diff --git a/KNOWLEDGE_BASE.md b/KNOWLEDGE_BASE.md
index 9ad040df5..9ee99680a 100644
--- a/KNOWLEDGE_BASE.md
+++ b/KNOWLEDGE_BASE.md
@@ -529,11 +529,11 @@ Sources: [status transitions](app/Actions/UpdateCommitStatuses.php), [timeouts](
 
 ### About, changelog, and policies
 
-The public **About** page describes the livestream project and its contributors. The **Changelog**, opened from the navigation or the side column, lists the pull requests merged into `production` on GitHub, a few days at a time. The **Brand** page at `/brand` offers the logo, wordmark, colors, typography, and wallpapers; right-clicking the logo in the navigation also copies it or links there. **Terms** and **Privacy** explain acceptable use and data handling. Public posts may be indexed or copied outside /dev/null; content and search queries can be processed by automated or AI services. Read those policies before posting sensitive information or relying on deletion to remove every external copy.
+The public **About** page describes the livestream project and lists up to 1,000 GitHub contributor accounts, excluding bots and known agents, most commits first; the list is cached for an hour and GitHub may take several hours to update its counts; when GitHub cannot be reached the page says so instead of showing the list. The **Changelog**, opened from the navigation or the side column, lists the pull requests merged into `production` on GitHub, a few days at a time. The **Brand** page at `/brand` offers the logo, wordmark, colors, typography, and wallpapers; right-clicking the logo in the navigation also copies it or links there. **Terms** and **Privacy** explain acceptable use and data handling. Public posts may be indexed or copied outside /dev/null; content and search queries can be processed by automated or AI services. Read those policies before posting sensitive information or relying on deletion to remove every external copy.
 
 To count active people, /dev/null remembers only the **last day** (not the time) you were signed in and used the site or the API; background refreshes do not count. That day is never shown to other people, is included in your export, and is deleted with your account. Daily active-people numbers are kept as anonymous counts. Visitor analytics come from **Fathom**, which counts anonymously: the browser sends a `guest-visit` event once per session when you are not signed in and a `signup` event right after an account is created, with nothing that identifies you.
 
-Sources: [last seen tracking](app/Http/Middleware/UpdateLastSeenAt.php), [Fathom events](resources/js/lib/analytics.ts), [public page routes](routes/web.php), [About](resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx), [privacy policy](resources/js/pages/privacy/show.tsx), [terms](resources/js/pages/terms/show.tsx).
+Sources: [last seen tracking](app/Http/Middleware/UpdateLastSeenAt.php), [Fathom events](resources/js/lib/analytics.ts), [public page routes](routes/web.php), [About](resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx), [contributors](app/Queries/ContributorsQuery.php), [privacy policy](resources/js/pages/privacy/show.tsx), [terms](resources/js/pages/terms/show.tsx).
 
 ### Tom's repository insights and community statistics
 
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/AboutController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/AboutController.php
index 98b461175..19239dd92 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/AboutController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/AboutController.php
@@ -4,15 +4,18 @@
 
 namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 
+use App\Queries\ContributorsQuery;
 use App\Services\PageMetadata;
 use Inertia\Inertia;
 use Inertia\Response;
 
