Feature Request: Decouple Lists from Stars

[SamGreenwood1]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to propose a feature enhancement for GitHub's Lists that I think would significantly improve its usefulness and flexibility. Currently, you have to star a repository before you can add it to a list. I believe this tight coupling limits the potential of Lists and creates some unnecessary friction.

The Problem

Starring a repo implies you're interested in it, want to follow its development, or generally endorse it. But what if you want to use Lists for purely organizational purposes? For example:

• Creating a list of potential libraries to evaluate for a project.
• Tracking dependencies across different repositories.
• Compiling a list of competitor projects for research.

In these cases, you might not want to "star" the repo (and clutter your starred list), but you do want to organize it within a specific list.

My Proposal:

Decouple Lists from Stars! Let us add repos to lists without requiring a star.

How it could work:

• Add an "Add to List" option in the repo's dropdown menu (next to "Star," "Watch," etc.).
• Include an "Add to List" button directly on the repo page.
• Allow adding repos to lists directly from search results.

Why this would be awesome:

• More accurate star representation: Stars would truly reflect genuine interest.
• Less clutter: No more starring repos just to organize them.
• Increased List adoption: More people would use Lists if they weren't tied to starring.
• Better organization: Lists would become a more powerful tool for curation and management.

What do you think?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Do you find the current system limiting? Would decoupling Lists from Stars be a valuable improvement? Are there any potential downsides I haven't considered?

[github-actions[bot]]

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