Push GitHub Leads to Omnisend: Automate Developer Email & SMS from GitHub Signals

Why Omnisend for Developer Lead Nurturing

Omnisend is an email and SMS marketing platform built for e-commerce and product-led SaaS. It excels at multi-channel automation — combining email, SMS, and push notifications in a single workflow. If your developer tool has a self-serve or PLG motion, Omnisend gives you the automation depth to run intent-triggered sequences without a full CRM.

The challenge: Omnisend does not watch GitHub. It cannot detect when a developer stars your repo, mentions your product in an issue, or searches for your category keyword in a GitHub discussion. GitLeads solves this. It monitors GitHub for developer buying signals in real time and pushes enriched contact profiles into Omnisend the moment a signal fires.

What GitHub Signals Feed Omnisend

• New stargazers on your repo or a competitor repo — warm intent signal
• Keyword mentions in GitHub Issues/PRs/Discussions (e.g., "looking for X", "alternative to Y")
• Code commits containing your library name or API pattern
• GitHub Discussions where developers ask questions about your category

Each signal triggers a GitLeads webhook that pushes enriched profile data to Omnisend: name, email (if public), GitHub username, company, bio, top programming languages, follower count, and the specific signal context (the repo starred, the keyword matched, the issue URL).

Integration Architecture: GitLeads → Omnisend

GitLeads supports two paths into Omnisend: direct webhook to Omnisend API, or via Zapier/Make with an Omnisend action. The webhook approach gives you lower latency and full control over contact properties.

// GitLeads webhook handler — push to Omnisend contact list
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server';

interface GitLeadsPayload {
  event: 'star' | 'keyword_match';
  lead: {
    name: string;
    email?: string;
    github_username: string;
    company?: string;
    bio?: string;
    top_languages: string[];
    followers: number;
    signal_context: string;
    signal_repo?: string;
    signal_keyword?: string;
  };
}

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  const payload: GitLeadsPayload = await req.json();
  const { lead } = payload;

  if (!lead.email) return new Response('no email', { status: 200 });

  const omnisendPayload = {
    identifiers: [
      {
        type: 'email',
        id: lead.email,
        channels: {
          email: { status: 'subscribed', statusDate: new Date().toISOString() },
        },
      },
    ],
    firstName: lead.name?.split(' ')[0] ?? '',
    lastName: lead.name?.split(' ').slice(1).join(' ') ?? '',
    customProperties: {
      github_username: lead.github_username,
      company: lead.company ?? '',
      top_language: lead.top_languages[0] ?? '',
      github_followers: lead.followers,
      signal_context: lead.signal_context,
      signal_type: payload.event,
      signal_repo: lead.signal_repo ?? '',
    },
    tags: [
      'github-lead',
      payload.event === 'star' ? 'stargazer' : 'keyword-intent',
      lead.top_languages[0] ?? 'unknown-lang',
    ],
  };

  const res = await fetch('https://api.omnisend.com/v3/contacts', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-KEY': process.env.OMNISEND_API_KEY!,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(omnisendPayload),
  });

  return new Response(res.ok ? 'ok' : 'error', { status: res.ok ? 200 : 500 });
}

Setting Up the Omnisend Automation Workflow

Once contacts land in Omnisend with the github-lead tag, you can trigger an automation workflow. In Omnisend, create a custom trigger automation using "Contact enters a segment" where the segment rule is: tag contains "github-lead".

1. Create segment: tag = "github-lead" AND signal_type = "star"
2. Automation trigger: contact matches segment
3. Step 1 (Day 0): Send onboarding email — "Saw you starred X, here's how teams use it"
4. Step 2 (Day 2): Send case study email for their primary language (use liquid tag: {{ contact.top_language }})
5. Step 3 (Day 5): SMS touchpoint if phone available, or follow-up email with docs link
6. Step 4 (Day 10): Trial CTA — link to free signup or sandbox

Omnisend Segments for Developer Lead Scoring

Omnisend segments let you slice the GitHub lead pool by signal quality. High-value segment: github_followers > 100 AND signal_type = keyword_match (developer actively asking about your category). Lower-priority segment: signal_type = star AND github_followers < 10 (hobbyist stargazers, less likely to convert). Route each segment to a different automation with appropriately calibrated messaging.

What GitLeads Does Not Do

GitLeads finds the leads and pushes them to Omnisend. It does not send emails. It does not write your sequences. It does not manage unsubscribes. Those are Omnisend's responsibilities. GitLeads is the signal source; Omnisend is the delivery engine.