 final readonly class AboutController
 {
-    public function show(PageMetadata $metadata): Response
+    public function show(ContributorsQuery $contributors, PageMetadata $metadata): Response
     {
-        return Inertia::render('about/show')->withViewData(['preview' => $metadata->page(
+        return Inertia::render('about/show', [
+            'contributors' => $contributors->get(...),
+        ])->withViewData(['preview' => $metadata->page(
             'About - /dev/null',
             'How /dev/null was built in the open: from the first commit on stream to the developers who joined and the people who shipped it.',
             route('about.show'),
diff --git a/app/Queries/ContributorsQuery.php b/app/Queries/ContributorsQuery.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e9b64159
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Queries/ContributorsQuery.php
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App\Queries;
+
+use App\Services\GitHub;
+use Illuminate\Http\Client\HttpClientException;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
+use Illuminate\Support\Fluent;
+
+/**
+ * @phpstan-type Contributor array{login: string, commits: int}
+ */
+final readonly class ContributorsQuery
+{
+    private const int PerPage = 100;
+
+    private const int MaxPages = 10;
+
+    private const int Ttl = 3600;
+
+    private const int FailedTtl = 60;
+
+    /**
+     * GitHub reports them as ordinary accounts, so they are named rather than detected.
+     */
+    private const array Agents = ['ampagent', 'claude'];
+
+    public function __construct(private GitHub $github)
+    {
+        //
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The repository contributors, most commits first, as GitHub counts them. A failed read is kept for a
+     * minute, so an outage doesn't send every visitor to GitHub.
+     *
+     * @return list<Contributor>|null
+     */
+    public function get(): ?array
+    {
+        $repository = config()->string('services.github.repository');
+        $key = "about:contributors:{$repository}";
+
+        /** @var list<Contributor>|false|null $contributors */
+        $contributors = Cache::get($key);
+
+        if ($contributors === null) {
+            $contributors = [];
+
+            try {
+                for ($page = 1; $page <= self::MaxPages; $page++) {
+                    $accounts = $this->github->request()->get("repos/{$repository}/contributors", [
+                        'per_page' => self::PerPage,
+                        'page' => $page,
+                    ])->throw()->collect();
+
+                    if ($accounts->isNotEmpty() && ! array_is_list($accounts->all())) {
+                        $contributors = false;
+
+                        break;
+                    }
+
+                    $contributors = [...$contributors, ...$accounts->where('type', 'User')
+                        ->mapInto(Fluent::class)
+                        ->filter(fn (Fluent $account): bool => $account->string('login')->isNotEmpty()
+                            && is_int($account->get('contributions'))
+                            && ! in_array($account->string('login')->lower()->value(), self::Agents, true))
+                        ->map(fn (Fluent $account): array => [
+                            'login' => $account->string('login')->value(),
+                            'commits' => $account->integer('contributions'),
+                        ])
+                        ->values()
+                        ->all()];
+
+                    if ($accounts->count() < self::PerPage) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            } catch (HttpClientException) {
+                $contributors = false;
+            }
+
+            Cache::put($key, $contributors, $contributors === false ? self::FailedTtl : self::Ttl);
+        }
+
+        return $contributors === false ? null : $contributors;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/resources/js/lib/about.ts b/resources/js/lib/about.ts
index 0a187650c..067c5475d 100644
--- a/resources/js/lib/about.ts
+++ b/resources/js/lib/about.ts
@@ -266,70 +266,3 @@ export const storyAfter: StoryEvent[] = [
         },
     },
 ];
-
-/**
- * Everyone with a commit on production, most commits first. Bots and agents are left out.
- */
-export const storyContributors: StoryContributor[] = [
-    { login: 'xHeaven', commits: 217 },
-    { login: 'nunomaduro', commits: 189 },
-    { login: 'mnapoli', commits: 83 },
-    { login: 'brendt', commits: 49 },
-    { login: 'paulinevos', commits: 28 },
-    { login: 'jubianchi', commits: 24 },
-    { login: 'MrPunyapal', commits: 19 },
-    { login: 'simonhamp', commits: 19 },
-    { login: 'hbenabdallah', commits: 10 },
-    { login: 'sadiqk2', commits: 8 },
-    { login: 'SanderMuller', commits: 7 },
-    { login: 'fernandofreamunde', commits: 6 },
-    { login: 'camilleislasse', commits: 6 },
-    { login: 'HelgeSverre', commits: 5 },
-    { login: 'jjaybrown', commits: 5 },
-    { login: 'richardkeep', commits: 5 },
-    { login: 'vtlxx', commits: 5 },
-    { login: 'robelsust', commits: 4 },
-    { login: 'prateekbhujel', commits: 4 },
-    { login: 'MaximeGoncalves', commits: 3 },
-    { login: 'mathiasonea', commits: 3 },
-    { login: 'virtualtear', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'sulimanbenhalim', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'mon4ssi', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'slovenianGooner', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'hbenjacquet', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'ashkesarmaa', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'Akiyo974', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'Chemaclass', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'eznix86', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'BENNIEV-ZA', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'ahosker', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'aaqidmasoodi', commits: 2 },
-    { login: 'kachelle', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'lazarospsa', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'Naimur404', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'OpadaAlzaiede', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'ondrejmirtes', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'Heyosseus', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'RobinMalfait', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'rohitsasi720', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'murrant', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'tooinfinity', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'utsavsomaiya', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'vmitchell85', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'anatolesns', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'eramitgupta', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'kadirtikil', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'jigar-dhulla', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'hosmelq', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'hafeez-bw', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'GTS-MEGHNI', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'faissaloux', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'fabpl', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'Taldres', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'danielh-official', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'chrisgocode', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'chiragparekh', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'AmanuelLegese', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'albertoarena', commits: 1 },
-    { login: 'alaminfirdows', commits: 1 },
-];
diff --git a/resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx b/resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx
index ccc9fc620..b52abf33f 100644
--- a/resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx
+++ b/resources/js/pages/about/show.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { WordmarkText } from '@/components/wordmark-text';
 import AppLayout from '@/layouts/app-layout';
 import type {
     StoryCommit,
+    StoryContributor,
     StoryEvent,
     StoryEventKind,
     StoryStream,
@@ -25,7 +26,6 @@ import {
     storyAfter,
     storyAfterLane,
     storyBefore,
-    storyContributors,
     storyFounders,
     storyStreams,
 } from '@/lib/about';
@@ -265,10 +265,10 @@ function Stream({ stream }: { stream: StoryStream }) {
     );
 }
 
