Account suspended after git history rewrite + force push - seeking help (username: truman-world)

[AmigaMeow]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Other

Body

Hi GitHub Community,

My account truman-world has been suspended and I'm unable to log in.
I have already submitted a support ticket (#4225235), but I'm also posting
here in case anyone from GitHub staff or the community can help.

What happened before the suspension:

I was preparing my open-source project PicHub
for public release. Before making the repository public, I performed the following
legitimate operations:

1. Used git filter-repo to remove sensitive data (production logs with PII,
   server IPs) from commit history — this required multiple force pushes
2. Deleted and re-created version tags (v1.0.0–v1.0.7) to re-point them after
   the history rewrite
3. Ran multiple GitHub Actions workflows to build multi-platform Docker images
   (amd64 + arm64) — some failed and were retried

I believe these activities triggered automated suspension. None of this was
malicious — it was standard open-source hygiene work before a public release.

Current impact:

• Cannot access my account or repository
• Docker images on GHCR are affected
• Support ticket submitted: #4225235

Has anyone experienced a similar situation? How long did resolution take?

Any help or advice from GitHub staff or community members is appreciated. 🙏

[syedsafeer]

"Hi @AmigaMeow,
this is likely a false positive triggered by GitHub’s automated anti-spam/security filters.
Rewriting history with git filter-repo followed by multiple force pushes and heavy GitHub Action usage often looks like 'suspicious activity' to the bot. Since you’ve already submitted ticket #4225235, the best thing to do now is wait. Do not open multiple tickets, as that can actually delay the process. A human agent will usually review the logs, see that it’s legitimate project maintenance, and restore your account within 3-5 business days.

[sophiasmithastri]

Force pushing after rewriting history can sometimes trigger automated security flags, especially if it looks unusual or affects multiple repositories. Since you have already submitted a ticket, that is the right step. In the meantime, make sure to check your email for any notices and avoid repeated login attempts until support responds.

[shinybrightstar]

Hi @AmigaMeow,

This community is managed by GitHub employees, but it is not a support forum. The only place to go for answers to account-specific questions like this one is opening a ticket on our Support page.

For account related issues, GitHub Support requires that you contact them from the email address verified on that account. If you haven't already, please submit a request using this form:  https://support.github.com/contact/cannot_sign_in

When completing this step, you won't be required to sign in, but you will need to verify your email address. If you're currently signed into a different account, please sign out first before following the link.

This is a public forum, and the community is unable to assist with nor escalate your ticket, but we can assure you it is in the right place. It will be answered in the order it was received based on our team's resources and the amount of tickets ahead of yours.

As no other Community Discussions team members will be able to provide additional help with account related questions I am going to close this discussion. We appreciate your understanding and patience while Support works through your request!

[itxashancode]

I'm sorry to hear about your account suspension. This is indeed a frustrating situation, especially when you're doing legitimate cleanup work before a public release. Let me break down what likely happened and what you can do.

Why the Suspension Likely Occurred

GitHub's automated abuse detection systems monitor for patterns that often indicate malicious activity. Your actions—multiple force pushes, tag deletions/recreation, and a burst of GitHub Actions runs (including failures and retries)—can look like:

• An attempt to rewrite history to hide something (e.g., a data leak)
• A denial-of-service attack on the repository (by constantly rewriting tags and forcing pushes)
• Abuse of GitHub Actions (failed workflows can trigger rate limits or look like an attempt to exhaust CI resources)

Even though your intent was perfectly valid (removing sensitive data with git filter-repo), the volume and pattern of these operations in a short time likely triggered an automated flag. This is particularly common when:

• Force pushes happen on the default branch (usually main/master)
• Tags are deleted and recreated repeatedly
• GitHub Actions workflows fail and are retried many times (each retry consumes minutes and can look like an attempt to abuse the free tier

[ghost]

Most replies in the community are generic AI-generated responses, so you won’t get any real solutions here. Just wait for the ticket reply.