How to Add a Snake Animation to Your GitHub Contributions

The GitHub “snake” graphic is a simple way to visualize your contribution graph. You can generate it automatically with a GitHub Action and publish it as SVG/GIF.

What you need

1. A public repository for workflow automation.
2. GitHub Actions enabled.
3. A profile README (username/username repository) if you want to display it on your profile.

1) Add the workflow

Create .github/workflows/snake.yml:

name: Generate Snake

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: Platane/snk/svg-only@v3
        with:
          github_user_name: naveenkhn
          outputs: |
            dist/github-contribution-grid-snake.svg
            dist/github-contribution-grid-snake-dark.svg?palette=github-dark

      - name: Push generated files
        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-github-pages@v4
        with:
          target_branch: output
          build_dir: dist
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Replace naveenkhn with your GitHub username.

2) Reference the generated image

After workflow runs, use this in your README:

![GitHub Snake](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/naveenkhn/naveenkhn/output/github-contribution-grid-snake.svg)

For dark mode:

![GitHub Snake Dark](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/naveenkhn/naveenkhn/output/github-contribution-grid-snake-dark.svg)

3) Keep it reliable

1. Use workflow_dispatch for manual reruns.
2. Keep schedule daily to avoid noisy commits.
3. Confirm repository is public if you want raw GitHub URLs to render everywhere.

The result is an auto-updating visual badge that makes your activity section more interactive without manual effort.