-function Contributors() {
+function Contributors({ contributors }: { contributors: StoryContributor[] }) {
     return (
         <ul className="grid grid-cols-[repeat(auto-fill,minmax(11rem,1fr))] gap-2">
-            {storyContributors.map((contributor) => (
+            {contributors.map((contributor) => (
                 <li key={contributor.login}>
                     <a
                         href={`https://github.com/${contributor.login}`}
@@ -302,7 +302,11 @@ function Contributors() {
     );
 }
 
-export default function Show() {
+export default function Show({
+    contributors,
+}: {
+    contributors: StoryContributor[] | null;
+}) {
     const { repository } = usePage().props;
     return (
         <>
@@ -394,7 +398,13 @@ export default function Show() {
 
                 <DocumentSection id="contributors" title="Contributors">
                     <p>Everyone who has a commit on production. Thank you.</p>
-                    <Contributors />
+                    {contributors ? (
+                        <Contributors contributors={contributors} />
+                    ) : (
+                        <p className="text-muted-foreground">
+                            GitHub couldn't be reached. Try again in a minute.
+                        </p>
+                    )}
                     <p className="text-muted-foreground">
                         Want to be on this list?{' '}
                         <a
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Controllers/AboutControllerTest.php b/tests/Feature/Controllers/AboutControllerTest.php
index f507a7170..d6b342b53 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Controllers/AboutControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Controllers/AboutControllerTest.php
@@ -3,14 +3,20 @@
 declare(strict_types=1);
 
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Http\Client\ConnectionException;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
 
 it('renders the about page for guests', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
     $this->get(route('about.show'))
         ->assertOk()
         ->assertInertia(fn ($page) => $page->component('about/show'));
 });
 
 it('renders the about page for signed in users', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
     $this->actingAs(User::factory()->create())
         ->get(route('about.show'))
         ->assertOk()
@@ -18,9 +24,29 @@
 });
 
 it('describes the about page to search engines and link previews', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
     $this->get(route('about.show'))
         ->assertOk()
         ->assertSee('<title>About - /dev/null</title>', false)
         ->assertSee('<link rel="canonical" href="'.route('about.show').'">', false)
         ->assertSee('"@type":"WebPage"', false);
 });
+
+it('hands the contributors to the page', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
+    $this->get(route('about.show'))
+        ->assertOk()
+        ->assertInertia(fn ($page) => $page
+            ->has('contributors', 1)
+            ->where('contributors.0', ['login' => 'xHeaven', 'commits' => 187]));
+});
+
+it('leaves the contributors out while GitHub is unreachable', function (): void {
+    Http::fake(fn () => throw new ConnectionException('timeout'));
+
+    $this->get(route('about.show'))
+        ->assertOk()
+        ->assertInertia(fn ($page) => $page->where('contributors', null));
+});
diff --git a/tests/Pest.php b/tests/Pest.php
index 96636a74a..837b50b2b 100644
--- a/tests/Pest.php
+++ b/tests/Pest.php
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 use App\Services\SignedCommits;
 use App\Services\SignedRequests;
 use Carbon\CarbonInterface;
+use GuzzleHttp\Promise\PromiseInterface;
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
+use Illuminate\Http\Client\Request;
 use Illuminate\Http\UploadedFile;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
@@ -133,6 +135,28 @@ function fakeGitHubAccount(User $user, array $account = []): void
     fakeGitHubSshKeys(User::factory()->make(['github_id' => $user->github_id, 'username' => $account['login']]));
 }
 
