(*args, **kwargs):
+            nonlocal call_count
+            call_count += 1
+            raise socket.error("Connection reset by peer")
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.urlopen", side_effect=mock_urlopen):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.calculate_retry_delay", return_value=0):
+                with pytest.raises(socket.error):
+                    make_request_with_retry(Mock(), None)
+
+        assert call_count == MAX_RETRIES
+
+
+class TestRetrieveDataThrottling:
+    """Tests for throttling behavior in retrieve_data."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def mock_args(self):
+        args = Mock()
+        args.as_app = False
+        args.token_fine = None
+        args.token_classic = "fake_token"
+        args.username = None
+        args.password = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
+        args.throttle_limit = 10  # Throttle when remaining <= 10
+        args.throttle_pause = 5  # Pause 5 seconds
+        return args
+
+    def test_throttling_pauses_when_rate_limit_low(self, mock_args):
+        """Should pause when x-ratelimit-remaining is at or below throttle_limit."""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.getcode.return_value = 200
+        mock_response.read.return_value = json.dumps([{"id": 1}]).encode("utf-8")
+        mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5", "Link": ""}  # Below throttle_limit
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
+            with patch("github_backup.github_backup.time.sleep") as mock_sleep:
+                github_backup.retrieve_data(mock_args, "https://api.github.com/repos/test/repo/issues")
+
+        mock_sleep.assert_called_once_with(5)  # throttle_pause value
+
+
+class TestRetrieveDataSingleItem:
+    """Tests for single item (dict) responses in retrieve_data."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def mock_args(self):
+        args = Mock()
+        args.as_app = False
+        args.token_fine = None
+        args.token_classic = "fake_token"
+        args.username = None
+        args.password = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
+        args.throttle_limit = None
+        args.throttle_pause = 0
+        return args
+
+    def test_dict_response_returned_as_list(self, mock_args):
+        """Single dict response should be returned as a list with one item."""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.getcode.return_value = 200
+        mock_response.read.return_value = json.dumps({"login": "testuser", "id": 123}).encode("utf-8")
+        mock_response.headers = {"x-ratelimit-remaining": "5000", "Link": ""}
+
+        with patch("github_backup.github_backup.make_request_with_retry", return_value=mock_response):
+            result = github_backup.retrieve_data(mock_args, "https://api.github.com/user")
+
+        assert result == [{"login": "testuser", "id": 123}]

tests/test_skip_assets_on.py

@@ -0,0 +1,320 @@
+"""Tests for --skip-assets-on flag behavior (issue #135)."""
+
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+from github_backup import github_backup
+
+
+class TestSkipAssetsOn:
+    """Test suite for --skip-assets-on flag.
+
+    Issue #135: Allow skipping asset downloads for specific repositories
+    while still backing up release metadata.
+    """
+
+    def _create_mock_args(self, **overrides):
+        """Create a mock args object with sensible defaults."""
+        args = Mock()
+        args.user = "testuser"
+        args.output_directory = "/tmp/backup"
+        args.include_repository = False
+        args.include_everything = False
+        args.include_gists = False
+        args.include_starred_gists = False
+        args.all_starred = False
+        args.skip_existing = False
+        args.bare_clone = False
+        args.lfs_clone = False
+        args.no_prune = False
+        args.include_wiki = False
+        args.include_issues = False
+        args.include_issue_comments = False
+        args.include_issue_events = False
+        args.include_pulls = False
+        args.include_pull_comments = False
+        args.include_pull_commits = False
+        args.include_pull_details = False
+        args.include_labels = False
+        args.include_hooks = False
+        args.include_milestones = False
+        args.include_releases = True
+        args.include_assets = True
+        args.skip_assets_on = []
+        args.include_attachments = False
+        args.incremental = False
+        args.incremental_by_files = False
+        args.github_host = None
+        args.prefer_ssh = False
+        args.token_classic = "test-token"
+        args.token_fine = None
+        args.username = None
+        args.password = None
+        args.as_app = False
+        args.osx_keychain_item_name = None
+        args.osx_keychain_item_account = None
+        args.skip_prerelease = False
+        args.number_of_latest_releases = None
+
+        for key, value in overrides.items():
+            setattr(args, key, value)
+
+        return args
+
+    def _create_mock_repository(self, name="test-repo", owner="testuser"):
+        """Create a mock repository object."""
+        return {
+            "name": name,
+            "full_name": f"{owner}/{name}",
+            "owner": {"login": owner},
+            "private": False,
+            "fork": False,
+            "has_wiki": False,
+        }
+
+    def _create_mock_release(self, tag="v1.0.0"):
+        """Create a mock release object."""
+        return {
+            "tag_name": tag,
+            "name": tag,
+            "prerelease": False,
+            "draft": False,
+            "assets_url": f"https://api.github.com/repos/testuser/test-repo/releases/{tag}/assets",
+        }
+
+    def _create_mock_asset(self, name="asset.zip"):
+        """Create a mock asset object."""
