Methodology, version 2
How the Impact Score works
Every verified member has an Impact Score from 0 to 100. It's built only from work you can check on NXG and GitHub, the formula is published here in full, and it is never for sale: no subscription, Spotlight or payment of any kind changes it.
- Published in fullEvery weight and cap is on this page
- Built from real workBounties, projects, writing, code
- Judged by verified peersOnly verified members' follows and reactions count
Payment never changes your score. NXG Pro, Spotlight and sponsorships buy visibility in clearly labelled places; the score, verification and search order stay the same.
What counts
Seven kinds of contribution make up the 100 points. Each bar shows a category's share of the total, with GitHub counted; for members whose GitHub points are shared out, the second figure applies.
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GitHub activity
35pts
Public events, repositories and stars
Shared out when there's no GitHub signal
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Approved bounties
20pts
Bounty work the poster approved
Without GitHub: 30.8 pts
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Published projects
10pts
Projects you've shipped and shown
Without GitHub: 15.4 pts
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Published articles
10pts
What you've written for other developers
Without GitHub: 15.4 pts
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Snippets and tech artifacts
5pts
Reusable code, templates and checklists
Without GitHub: 7.7 pts
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Verified peer recognition
15pts
Follows and reactions from verified members
Without GitHub: 23.1 pts
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Team standing
5pts
Verified and Top-Rated teams you're in
Without GitHub: 7.7 pts
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Weights follow your specialization
Designers and members with private work aren't held back by GitHub. How it's shared out
The formula
Each part earns points up to its weight. A part reaches its full weight at its cap, and counts in proportion below it:
points = weight × min(your number, cap) ÷ cap
The score is the sum of all parts, rounded to a whole number. The weights add up to 100.
| Part | What's counted | Weight with GitHub | Without GitHub | Full marks at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub activity | Public GitHub events in the last 90 days | 25 | – | 150 |
| Public repositories | Public repositories on GitHub | 5 | – | 30 |
| Stars | Stars across those repositories | 5 | – | 100 |
| Bounties completed | Bounties whose work was approved | 20 | 30.8 | 10 |
| Projects published | Published projects | 10 | 15.4 | 8 |
| Articles published | Published articles | 10 | 15.4 | 10 |
| Snippets and artifacts published | Published snippets and tech artifacts | 5 | 7.7 | 15 |
| Peer follows | Verified members who follow you | 10 | 15.4 | 50 |
| Peer reactions | Reactions from verified members on your articles and snippets, and saves and downloads of your artifacts | 5 | 7.7 | 100 |
| Team standing | Verified or Top-Rated teams you belong to | 5 | 7.7 | 2 |
Weights follow your specialization
- Engineering, data, platform, quality, security and systems: GitHub counts when you have a GitHub signal (synced repositories or public activity). Without one, for example if your work is private, GitHub's points are shared out instead.
- Product & Design: you get whichever is higher, the score with GitHub or the score with GitHub's points shared out. GitHub can only add to your score.
"Without GitHub" shares GitHub's points across every other part in proportion to its weight, so every specialization can reach 100.
Peer endorsement counts verified members only
Follows and reactions come from verified members, never from yourself, and sample profiles never endorse a real member.
Bounties count once approved
A bounty counts when the poster approves the work, not when it's claimed or submitted.
GitHub is public data only
Repositories, stars and public events in the last 90 days, refreshed nightly. NXG never reads private repositories.
When it updates
Within minutes of a change that affects it, and for everyone every night.
The version in use
Each change to the formula is published here. When the formula changes, no score shown goes down because of it: for 90 days after a new version, the score shown is the higher of the new and the previous formula. That period runs until 21 January 2027. Every change to a member's score is logged.
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Version 2 in use
23 October 2026
- Weights now depend on your specialization. Engineering keeps GitHub at 25 points (35 with repositories and stars).
- Product & Design members, and anyone without a GitHub signal, have GitHub's points shared out across bounties, projects, articles, snippets, peer endorsement and team standing. For Product & Design, GitHub can still add to your score; it never lowers it.
