diff --git a/.changeset/resilient-gitmap-contributions.md b/.changeset/resilient-gitmap-contributions.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cb70ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/resilient-gitmap-contributions.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+'@getdashfy/ext-github': patch
+---
+
+Make the `contributions` endpoint (used by the `Gitmap` widget) more resilient to failures from the public [github-contributions-api](https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api) instance:
+
+- Request the last year first (`?y=last`), matching what `Gitmap` renders, and fall back to full history if that request fails.
+- Treat an `{ "error": "..." }` response body as a failure and retry, in addition to non-2xx responses.
+- Add a `contributionsApiBaseUrl` client option to point at a self-hosted `github-contributions-api` instance.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6def38a..13ca668 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -176,6 +176,11 @@ createGitHubClient({
 
   // Request timeout in milliseconds
   timeout: 10_000, // default
+
+  // Base URL of a github-contributions-api instance, used by the
+  // `contributions` endpoint (the Gitmap widget). Point this at a
+  // self-hosted deployment if the public instance is unavailable.
+  contributionsApiBaseUrl: 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4', // default
 })
 ```
 
@@ -551,7 +556,13 @@ GitHub API has rate limits that vary based on authentication:
 
 ### Contribution heatmap not loading
 
-**Solution:** The Gitmap widget uses a third-party API ([github-contributions-api](https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api)) which may have its own rate limits.
+**Solution:** The Gitmap widget uses a third-party API ([github-contributions-api](https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api)) which may have its own rate limits, or may occasionally fail to scrape GitHub (e.g. an `"other side closed"` error). The client first requests the last year of data, then retries with full history before giving up. If the public instance stays unavailable, [self-host it](https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api) and point the extension at your instance:
+
+```ts
+createGitHubClient({
+  contributionsApiBaseUrl: 'https://your-host/v4',
+})
+```
 
 ## Contributing
 
diff --git a/src/client.test.ts b/src/client.test.ts
index 296e025..23da4b7 100755
--- a/src/client.test.ts
+++ b/src/client.test.ts
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ describe('createGitHubClient', () => {
   })
 
   describe('contributions endpoint', () => {
-    it('should fetch user contributions', async () => {
+    it('should fetch the last year of contributions by default', async () => {
       const mockContributions = {
         total: { '2024': 365, '2023': 200 },
         contributions: [
@@ -377,9 +377,10 @@ describe('createGitHubClient', () => {
 
       const result = await api.contributions!({ user: 'octocat' })
 
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
       expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         expect.objectContaining({
-          url: 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/octocat',
+          url: 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/octocat?y=last',
           method: 'GET',
           headers: expect.objectContaining({
             'User-Agent': '@getdashfy/ext-github',
@@ -404,7 +405,7 @@ describe('createGitHubClient', () => {
       await api.contributions!({ user: 'testuser' })
 
       expect(mockLogger.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        '[github.contributions] Fetching https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/testuser',
+        '[github.contributions] Fetching https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/testuser?y=last',
       )
     })
 
@@ -426,6 +427,88 @@ describe('createGitHubClient', () => {
       )
     })
 
+    it('should use a custom contributionsApiBaseUrl', async () => {
+      const mockContributions = { total: {}, contributions: [] }
+      const mockRequest = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(mockContributions)
+      const client = createGitHubClient({
+        contributionsApiBaseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/v4',
+      })
+      const api = client({ logger: mockLogger, request: mockRequest })
+
+      await api.contributions!({ user: 'octocat' })
+
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          url: 'http://localhost:3000/v4/octocat?y=last',
+        }),
+      )
+    })
+
+    it('should fall back to full history when the last-year request fails', async () => {
+      const fullHistoryContributions = {
+        total: { '2024': 365, '2023': 200 },
+        contributions: [{ date: '2024-01-01', count: 5, level: 4 }],
+      }
+      const mockRequest = vi
+        .fn()
+        .mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('HTTP 500: other side closed'))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(fullHistoryContributions)
+      const client = createGitHubClient({})
+      const api = client({ logger: mockLogger, request: mockRequest })
+
+      const result = await api.contributions!({ user: 'octocat' })
+
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+        1,
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          url: 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/octocat?y=last',
+        }),
+      )
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+        2,
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          url: 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/octocat',
+        }),
+      )
+      expect(mockLogger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('Failed to fetch last year'),
+      )
+      expect(result).toEqual(fullHistoryContributions)
+    })
+
+    it('should fall back to full history when the API returns an error body', async () => {
+      const fullHistoryContributions = {
+        total: { '2024': 365 },
+        contributions: [{ date: '2024-01-01', count: 1, level: 1 }],
+      }
+      const mockRequest = vi
+        .fn()
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce({ error: 'other side closed' })
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(fullHistoryContributions)
+      const client = createGitHubClient({})
+      const api = client({ logger: mockLogger, request: mockRequest })
+
+      const result = await api.contributions!({ user: 'octocat' })
+
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+      expect(result).toEqual(fullHistoryContributions)
+    })
+
+    it('should throw a clear error when both attempts fail', async () => {
+      const mockRequest = vi
+        .fn()
+        .mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('HTTP 500: other side closed'))
+        .mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('HTTP 500: other side closed'))
+      const client = createGitHubClient({})
+      const api = client({ logger: mockLogger, request: mockRequest })
+
+      await expect(api.contributions!({ user: 'octocat' })).rejects.toThrow(
+        'GitHub contributions API error: HTTP 500: other side closed',
+      )
+      expect(mockRequest).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+    })
+
     it('should return contributions with correct structure', async () => {
       const mockContributions = {
         total: { '2024': 100, '2023': 50 },
diff --git a/src/client.ts b/src/client.ts
index ad47402..516dfe8 100755
--- a/src/client.ts
+++ b/src/client.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 10_000
 const DEFAULT_USER_AGENT = '@getdashfy/ext-github'
 const DEFAULT_ACCEPT_HEADER = 'application/vnd.github+json'
 
+/** @see https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api */
+const DEFAULT_CONTRIBUTIONS_API_BASE_URL = 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4'
+
 export interface GitHubClientConfig {
   /**
    * GitHub API base URL
@@ -39,6 +42,14 @@ export interface GitHubClientConfig {
    * @default 10_000
    */
   timeout?: number
+  /**
+   * Base URL of a github-contributions-api instance, used by the `contributions`
+   * endpoint (the Gitmap widget). Point this at a self-hosted deployment if the
+   * public instance is unavailable or blocked.
