title: Official way to access / download github files from scripts?
body: <p>An often given tip how to access / download a specific file from a github repository is to use rawgit, e.g.:</p>
  
  <pre><code>curl https://rawgit.com/webmin/webmin/master/os_list.txt
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>this will give you the current version of the file from webmin github repository.</p>
  
  <p>Nevertheless there is a BIG downside doing this for production scripts, because you will be blocked if a rawgit URL is used to often. This is also stated on rawgit.com:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Use this URL for development</p>
    
    <p>New changes you push to GitHub will be reflected within minutes.
    Excessive traffic will be throttled and blacklisted.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I was in contact with githup support to get unblocked after intensive development and got the answer to use github API instead of rawgit!</p>
  
  <p>Question: How to use github API to retrieve a specific file from a github repository?</p>