Not all forks are equal. Some are experimental one-off changes. Some are abandoned themselves. Here's how to tell the difference and pick the right fork every time.
Key Signals for Evaluating a GitHub Fork
Recency of last push – Most important signal. Commits within last 30 days is ideal.
Stars relative to original – Community validation signal.
Open issues and response time – Active responses indicate healthy maintenance.
Divergence from original – Commits ahead means real development happened.
README quality – Active forks often announce themselves in the README.
CI/CD status – Passing CI checks = tested, quality code.