+   * @default 'https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4'
+   * @see https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api
+   */
+  contributionsApiBaseUrl?: string
 }
 
 /**
@@ -48,6 +59,8 @@ export interface GitHubClientConfig {
  * @param config.baseUrl - GitHub API base URL (default: 'https://api.github.com')
  * @param config.token - Personal access token for authentication
  * @param config.timeout - Request timeout in milliseconds (default: 10_000)
+ * @param config.contributionsApiBaseUrl - Base URL of a github-contributions-api
+ *   instance, used by `contributions` (the Gitmap widget)
  * @returns API registration function for Dashfy
  *
  * @example
@@ -69,7 +82,12 @@ export interface GitHubClientConfig {
  * @see https://github.com/settings/tokens - Get your GitHub personal access token
  */
 export function createGitHubClient(config: GitHubClientConfig): APIRegistration {
-  const { baseUrl = DEFAULT_API_BASE_URL, token, timeout = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT } = config
+  const {
+    baseUrl = DEFAULT_API_BASE_URL,
+    token,
+    timeout = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+    contributionsApiBaseUrl = DEFAULT_CONTRIBUTIONS_API_BASE_URL,
+  } = config
 
   return ({ logger, request }) => {
     if (!request) {
@@ -124,6 +142,28 @@ export function createGitHubClient(config: GitHubClientConfig): APIRegistration
       }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Fetch a single github-contributions-api URL and validate the response
+     * shape. The API can return an error body (e.g. `{ "error": "..." }`)
+     * alongside a non-2xx status, which the underlying request helper
+     * already rejects on; this also guards against an unexpected 2xx/error
+     * payload.
+     */
+    const requestContributions = async (url: string): Promise<GithubContributions> => {
+      const data = (await request({
+        url,
+        method: 'GET',
+        headers: { 'User-Agent': DEFAULT_USER_AGENT },
+        timeout,
+      })) as GithubContributions & { error?: string }
+
+      if (data.error || !data.contributions) {
+        throw new Error(data.error ?? 'unexpected response shape')
+      }
+
+      return { total: data.total, contributions: data.contributions }
+    }
+
     return {
       /**
        * Get user profile information.
@@ -318,28 +358,31 @@ export function createGitHubClient(config: GitHubClientConfig): APIRegistration
       },
 
       /**
-       * Get user contributions (GitHub contribution graph data).
+       * Get user contributions (GitHub contribution graph data). Tries the
+       * last year first (what Gitmap renders), falling back to full history
+       * if that request fails.
        * Uses the github-contributions-api by @grubersjoe.
        *
        * @see https://github.com/grubersjoe/github-contributions-api
        */
       contributions: async ({ user }: { user: string }): Promise<GithubContributions> => {
-        const url = `https://github-contributions-api.jogruber.de/v4/${user}`
-
-        const response = await request({
-          url,
-          method: 'GET',
-          headers: { 'User-Agent': DEFAULT_USER_AGENT },
-          timeout,
-        })
-
-        logger.info(`[github.contributions] Fetching ${url}`)
-
-        const data = response as GithubContributions
-
-        return {
-          total: data.total,
-          contributions: data.contributions,
+        const lastYearUrl = `${contributionsApiBaseUrl}/${user}?y=last`
+        const fullHistoryUrl = `${contributionsApiBaseUrl}/${user}`
+
+        logger.info(`[github.contributions] Fetching ${lastYearUrl}`)
+
+        try {
+          return await requestContributions(lastYearUrl)
+        } catch (error) {
+          logger.warn(
+            `[github.contributions] Failed to fetch last year (${getErrorMessage(error)}), retrying with full history: ${fullHistoryUrl}`,
+          )
+
+          try {
+            return await requestContributions(fullHistoryUrl)
+          } catch (fallbackError) {
+            throw new Error(`GitHub contributions API error: ${getErrorMessage(fallbackError)}`)
+          }
         }
       },
     }