diff --git a/src/lib/components/GitHubStarBadge.svelte b/src/lib/components/GitHubStarBadge.svelte
index dcae020..a7251a8 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/GitHubStarBadge.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/GitHubStarBadge.svelte
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@
 	let loading = $state(true);
 
 	onMount(() => {
-		fetch('https://api.github.com/repos/openbootdotdev/openboot')
+		// Same-origin endpoint that proxies + edge-caches the GitHub count, so we
+		// don't burn each visitor's 60 req/hour unauthenticated GitHub API limit.
+		fetch('/api/github/stars')
 			.then((r) => r.json())
 			.then((data) => {
-				if (data.stargazers_count) {
-					starCount = data.stargazers_count;
+				if (data.stars) {
+					starCount = data.stars;
 				}
 				loading = false;
 			})
diff --git a/src/routes/api/github/stars/+server.ts b/src/routes/api/github/stars/+server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9776c4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/api/github/stars/+server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { json } from '@sveltejs/kit';
+import type { RequestHandler } from './$types';
+
+// Server-side proxy for the repo star count. Browsers used to hit the GitHub
+// API directly, which is rate-limited to 60 req/hour per visitor IP — heavy
+// traffic from one IP made the count silently disappear. Fetching here and
+// caching at the Cloudflare edge means GitHub is hit ~once per hour per colo,
+// no matter how many visitors load the page.
+
+const REPO = 'openbootdotdev/openboot';
+const CACHE_SECONDS = 3600;
+// Shown only if GitHub is unreachable, so the badge always renders something.
+const FALLBACK_STARS = 260;
+
+interface GitHubRepo {
+	stargazers_count?: number;
+}
+
+export const GET: RequestHandler = async () => {
+	try {
+		const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${REPO}`, {
+			headers: {
+				// GitHub rejects API requests without a User-Agent.
+				'User-Agent': 'openboot.dev',
+				Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json'
+			},
+			cf: { cacheTtl: CACHE_SECONDS, cacheEverything: true }
+		} as RequestInit);
+
+		if (res.ok) {
+			const data = (await res.json()) as GitHubRepo;
+			if (typeof data.stargazers_count === 'number') {
+				return json(
+					{ stars: data.stargazers_count },
+					{ headers: { 'Cache-Control': `public, max-age=${CACHE_SECONDS}` } }
+				);
+			}
+		}
+	} catch {
+		// fall through to the fallback below
+	}
+
+	// Upstream failed or returned an unexpected shape — serve a sane default and
+	// retry sooner than the happy-path cache window.
+	return json(
+		{ stars: FALLBACK_STARS, stale: true },
+		{ headers: { 'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=300' } }
+	);
+};
diff --git a/src/routes/api/github/stars/server.test.ts b/src/routes/api/github/stars/server.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29f0307
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/api/github/stars/server.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { GET } from './+server';
+
+afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllGlobals());
+
+// The handler ignores the request event, so an empty object is enough.
+const call = () => GET({} as any);
+
+describe('GET /api/github/stars', () => {
+	it('returns the live star count from GitHub', async () => {
+		vi.stubGlobal(
+			'fetch',
+			vi.fn(async () => new Response(JSON.stringify({ stargazers_count: 260 }), { status: 200 }))
+		);
+
+		const res = await call();
+		const data = (await res.json()) as { stars: number; stale?: boolean };
+
+		expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+		expect(data.stars).toBe(260);
+		expect(data.stale).toBeUndefined();
+		expect(res.headers.get('Cache-Control')).toBe('public, max-age=3600');
+	});
+
+	it('falls back when GitHub is unreachable', async () => {
+		vi.stubGlobal(
+			'fetch',
+			vi.fn(async () => {
+				throw new Error('network down');
+			})
+		);
+
+		const res = await call();
+		const data = (await res.json()) as { stars: number; stale?: boolean };
+
+		expect(data.stars).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+		expect(data.stale).toBe(true);
+		expect(res.headers.get('Cache-Control')).toBe('public, max-age=300');
+	});
+
+	it('falls back on a non-ok response (e.g. rate limited)', async () => {
+		vi.stubGlobal(
+			'fetch',
+			vi.fn(async () => new Response('rate limit exceeded', { status: 403 }))
+		);
+
+		const res = await call();
+		const data = (await res.json()) as { stars: number; stale?: boolean };
+
+		expect(data.stale).toBe(true);
+		expect(data.stars).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+	});
+});