Reverse engineering GitHub's identicon algorithm

In plain words

This is a developer tool that reverse engineers GitHub's identicon algorithm, the system GitHub uses to generate automatic avatar images for users and organizations. It's designed for developers who want to understand or replicate GitHub's avatar generation process. The tool was launched in March 2022 and is available on GitHub.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

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  Illustration Generator by Icons82024 · icons8.com · ▲542

  First AI image generator made by professional artists

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  Recraft.AI2023 · recraft.ai · ▲509

  Vector art generation with AI

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  A simple, open-source Notion-like avatar generator2023 · avatartion.com · ▲162

  Generate a personalized Notion-style avatar.

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  Icotar2019 · icotar.com · ▲109

  A free colorful icon avatar generator

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  GitHub Avatar Generator2018 · ▲4

  Generate new GitHub avatars

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  Minidenticons2023 · github.com · ▲8

  Super lightweight SVG identicon (avatar) generator

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  /dev/null▲482

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 2d ago · dev-null.sh

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  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 27d ago · github.com

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  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 25d ago · github.com

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  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 22d ago · openbot.run

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  Talanoa▲343

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 20d ago · talanoa.email

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  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 28d ago · corespeed.io

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  I made a web game called Almost Pong▲1,135

  Hi HN! I made many small web games in the past with Unity or Phaser. But this time I wanted to make something completely on my own. So I coded a basic game framework in plain JavaScript, and used it to make Almost Pong. This was a really fun project that taught me a lot about JavaScript, and I plan to make more minimalist games with this framework. Interesting fact: Almost Pong doesn't load any assets, all sprites and sounds are generated with code. Happy to answer questions, and please let me know if you have any feedback on the game. Thanks!

  Dev tools · 2022 · lessmilk.com

• IM
  I'm writing a free book called Computer Networks from Scratch▲792

  Life & fun · 2022 · networksfromscratch.com

• HA
  HN Avatars in 357 bytes▲701

  Paste the following into the console of any HN page - for annotated avatars on all HN comments. (self contained code) for(u of document.querySelectorAll('.hnuser'))for(u.prepend(c=document.createElement('canvas')),x=c.getContext('2d'),c.width=18,c.height=14,s=u.innerText,r=1,i=28+s.length;i--;i>>29>X*X/3+Y/2&&x.fillRect(6+2*X,2*Y,2,2)&x.fillRect(6-2*X,2*Y,2,2):r+=s.charCodeAt(i-28,x.fillStyle='#'+(r>>8&0xFFFFFF).toString(16)))r^=r>>17,r^=r>2

  Dev tools · 2022

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  Tome Beta▲697

  The storytelling tool for work

  Work · 2022 · tome.app

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  Kairn▲694

  Regain control over your days

  Dev tools · 2022

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  A game that tests how well you know your local area▲654

  How well do you know your area? Test your knowledge by locating streets on a map.

  Work · 2022 · backofyourhand.com