- New parts: snippets published, and membership of Verified or Top-Rated teams. Bounties move from 25 to 20 and peer reactions from 10 to 5 to make room.
- No score went down at the switch: for 90 days, the score shown is the higher of version 2 and version 1.
- 24 October 2026: published Tech Artifacts (templates, checklists, frameworks, blueprints) count alongside snippets, and saves and downloads of them by verified members count as peer reactions. No weight changed.
Where it's used
On every verified profile, beside each member in the Directory, and to order Directory results: real members by Impact Score, newest first among equal scores. Paid visibility on NXG appears only in separate, clearly labelled places and never changes search results.
Profile Grade
The Profile Grade is separate from the Impact Score. It shows how active a member has been on NXG lately, so it rises with steady activity and eases down when someone steps away. It never affects the Impact Score, verification or search order.
Activity points
- Bounty work approved12
- Article published10
- Project published10
- Snippet or artifact published5
- Bounty work submitted4
- Team joined4
- Comment posted2
- Week with a profile update2
- Member followed1
- Peer vouch confirmed10
Newer activity counts more
- Up to 30 days ago: 100% of the points
- Up to 60 days ago: 60% of the points
- Up to 90 days ago: 30% of the points
- Older than that: no longer counted
Grades
- A+80+ points
- A50+ points
- B25+ points
- C10+ points
- D0+ points
NXG Pro adds 15 points to the grade a profile shows, for as long as Pro is active. Employers filter and see the grade from activity alone, and the Impact Score, verification and search order never change.
What the tags mean
Each person carries one trust tag beside their name. "Verified" is the tag of a verified member; anyone with a higher status shows that tag instead, so one tag always says the most. NXG Pro is a separate chip beside the trust tag, never instead of it: it shows a paid plan, not verification.
People
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Verified
A verified member: passed NXG's vetting.
Earned
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Founder
The founder of NXG Collective.
The founder's own
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NXG Staff
NXG staff, who run the platform day to day with the founder.
Chosen by the founder
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Moderator
An NXG moderator, chosen by the founder.
Earned
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Founding
One of NXG's first members: the founding cohort, with lifetime access.
Given by the founder, never sold
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Pro
An NXG Pro subscriber. Shown beside a person's tag, never instead of it: Pro is never a sign of verification.
Paid, separate from verification
Employers
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Verified Employer
A verified employer.
Verified, then subscribed
Teams
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Verified Team
A team whose members' work clears NXG's team bar.
Earned, or awarded by the founder
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Top-Rated Team
One of NXG's highest-rated teams.
Earned, or awarded by the founder
How Spotlight works
The "Spotlight Members" and "Spotlight Teams" rails above the Directory, the Teams directory and on the homepage are promotional. They never change search, the Directory's order, anyone's Impact Score or tags.
Who's in it
- Members: verified members with NXG Pro, and members given a week by Peer Vouching (when someone they vouched for, or who vouched for them, has been verified for 30 days).
- Teams: public teams with Team Spotlight, or with at least one member on NXG Pro.
Who's shown, when
- A new draw every 15 minutes: 8 members and 6 teams.
- Each draw is a weighted random sample: weight = 1 + Impact Score ÷ 50 (a team uses its verified members' average). Higher scores are shown a little more often; everyone eligible is shown across the day.
- The draw is seeded by the time window, so everyone sees the same rail in a window, and it can be checked afterwards.
How bounty matching works
NXG Pro members see the open bounties that fit them best above the Bounty Board. It's a fixed rule, not a trained model, and it never changes the Board's order, anyone's Impact Score or who may claim a task.
- 60% stack fit: the share of the bounty's technologies that are in your verified stack. A bounty that shares none isn't a match.
- 25% level fit: Easy suits an Impact Score under 35, Medium 35 to 65, Hard above 65; one step away counts half.
- 15% freshness: among equals, newer bounties come first.
Questions about your score? See Help & FAQ.