diff --git a/.github/.mailmap b/.github/.mailmap
deleted file mode 100644
index 854bc2bf9a..0000000000
--- a/.github/.mailmap
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-Kickball <ed.kickball@hotmail.com> <ed.kickball@hotmail.com>
-Andrew Rylatt <arylatt@users.noreply.github.com> Andrew Rylatt
-Andrew Rylatt <arylatt@users.noreply.github.com> <AndyR207@users.noreply.github.com>
-Andrew Rylatt <arylatt@users.noreply.github.com> <andrew@rylatt.me>
-Andrew Rylatt <arylatt@users.noreply.github.com> <andrew.rylatt@citrix.com>
-n8225 <n8225@users.noreply.github.com> <nrew225@gmail.com>
-Thomas Dalichow <info@thomasdalichow.de> <2012-02-05.github.com@thomasdalichow.de>
-Keith Thibodeaux <kthibodeaux@peachtreebilling.com> Keith Thibodeaux <kthib89+github@gmail.com>
-Madhu GB <github@madhugb.com> Madhu GB <me@madhugb.com>
-Miguel Piedrafita <github@miguelpiedrafita.com> <git@miguelpiedrafita.com>
-Pavel Lobashov <ShockwaveNN@gmail.com> Pavel Lobashov <shockwavenn@gmail.com>
-Stefan Bohacek <stefan.bohacek@gmail.com> Stefan Bohacek <stefan@fourtonfish.com>
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e1bffd15a8..5587448b69 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ url_check: install
 	source .venv/bin/activate && \
 	hecat --config .hecat/url-check.yml
 
+.PHONY: authors # update the AUTHORS file
+authors:
+	printf "Commits|Author\n-------|---------------------------------------------------\n" > AUTHORS
+	git shortlog -sne >> AUTHORS
+
 .PHONY: help # generate list of targets with descriptions
 help:
 	@grep '^.PHONY: .* #' Makefile | sed 's/\.PHONY: \(.*\) # \(.*\)/\1	\2/' | expand -t20
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5ceb987cd8..07e7ef70d2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ import              import data from original list at https://github.com/awesome
 update_metadata     update metadata from project repositories/API
 awesome_lint        check data against awesome-selfhosted guidelines
 export              export markdown singlepage document from yaml data
+url_check           check URLs for dead links or other connection problems
+authors             update the AUTHORS file
 help                generate list of targets with descriptions
 ```