Native WebP image support

[TPS]

As detailed in isaacs/github#976 & probably others, fully supporting WebP across GitHub would be appreciated.

[adamsilverstein]

This came up again recently in the WordPress Performance Lab plugin repository where we are working on adding WebP support. Contributors can't upload WebP image samples on issues (WordPress/performance#7 (comment))

[aricooperdavis]

Github also cannot preview WebP images in the blob/file preview pane, instead showing "View Raw"; for example:

[krystof-k]

Yes please. Also in diffs. This shouldn't be that hard.

[gregjotau]

We also need this.

@ashtom This should easily be solved by co-pilot, right? 😀

[porg]

1. As a UX designer I 'd like to embed screenshots / mockups in WebP format in issue submissions.
2. If you at Github implement native WebP support, please ensure that it auto-detects high resolution screenshots / screendesigns from the resolution encoded in the image metadata, as Github already does fine with @2x PNGs.
   • For PNGs Github interprets the PNG-pHYs metadata:
   • The counterpart in WebP would be the Exif chunk at the file end which can contain the Exif attributes:
     ResolutionUnit (1 = None, 2 = inches, 3 = cm) + XResolution + YResolution
   • How does Github interpret PPI in PNGs currently:
     • Explicit 72 PPI or no PPI in metadata → @1x
     • 144 PPI → @2x.
     • 216 PPI as @3x and 288 PPI as @4x are currently not supported.
       • If you implement high resolution support for WebP too, maybe an opportunity to look into @3x and @4x for all supported image formats.

[paperclypse]

I would love it if GitHub support webp images.

[austin-schaefer]

The lack of webp support is a major pain point for docs sites and other static sites hosted on GitHub. Our repo recently converted all our images from png to webp (reducing our footprint by like 80%). But we can no longer preview images when doing PR reviews.

[bradleycamacho]

I review a few dozen PRs on our docs repo a week and not having preview access to webps is a massive speed bump when doing so. It would be very appreciated if we had full webp support!

[hwsoderlund]

I too would very much appreciate this. We are now starting to use webp more and more in our repo, and image previews are a must during reviews. As others have mentioned, it really slows down the review process.

[burningtnt]

It will be fantastic if WebP images could be viewed on web pages and in file preview. One of my projects are now working for transforming png files to webp files. The missing support for webp really slows down the development process.

[stamminator]

I use WebP in my automated screenshot workflow for transparency support and small file size. I was surprised to find GitHub doesn't support it. Without WebP support, I'll simply generate PNGs that are twice the size instead. I'm sure GitHub would rather host the smaller file, no?

[tats-u]

AVIF: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/138164

[tats-u]

This and AVIF are supported by all browsers. Why GitHub won't add support for them? What the hell prevents GitHub from doing it?

[HalanoSiblee]

almost 2025 And no webp support yet, do they even read these discussions ?

Why ?
Because it's smaller faster / modern & reliable

[skycommand]

I'm particularly interested in Lossless WebP support. Compared to PNG, they're faster to encode and smaller.

[nico]

Discord added support for webp recently: discord/lilliput#159 (comment)

It'd be cool if github followed suit.

[pegleGrot]

Curious. If browsers support it, one would think GitHub wouldn't care one way or another.
I'm guessing it does do something active with image formats.

Anyway, support is well-established by now, and WebP's lossless mode can compress better than PNG.

[CMCDragonkai]

Any updates on this from GH?

[CMCDragonkai]

It's the ultimate format atm. Best animated image format too, beats gif, beats png, beats jpg...

[TPS]

It's the ultimate format atm

Tried JxL?

[skycommand]

I have.

JPEG XL (JXL) cares a lot about mathematics, but when it comes to real-world use, it falls short. For instance, for UI design, images must be pixel-perfect and remain pixel-perfect. Can I tell whether a JXL file is lossless? No. JXL developers refused to add metadata for it (because it takes up one byte!) and AFAIK, there is no way to find out. Also, to this day, I don't know whether its "lossless compression" is truly lossless or one of those "virtually lossless" nonsense like AVIF.

That's the story of the JPEG standard in general. JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, and now JPEG XL never cared for anything outside mathematics. That's why they'll never become mainstream.

WebP has fast encoding and decoding time, two independent compression schemes (a lossy one based on VP8, a lossless one), and covers all practical aspects. Its maximum supported image dimensions is awfully low (only 16,383 × 16,383), but that's it.

[tats-u]

AVIF is better for non-high-quality lossy images.
GitHub shamelessly hasn't supported AVIF yet either.
Lossless WebP is more efficient than JPEG XL for simple small images.

[nursoda]

This is a RFE issue, not a discussion about which is the best image format. It's a request to add ONE format (webp). If anyone sees benefits in also supporting other formats, please open a separate ticket (if there isn't one already).

[nikita-b]

I would love it if GitHub supports webp images.

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[TPS]

After 8 years, we got… a form response. 🙄

[TPS]

The test WebP linked in my OP is suddenly rendering inline in both mobile site & app, so it seems to be working in this instance. Could y'all check your cases & confirm the extent of functionality?

[pegleGrot]

Linking to external images does display them, but trying to upload directly to GitHub says the following (note: it's a WebP image):

[stamminator]

Either that's a happy accident as a result of some unrelated work, or they're working toward full support. If it's the latter, then maybe the bot response from last month is a sign of progress.

[edmundlaugasson]

Well, found also current thread as needed WebP support... Sounds like there is no direct way to contact with GitHub. Best link seems to be https://support.github.com/request but these options are basically redirecting users back here... If someone happens to be enterprise customer, perhaps can say a word to real human of GitHub staff about the current issue.

[Norbiros]

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/169478#discussioncomment-14116729 👀

[porg]

@labudis in post from 2025-08-18:

WebP support is already in the works and will be available soon.

[kyoshino]

Announced: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-08-28-added-support-for-webp-images/

[stamminator]