+/**
+ * @return array<string, mixed>
+ */
+function gitHubContributor(string $login, int $commits, string $type = 'User'): array
+{
+    return ['login' => $login, 'contributions' => $commits, 'type' => $type];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Serves the contributors of the repository like GitHub does: most commits first, a page at a time.
+ *
+ * @param  list<array<string, mixed>>  $contributors
+ */
+function fakeGitHubContributors(array $contributors): void
+{
+    Http::fake(['api.github.com/repos/'.config()->string('services.github.repository').'/contributors*' => function (Request $request) use ($contributors): PromiseInterface {
+        $perPage = (int) $request['per_page'];
+
+        return Http::response(array_slice($contributors, ((int) $request['page'] - 1) * $perPage, $perPage));
+    }]);
+}
+
 /**
  * @param  list<SshPublicKey>  $keys
  * @param  list<SshPublicKey>  $signingKeys
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Queries/ContributorsQueryTest.php b/tests/Unit/Queries/ContributorsQueryTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b48148dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Queries/ContributorsQueryTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use App\Queries\ContributorsQuery;
+use Illuminate\Http\Client\ConnectionException;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
+
+it('lists everyone with a commit, as GitHub counts them', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187), gitHubContributor('jubianchi', 1)]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBe([
+        ['login' => 'xHeaven', 'commits' => 187],
+        ['login' => 'jubianchi', 'commits' => 1],
+    ]);
+});
+
+it('leaves out the bots and the agents, whatever case they are written in', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([
+        gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187),
+        gitHubContributor('ampagent', 8),
+        gitHubContributor('Claude', 2),
+        gitHubContributor('dependabot', 4, 'Bot'),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBe([['login' => 'xHeaven', 'commits' => 187]]);
+});
+
+it('reads every page GitHub has, up to a thousand people', function (int $contributors, int $expected, int $requests): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors(array_map(fn (int $number): array => gitHubContributor("dev{$number}", 2000 - $number), range(1, $contributors)));
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toHaveCount($expected);
+
+    Http::assertSentCount($requests);
+})->with([
+    'one page' => [100, 100, 2],
+    'two pages' => [150, 150, 2],
+    'more than ten pages' => [1200, 1000, 10],
+]);
+
+it('keeps reading when a page is full but some of it is left out', function (): void {
+    $page = array_map(fn (int $number): array => gitHubContributor("dev{$number}", 200 - $number), range(1, 99));
+
+    fakeGitHubContributors([...$page, gitHubContributor('dependabot', 4, 'Bot'), gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 1)]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toHaveCount(100);
+
+    Http::assertSentCount(2);
+});
+
+it('skips what GitHub sends without a login or a count', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([['login' => 'ghost', 'type' => 'User'], ['contributions' => 3, 'type' => 'User'], gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBe([['login' => 'xHeaven', 'commits' => 187]]);
+});
+
+it('asks GitHub again an hour later, not before', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('xHeaven', 187)]);
+
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+    $this->travel(59)->minutes();
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+
+    Http::assertSentCount(1);
+
+    $this->travel(2)->minutes();
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+
+    Http::assertSentCount(2);
+});
+
+it('keeps an answer with nobody in it for the hour, since GitHub did answer', function (): void {
+    fakeGitHubContributors([gitHubContributor('claude', 2)]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBe([])
+        ->and(Cache::get('about:contributors:'.config()->string('services.github.repository')))->toBe([]);
+
+    $this->travel(2)->minutes();
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+
+    Http::assertSentCount(1);
+});
+
+it('has nobody to show while GitHub is unreachable, and tries again a minute later', function (): void {
+    $attempts = 0;
+    Http::fake(function () use (&$attempts): never {
+        $attempts++;
+
+        throw new ConnectionException('timeout');
+    });
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBeNull();
+
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+    expect($attempts)->toBe(1);
+
+    $this->travel(61)->seconds();
+    resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get();
+
+    expect($attempts)->toBe(2);
+});
+
+it('has nobody to show when GitHub answers with an error or with something that is not a list', function (array $body, int $status): void {
+    Http::fake(['api.github.com/*' => Http::response($body, $status)]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBeNull();
+})->with([
+    'an error' => [['message' => 'Not Found'], 404],
+    'an object' => [['message' => 'Moved'], 200],
+]);
+
+it('discards a partial list after a later page fails and recovers when the failure expires', function (): void {
+    $firstPage = array_map(fn (int $number): array => gitHubContributor("dev{$number}", 200 - $number), range(1, 100));
+    Http::fake(['api.github.com/repos/'.config()->string('services.github.repository').'/contributors*' => Http::sequence()
+        ->push($firstPage)
+        ->pushStatus(503)
+        ->push([gitHubContributor('recovered', 12)])]);
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBeNull();
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBeNull();
+    Http::assertSentCount(2);
+
+    $this->travel(61)->seconds();
+
+    expect(resolve(ContributorsQuery::class)->get())->toBe([['login' => 'recovered', 'commits' => 12]]);
+    Http::assertSentCount(3);
+});