Request to Reflect Long-Term Contributions on GitHub Activity Graph

[aaelony]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

I'm writing to ask if there's any way to have my past GitHub contributions more accurately reflected on my current account’s contribution graph.

Over the past ~15 years, I've contributed to private repositories under various GitHub usernames; typically using handles based on my unique name (aaelony) and the company I worked for (e.g., myname-company).
For example, the following are all myself:

• aaelony
• aaelony-beachmint ( I worked at Beachmint.com 2012-2014)
• aaelony-catasys ( I worked at Catasys that renamed itself Ontrak 2020 -2022 )
• aaelony-aeg (I worked at AEG Presents! 2022-2023)
• aaelony-fb ( I worked at Firebird Music 2023-2024)
• I also made commits while working at 3 other companies, Grindr (2014-2016), Hitwise (2018-2020), and Spark Networks (2016-2017) but I don't remember which 3 GitHub handles I used for these back then.

Much of this work was private and tied to organizations I no longer have access to, and could pre-date the 2016 introduction of the "Show private contributions" feature.

I understand GitHub’s current contribution graph is based on verified email addresses and access to private repos, but I’m not seeking access to code; just a way to reflect the activity that’s part of my long-term GitHub history.

Even if the original contributions can't be retroactively attributed in full detail, I’d love to know if there's any way to:

• Consolidate or reference contributions from old handles
• Reflect legacy private work that used verified emails
• Or otherwise capture the full scope of my GitHub activity

This activity spans more than a decade and represents a major part of my career, and I’d really appreciate any options you can suggest to help reflect that on my profile.

As a separate question: What is the current best-practice to keep Work and Personal GitHub work separate while retaining the ability for the Activity Graph to be a better and accurate reflection of activity?

Thanks so much for your time

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬

[AezanPathan]

Hey! If you made commits to private repositories using the same GitHub account and the associated email addresses are verified on your current account, you can display them by enabling the option here:
GitHub Settings → Profile → Contributions & activity → Include private contributions on my profile

However, since you mentioned using multiple different GitHub usernames/accounts, GitHub currently doesn't support merging contribution graphs across accounts. Contributions are tied to a specific user ID and email verification within that account.

What you can do For legacy work you no longer have access to, you might consider creating a dedicated section in your profile README or portfolio

[aaelony]

That is a work-around for handles I remember. Can you look up other previous handles with aaelony?

[Aniket-Subudh1]

Hi @aaelony,

This is a thoughtful and important question, especially for those of us with long and diverse software careers spanning multiple organizations and identities.

GitHub’s Contribution Attribution Rules (as of 2025):
GitHub’s activity graph displays contributions (commits, pull requests, issues, etc.) based on the following criteria:

Email Match:

Commits must be associated with an email address linked to your current GitHub account, and the email must be verified.

Repository Visibility:

Contributions must be in public repositories, or private repositories where you currently have access and have opted in via Settings → Profile → “Include private contributions on my profile.”

Historical Private Work:

For private repos you've lost access to (e.g., former employers), contributions are no longer visible, even if the commits are tied to a verified email on your account.

Your Specific Case:
You've contributed across multiple GitHub handles and organizations, many of which are now inaccessible, and you're hoping to:

Aggregate your identity across accounts

Reflect historic private work

Preserve your career contributions in some meaningful form

Unfortunately, GitHub currently does not support merging multiple accounts or retroactively reflecting activity from emails that are no longer verifiable or associated with the commits in inaccessible private repositories.

Suggested Workarounds:
Add All Known Emails to Current Account:

Even if you no longer have access to those companies, try adding all past professional emails (if you still have them) to your GitHub profile.

Go to: Settings → Emails → Add Email

Then verify those addresses.

This may retroactively associate public commit data (if any) to your current graph.

Create a Public “Career Timeline” Repository:

You can create a career-timeline or contributions-history repo that:

Lists all aliases you've used (aaelony-company, etc.)

Describes projects, companies, roles, and contributions (while respecting NDAs).

Optionally includes screenshots or anonymized commit messages (if available).

This gives recruiters and collaborators a transparent historical view, even if GitHub’s graph can’t reflect it.

Request Contribution Export from Former Employers:

If still possible, ask previous employers (especially those with private GitHub organizations) to generate a contribution export or email verification. This is rare, but some companies are willing to help.

Best Practices to Separate Work & Personal GitHub Use (Without Losing Contributions)
Maintaining separate contexts (personal vs. work) is common, but it does require discipline to ensure contributions count correctly.

Best Practice Summary:
Use Git Config with Email Scoping:

At work: user.email = [email protected]

Personal projects: user.email = [email protected] (linked to your GitHub)

Link Work Email to GitHub Temporarily:

While employed, add your company email to your GitHub account and verify it. This allows private contributions at that org to show on your graph.

When you leave, those contributions will disappear unless they were public or you still have access.

Use GitHub Organizations Thoughtfully:

If you’re an open-source contributor, centralize work through personal orgs (e.g., github.com/aaelony-projects) so it remains visible and consolidated.

Preserve Work with Open Source When Possible:

Advocate for open-sourcing internal tools (where policy allows) to ensure lasting, attributed work.

Personal README Strategy:

In your profile README (github.com/aaelony/aaelony), summarize these best practices, link to timelines, and explain how past identities align with your current work.

Final Thoughts
While GitHub doesn’t yet offer a formal way to aggregate historic contributions across handles or accounts, a curated, transparent, and self-maintained narrative—especially with email linkages, public summaries, and READMEs can go a long way.

For long-term developers like yourself, this kind of reflection is vital. Hopefully, GitHub may one day introduce “verified identity consolidation” to address precisely this kind of multi-handle, multi-org career journey.

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