If you mostly use chat-style AI tools and are just starting to follow new GitHub projects, this is the metric trap to avoid. A huge GitHub star count can make you think the money part is already solved. That is how people burn time, budget, and attention on the wrong signal.
The public snapshot here is blunt. On github.com/msitarzewski, the pinned project agency-agents shows about 135K stars, and the profile shows about 5.7K followers [S002]. On github.com/sponsors/msitarzewski, the sponsor page shows 1 current sponsor and 9 past sponsors [S001].
That does not prove failure, and it definitely does not justify guessing private income. It does give a cleaner judgment: stars are applause, not payment intent. A star can mean 'interesting,' 'bookmarking this,' or 'maybe later.' It does not automatically mean 'I will pay.'
That is the part people miss when they read only the loudest number. The visible cost is obvious: you copy the wrong growth signal. The hidden cost is worse: you keep circling surface popularity and miss the step that actually matters, which is whether attention turns into a clear action.
A project update is not worth your attention because it lists more features or looks louder. It is worth your attention if it changes the next decision you make. If someone around you still treats stars like proof of revenue, share this snapshot with them.