diff --git a/bin/buildContributors.js b/bin/buildContributors.js
index 47caf1a..9660a99 100644
--- a/bin/buildContributors.js
+++ b/bin/buildContributors.js
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ function getDeletedMarkdownFiles(baseBranch) {
   }
 }
 
-// example: src/pages/about/index.md -> about/
+// example: src/pages/about/index.md -> /about/
 function fileToPagePath(file) {
   return file
     .replace(/^src\/pages/, '')
@@ -196,12 +196,12 @@ try {
   }
 
   const { owner, repo } = repoInfo;
-  logStep(`Repository`, `${owner}/${repo}`);
+  logStep('Repository', `${owner}/${repo}`);
 
   const token = getToken();
-  const headers = { 'Accept': 'application/vnd.github+json' };
+  const headers = { Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json' };
   if (token) {
-    headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${token}`;
+    headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${token}`;
   } else {
     logStep('No credentials found — attempting unauthenticated API calls');
     logStep('This works for public repos (60 req/hr limit)');
@@ -254,13 +254,13 @@ try {
     }
   }
 
-  logStep(`Files to process`, `${filesToProcess.length}`);
+  logStep('Files to process', `${filesToProcess.length}`);
 
   const newData = [];
   let apiFailed = false;
 
   for (const file of filesToProcess) {
-    logStep(`Processing`, file);
+    logStep('Processing', file);
     const result = await getFileContributors(owner, repo, file, headers, branch);
 
