Public
Periodic empty GitHub autocommits every 15-20 min
automationcrongithub
Val Town is a collaborative website to build and scale JavaScript apps.
Deploy APIs, crons, & store data – all from the browser, and deployed in milliseconds.

GitHub Autocommit

Periodically pushes a genuinely empty commit (no file changes) to your GitHub repo, roughly every 15–30 minutes. No "activity update" banners — just clean, empty commits with generic messages like chore: housekeeping.

How it works

  • Runs on a 15-minute cron (the fastest a Free Val Town account allows).
  • Each run decides whether to commit based on a random roll and how long it's been since the last commit, so the actual gaps vary — usually 15–30 min, sometimes more, never past ~45 min.
  • Empties are made through the GitHub Git Data API: it reuses the current commit's tree, creating a new commit with zero file changes.

Setup

Set these environment variables on the val:

VariableDescription
GITHUB_TOKENGitHub personal access token with repo scope
GITHUB_OWNERGitHub username or org that owns the repo
GITHUB_REPORepository name
GITHUB_BRANCHBranch to autocommit to (optional, defaults to main)