+        return {
+            "name": name,
+            "url": f"https://api.github.com/repos/testuser/test-repo/releases/assets/{name}",
+        }
+
+
+class TestSkipAssetsOnArgumentParsing(TestSkipAssetsOn):
+    """Tests for --skip-assets-on argument parsing."""
+
+    def test_skip_assets_on_not_set_defaults_to_none(self):
+        """When --skip-assets-on is not specified, it should default to None."""
+        args = github_backup.parse_args(["testuser"])
+        assert args.skip_assets_on is None
+
+    def test_skip_assets_on_single_repo(self):
+        """Single --skip-assets-on should create list with one item."""
+        args = github_backup.parse_args(["testuser", "--skip-assets-on", "big-repo"])
+        assert args.skip_assets_on == ["big-repo"]
+
+    def test_skip_assets_on_multiple_repos(self):
+        """Multiple repos can be specified space-separated (like --exclude)."""
+        args = github_backup.parse_args(
+            [
+                "testuser",
+                "--skip-assets-on",
+                "big-repo",
+                "another-repo",
+                "owner/third-repo",
+            ]
+        )
+        assert args.skip_assets_on == ["big-repo", "another-repo", "owner/third-repo"]
+
+
+class TestSkipAssetsOnBehavior(TestSkipAssetsOn):
+    """Tests for --skip-assets-on behavior in backup_releases."""
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_assets_downloaded_when_not_skipped(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Assets should be downloaded when repo is not in skip list."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=[])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="normal-repo")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+        asset = self._create_mock_asset()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.side_effect = [
+            [release],  # First call: get releases
+            [asset],  # Second call: get assets
+        ]
+
+        with patch("os.path.join", side_effect=lambda *args: "/".join(args)):
+            github_backup.backup_releases(
+                args,
+                "/tmp/backup/repositories/normal-repo",
+                repository,
+                "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+                include_assets=True,
+            )
+
+        # download_file should have been called for the asset
+        mock_download.assert_called_once()
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_assets_skipped_when_repo_name_matches(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Assets should be skipped when repo name is in skip list."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["big-repo"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="big-repo")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.return_value = [release]
+
+        github_backup.backup_releases(
+            args,
+            "/tmp/backup/repositories/big-repo",
+            repository,
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+            include_assets=True,
+        )
+
+        # download_file should NOT have been called
+        mock_download.assert_not_called()
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_assets_skipped_when_full_name_matches(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Assets should be skipped when owner/repo format matches."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["otheruser/big-repo"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="big-repo", owner="otheruser")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.return_value = [release]
+
+        github_backup.backup_releases(
+            args,
+            "/tmp/backup/repositories/big-repo",
+            repository,
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+            include_assets=True,
+        )
+
+        # download_file should NOT have been called
+        mock_download.assert_not_called()
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_case_insensitive_matching(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Skip matching should be case-insensitive."""
+        # User types uppercase, repo name is lowercase
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["BIG-REPO"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="big-repo")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.return_value = [release]
+
+        github_backup.backup_releases(
+            args,
+            "/tmp/backup/repositories/big-repo",
+            repository,
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+            include_assets=True,
+        )
+
+        # download_file should NOT have been called (case-insensitive match)
+        assert not mock_download.called
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_multiple_skip_repos(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Multiple repos in skip list should all be skipped."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["repo1", "repo2", "repo3"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="repo2")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.return_value = [release]
+
+        github_backup.backup_releases(
+            args,
+            "/tmp/backup/repositories/repo2",
+            repository,
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+            include_assets=True,
+        )
+
+        # download_file should NOT have been called
+        mock_download.assert_not_called()
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_release_metadata_still_saved_when_assets_skipped(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Release JSON should still be saved even when assets are skipped."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["big-repo"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="big-repo")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.return_value = [release]
+
+        github_backup.backup_releases(
+            args,
+            "/tmp/backup/repositories/big-repo",
+            repository,
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+            include_assets=True,
+        )
+
+        # json_dump_if_changed should have been called for release metadata
+        mock_json_dump.assert_called_once()
+        # But download_file should NOT have been called
+        mock_download.assert_not_called()
+
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.download_file")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.retrieve_data")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.mkdir_p")
+    @patch("github_backup.github_backup.json_dump_if_changed")
+    def test_non_matching_repo_still_downloads_assets(
+        self, mock_json_dump, mock_mkdir, mock_retrieve, mock_download
+    ):
+        """Repos not in skip list should still download assets."""
+        args = self._create_mock_args(skip_assets_on=["other-repo"])
+        repository = self._create_mock_repository(name="normal-repo")
+        release = self._create_mock_release()
+        asset = self._create_mock_asset()
+
+        mock_json_dump.return_value = True
+        mock_retrieve.side_effect = [
+            [release],  # First call: get releases
+            [asset],  # Second call: get assets
+        ]
+
+        with patch("os.path.join", side_effect=lambda *args: "/".join(args)):
+            github_backup.backup_releases(
+                args,
+                "/tmp/backup/repositories/normal-repo",
+                repository,
+                "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}",
+                include_assets=True,
+            )
+
+        # download_file SHOULD have been called
+        mock_download.assert_called_once()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])