     if (!result) {
diff --git a/bin/buildContributorsV2.js b/bin/buildContributorsV2.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7162508
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/buildContributorsV2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+
+const { log, verbose, logSection, logStep, getMarkdownFiles } = await import('./scriptUtils.js');
+
+const __dirname = process.cwd();
+verbose(`Current directory: ${__dirname}`);
+
+const CONTRIBUTORS_FILE_PATH = path.join('src', 'pages', 'contributors.json');
+const FULL_BUILD = process.argv.includes('--all');
+
+function getTokenFromCredentialHelper() {
+  try {
+    const output = execSync(
+      'printf "protocol=https\\nhost=github.com\\n" | git credential fill',
+      { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'] }
+    );
+    const match = output.match(/^password=(.+)$/m);
+    return match?.[1]?.trim() ?? null;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+function getToken() {
+  // for github actions
+  if (process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN) {
+    logStep('Using GITHUB_TOKEN from environment');
+    return process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN;
+  }
+
+  // for local development
+  const credentialToken = getTokenFromCredentialHelper();
+  if (credentialToken) {
+    logStep('Using token from git credential helper');
+    return credentialToken;
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+function getRepoInfo() {
+  // for github actions
+  if (process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY) {
+    const [owner, repo] = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY.split('/');
+    return { owner, repo };
+  }
+
+  // for local development
+  try {
+    const remote = execSync('git remote get-url origin', { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim();
+    const match = remote.match(/github\.com[/:]([^/]+)\/([^/.]+)/);
+    if (match) {
+      return { owner: match[1], repo: match[2] };
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // fall through
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+function getCurrentBranch() {
+  // for github actions
+  if (process.env.GITHUB_HEAD_REF) {
+    return process.env.GITHUB_HEAD_REF;
+  }
+
+  // for local development
+  try {
+    return execSync('git branch --show-current', { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim() || null;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+function getBaseBranch() {
+  // for github actions
+  if (process.env.BASE_SHA) {
+    return process.env.BASE_SHA;
+  }
+
+  // for local development
+  try {
+    const defaultRef = execSync('git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD', { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim();
+    return defaultRef.replace('refs/remotes/', '');
+  } catch {
+    // fall through
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+// returns added, copied, modified, and renamed markdown files. (deleted files are not included).
+function getChangedMarkdownFiles(baseBranch) {
+  try {
+    const diff = execSync(
+      `git diff --name-only --diff-filter=ACMR ${baseBranch}...HEAD -- ":(glob)src/pages/**/*.md"`,
+      { encoding: 'utf8' }
+    ).trim();
+
+    if (!diff) return [];
+    return diff.split('\n').filter(Boolean);
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+// returns deleted markdown files.
+function getDeletedMarkdownFiles(baseBranch) {
+  try {
+    const diff = execSync(
+      `git diff --name-only --diff-filter=D ${baseBranch}...HEAD -- ":(glob)src/pages/**/*.md"`,
+      { encoding: 'utf8' }
+    ).trim();
+
+    if (!diff) return [];
+    return diff.split('\n').filter(Boolean);
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+// example: src/pages/about/index.md -> /about/
+function fileToPagePath(file) {
+  return file
+    .replace(/^src\/pages/, '')
+    .replace(/\.md$/, '')
+    .replace(/\/index$/, '/');
+}
+
+// example: 2026-03-04T12:00:00Z -> 3/4/2026
+function formatDate(isoDate) {
+  if (!isoDate) return '';
+  const d = new Date(isoDate);
+  return `${d.getMonth() + 1}/${d.getDate()}/${d.getFullYear()}`;
+}
+
+function readExistingContributors() {
+  try {
+    const content = fs.readFileSync(CONTRIBUTORS_FILE_PATH, 'utf8');
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(content);
+    return Array.isArray(parsed.data) ? parsed.data : [];
+  } catch {
+    return [];
+  }
+}
+
+async function getFileContributors(owner, repo, filePath, headers, branch) {
+  const encodedPath = encodeURIComponent(filePath);
+  const branchParam = branch ? `&sha=${encodeURIComponent(branch)}` : '';
+
+  // We only fetch the last 100 commits (one request, no pagination) to limit API rate
+  // usage. We don't need every contributor — typically 3-20 is enough. 100 is a safe
+  // upper bound that costs the same as fetching 20 (one request either way).
+  const url = `https://api.github.com/repos/${owner}/${repo}/commits?path=${encodedPath}&per_page=100${branchParam}`;
+
+  const response = await fetch(url, { headers });
+
+  if (!response.ok) {
+    logStep(`Failed to fetch commits for ${filePath}`, `${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const commits = await response.json();
+
+  if (!Array.isArray(commits) || commits.length === 0) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const avatars = [...new Set(
+    commits
+      .map((c) => c.author?.avatar_url)
+      .filter(Boolean)
+  )];
+
+  const lastUpdated = formatDate(commits[0]?.commit?.author?.date ?? null);
+
+  return {
+    avatars,
+    lastUpdated,
+  };
+}
+
+try {
+  logSection('BUILD CONTRIBUTORS');
+  logStep('Starting contributors build process');
+
+  const repoInfo = getRepoInfo();
+  if (!repoInfo) {
+    log('Could not determine repository info. Skipping contributors build.', 'warn');
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+
+  const { owner, repo } = repoInfo;
+  logStep('Repository', `${owner}/${repo}`);
+
+  const token = getToken();
+  const headers = { Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json' };
+  if (token) {
+    headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${token}`;
+  } else {
+    logStep('No credentials found — attempting unauthenticated API calls');
+    logStep('This works for public repos (60 req/hr limit)');
+  }
+
+  const branch = getCurrentBranch();
+  if (branch) {
+    logStep('Branch', branch);
+    const branchCheckUrl = `https://api.github.com/repos/${owner}/${repo}/branches/${encodeURIComponent(branch)}`;
+    const branchCheckRes = await fetch(branchCheckUrl, { headers });
+    if (!branchCheckRes.ok) {
+      log(`Branch "${branch}" not found on GitHub (${branchCheckRes.status}). Contributors are fetched from the GitHub API using the current branch, so it must be pushed to the remote before running this script.`, 'warn');
+      process.exit(0);
+    }
+  }
+
+  let filesToProcess;
+  let existingContributors = [];
+  let deletedPages = new Set();
+
+  if (FULL_BUILD) {
+    logStep('Mode', 'full build (--all)');
+    filesToProcess = getMarkdownFiles(__dirname);
+  } else {
+    const baseBranch = getBaseBranch();
+
+    if (!baseBranch) {
+      logStep('Could not determine base branch — falling back to full build');
+      filesToProcess = getMarkdownFiles(__dirname);
+    } else {
+      logStep('Base branch', baseBranch);
+
+      const changedFiles = getChangedMarkdownFiles(baseBranch);
+      const deletedFiles = getDeletedMarkdownFiles(baseBranch);
+      deletedPages = new Set(deletedFiles.map(fileToPagePath));
+      existingContributors = readExistingContributors();
+
+      if (existingContributors.length === 0) {
+        logStep('No existing contributors.json — falling back to full build');
+        filesToProcess = getMarkdownFiles(__dirname);
+      } else if (changedFiles.length === 0 && deletedFiles.length === 0) {
+        logStep('No markdown files changed — keeping existing contributors.json');
+        process.exit(0);
+      } else {
+        logStep('Changed files', `${changedFiles.length}`);
+        logStep('Deleted files', `${deletedFiles.length}`);
+        logStep('Existing contributor entries', `${existingContributors.length}`);
+        filesToProcess = changedFiles;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  const fetchedContributors = [];
+
+  for (const file of filesToProcess) {
+    const fileData = await getFileContributors(owner, repo, file, headers, branch);
+    if (!fileData) continue;
+
+    fetchedContributors.push({
+      page: fileToPagePath(file),
+      avatars: fileData.avatars,
+      lastUpdated: fileData.lastUpdated,
+    });
+  }
+
+  const preservedContributors = existingContributors.filter((entry) => !deletedPages.has(entry.page) && !fetchedContributors.some((result) => result.page === entry.page));
+  const updatedContributors = FULL_BUILD ? fetchedContributors : [...preservedContributors, ...fetchedContributors];
+
+  updatedContributors.sort((a, b) => a.page.localeCompare(b.page));
+
+  fs.writeFileSync(
+    CONTRIBUTORS_FILE_PATH,
+    `${JSON.stringify({ total: updatedContributors.length, offset: 0, limit: updatedContributors.length, data: updatedContributors, ':type': 'sheet' }, null, 2)}\n`,
+  );
+  logStep('Updated contributors file', CONTRIBUTORS_FILE_PATH);
+  logStep('Total entries', `${updatedContributors.length}`);
+} catch (error) {
+  log(error.stack || error.message, 'error');
+  process.exit(1);
+}