Detached commits are never deleted from the Activity tab

[Olafcio1]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

Body

Detached commits should be automatically deleted from the Activity tab.
GitHub treats this like "not" an issue - rather a "part of the design".

I know recreating the repository removes the whole Activity tab, but... that removes the whole issues, pull requests, maybe even discussions - everything.

My recommendations to fix this issue are:

---

• deleting them after at least max. 30 days should be neccessary³;
• there may be an option to remove them manually in the repository Settings tab (as a repo owner);
• there may also be an option to delete a singular Activity entry in the Activity tab itself (as a repo owner) [only after a certain duration from being added to the Activity, if you insist ;d];
• there may also be an option to disable the whole Activity tab itself (in the repo settings);
• there may be an option to customize the whole behaviour too¹ (in the repo settings).

¹For example, an enum setting named "Track & share repository activity", with the value "Enabled", "Contributors only" or "Disabled".

³Scroll down to the next section.

---

I've just found out that apparently there is a 30 day GC timer on GitHub servers.
Well:

1. It doesn't seem reliable;
   How to remove Claude Code from Contributors? #197389:

   Fair enough, thanks for clarifying. If the commit is truly no longer referenced anywhere, then you’re right: this is probably not a history-rewrite issue anymore, but GitHub’s cached/internal contribution data still showing it.

   At that point there may not be much you can force from Git itself. I’d wait for GitHub’s cache to refresh, and if it still remains or the attribution is important to remove, contacting GitHub Support is probably the safest option.

2. Waiting 30 days to get something removed isn't either:

   • secure,
   • practical,
   • sensical.

3. This 30 day GC timer statement is not confirmed anywhere.
   Perform a quick Google search, like: "30 day" "commit" site:docs.github.com.
   No results regarding detached commits.

---

After researching a bit more on this, I found out it's possible to contact GitHub support to get these things cleared up. However:

1. the document states that the Support won't help you if it is not neccessary²;
2. non-existing commits in the Activity tab still look bad, and what if I just want to get rid of them for that only reason.

²Scroll down to the last section.

That document also says that these kind of commits [detached commits] should not be deleted, because the developers who have already pulled them should be able to know what happened. Is it really GitHub that should decide how I treat my contributors, though?

---

I am not saying that the support should help me with cleaning up my trash-filled Activity tab. That's stupid, I agree. (No I did not contact them for that that would be so extremely stupid)

There should be a way to do that, though - support is not the right place. But after all, it's the only one.

(I do not want to be toxic in this whole message. But you see the issue.)

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