CONTRIBUTORS.md

aid: contributors-md
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/contributors-md/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
name: CONTRIBUTORS.md
kind: standard
description: CONTRIBUTORS.md is an open source convention used to recognize the people and organizations that have contributed
  to a project. The file lists contributors by name, GitHub handle, and contribution type, ranging from code and documentation
  to design, testing, accessibility, and community organization. CONTRIBUTORS.md is often paired with the All Contributors
  specification, which standardizes contribution categories using emoji keys and supports automated table generation through
  the All Contributors bot.
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
tags:
- All Contributors
- Attribution
- Community
- Documentation
- GitHub
- Markdown
- Open Source
- Recognition
created: '2025-01-01'
modified: '2026-04-28'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: contributors-md:format
  name: CONTRIBUTORS.md Format
  tags:
  - Attribution
  - Convention
  - Markdown
  - Recognition
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://allcontributors.org/
  properties:
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/
    type: Reference
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/specification
    type: Specification
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors
    type: Repository
  description: The CONTRIBUTORS.md format is a Markdown convention that lists project contributors and the kinds of contribution
    they have made. Many projects adopt the All Contributors specification, which uses emoji keys to classify contributions,
    an embedded HTML table to render the contributor list, and a .all-contributorsrc JSON config file consumed by the All
    Contributors bot to automate updates.
  x-features:
  - Recognizes non-code contributions including design, docs, and review
  - Compatible with the All Contributors emoji key specification
  - Automatable through the All Contributors GitHub App or CLI
  - Renders as an HTML table with avatars and contribution badges
  - Pairs with CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
  x-useCases:
  - Public attribution of every project contributor
  - Recognizing accessibility, translation, and design contributions
  - Automating contributor table updates via @all-contributors bot
  - Demonstrating an inclusive open source community to sponsors
  - Tracking contribution categories beyond commit history
- aid: contributors-md:all-contributors-spec
  name: All Contributors Specification
  tags:
  - Attribution
  - Specification
  - Standardization
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/specification
  properties:
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/specification
    type: Specification
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors-cli
    type: Repository
  - url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/cli/usage
    type: Documentation
  description: The All Contributors specification defines a JSON schema (in .all-contributorsrc) plus a Markdown rendering
    convention that captures every contributor name, GitHub login, avatar URL, profile URL, and the list of contribution types
    using a defined emoji key. Tooling can regenerate the contributor table on demand and synchronize updates back into both
    .all-contributorsrc and CONTRIBUTORS.md or README.md.
  x-features:
  - Defines a contribution type emoji key with 30+ categories
  - JSON config schema in .all-contributorsrc as machine readable source
  - CLI plus GitHub bot for adding contributors with a comment command
  - Backed by an OSS community since 2017
  x-useCases:
  - Standardizing contributor recognition across multiple projects
  - Auditing contribution categories programmatically
  - Generating contributor tables in README or CONTRIBUTORS files
  - Recognizing accessibility, infrastructure, and security contributions
common:
- type: Reference
  url: https://allcontributors.org/
- type: Specification
  url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/specification
- type: Documentation
  url: https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key
- type: Repository
  url: https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com