I feel super dumb asking this. But what actually is and how does github (or similar sites) work? Are they all just source files one needs to manually compile? I am always confused when I look at a github page. I know some have directions but they still go way over my head sometimes. Im not a total noob but some of this stuff seems like you need to be in programming and have an IDE just to run a program.
It completely depends on the project and the maintainer. Lots of repos are just source files, some include instructions on how to compile, some have no instructions. Some post releases with a pre compiled executable that you can download and run, others post releases that just have a zip of the source code. Some projects use GitHub pages to host detailed manuals, tutorials, etc.
If you share a link to a specific project, people may be able to help you get it running. Whether or not you need a bunch of tools like an IDE just depends on the project.