emoji-cheat-sheet
A searchable markdown reference listing emoji and their shortcodes for use in GitHub text.
- Stars
- 13.8k
- Forks
- 4.6k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- TypeScript
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- Learning resource
What it is
This is a reference page that lists emoji grouped by category, showing each emoji next to the shortcode you type to insert it in markdown, such as :smile: for a smiling face. The README says it is generated automatically from the GitHub Emoji API and the Unicode full emoji list. It is useful when you want to find the exact shortcode for an emoji without searching elsewhere.
- Look up the shortcode for a face, animal, or object emoji before writing a pull request description
- Browse the Smileys & Emotion section to find a reaction emoji for an issue comment
- Check the GitHub Custom Emoji section to see which custom emoji shortcodes are listed
Great for
- Developers writing README files or GitHub comments who need an emoji shortcode
- People who want to browse emoji by category to find the right one
- Anyone who wants a quick offline-style lookup of shortcodes in one document
Not ideal for
- People who need a program or API to insert emoji automatically, since the README describes a static reference sheet rather than a tool
- Users who only need emoji for plain-text messages outside markdown, where shortcodes may not render
How to get it
- 1
Read it online
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ikatyang/emoji-cheat-sheet - 2
Run it
- Open the repository page on GitHub
- Open the README and browse to the category you need
- Copy the shortcode shown in backticks and paste it into your markdown text
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the table of contents at the top of the README to jump directly to a category
- Note that some emoji have alternate shortcodes listed in the same row
- Use the GitHub Custom Emoji section if you work with custom emoji in a GitHub organization
Downloads
Strengths
- Generated from the GitHub Emoji API and Unicode list, so it tracks official emoji data
- Organized into clear categories with a table of contents for navigation
- Shows the emoji alongside its shortcode, so you can copy the code directly
Trade-offs
- It is a static document, so it does not offer search or insertion tools beyond what the page itself provides
- The README is truncated in this snapshot, so the full set of categories could not be verified here
- Some emoji have multiple shortcodes, which can be confusing when choosing one
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| emoji-cheat-sheet (this) | 13.8k | Learning resource | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers writing README files or GitHub comments who need an emoji shortcode |
| markdown-badges | 17.2k | Learning resource | beginner | 13 days ago | Developers who want a visual tech-stack section on their GitHub profile README |
| markitdown | 193k | Library | beginner | 8 days ago | Developers building LLM or text analysis pipelines that need document text |
| marktext | 63.5k | App | beginner | 4 days ago | People who write notes or articles in Markdown and want a clean, minimal editor |
| github-cheat-sheet | 60.1k | Curated list | beginner | 2.6 years ago | Developers who already use Git and GitHub daily and want to discover lesser-known features |
| gitea | 58.8k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Teams that want to host their own code instead of using a public cloud service |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.