Can a retired repository path be restored for transfer to an organization owned by the same account?

[waysnx-tech]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

Body

Hi GitHub team,

I recently changed my personal GitHub username from waysnx to
waysnx-tech.

Before the username change, I had this public repository:

https://github.com/waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit

After the username change, the repository is now:

https://github.com/waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit

I also have an existing GitHub organization named waysnx, which is
owned by my waysnx-tech account.

I am trying to transfer the existing repository from:

waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit

to:

waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit

However, GitHub's transfer screen reports:

"The repository waysnx-ui-kit has been retired and cannot be reused."

I understand that GitHub can retire an OWNER/REPOSITORY combination
after a username change.

My question is:

Can GitHub restore/release the retired waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit path
specifically for this transfer, given that:

1. waysnx was my previous personal username.
2. waysnx-tech is the same account after the username change.
3. waysnx is now an organization owned by that same account.
4. waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit was the original location of this repository.
5. I am trying to transfer the existing repository, not create a
   different repository.

I would like to preserve the repository name and public URL because
the project is already publicly documented and referenced.

If the retired path cannot be restored, could you please confirm
whether there is any supported way to transfer the repository to the
waysnx organization while retaining the waysnx-ui-kit repository
name?

Thank you.

[YugPatelStarDev]

GitHub generally retires the old OWNER/REPOSITORY combination after a personal username change, and that retired path cannot normally be reused or assigned to another owner.

In your case, even though waysnx is now an organization owned by the same account that previously used waysnx as its personal username, GitHub's repository transfer system still treats waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit as a retired path.

There is no standard self-service option to unretire that repository path. The best option is to contact GitHub Support and ask whether they can manually release the retired waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit path for transfer to the waysnx organization.

If GitHub Support cannot release it, you would need to transfer the repository to the organization under another available repository name. You should also ask Support whether they can provide any alternative that preserves the waysnx-ui-kit name, since the repository was originally located at that path.

[waysnx-tech]

Thanks for the guidance.

In our case, the source repository and target organization are both owned by the same GitHub account. We are specifically trying to preserve the existing repository, including its history, issues, PRs, stars, releases, and public identity.

GitHub currently rejects the transfer because waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit is a retired repository path.

Before attempting a rename workaround, could a GitHub Staff member confirm whether there is any supported administrative procedure to allow this specific retired OWNER/REPOSITORY combination to be reassigned to the organization owned by the same account?

We would prefer not to rename the repository or create a new repository unless that is the only supported option.

[Med-Khalil-7]

You're running into GitHub's repojacking protection. When an account is renamed, GitHub automatically "retires" the old owner/repo URL. This is a security feature to stop bad actors from registering your old username and pushing malicious code to people who haven't updated their links yet.

Even though you own both the new organization and the original account, the automated system still blocks it just to be safe.Since this is a backend security lock, nobody here in the community discussions can unlock it for you. You'll just need to reach out to GitHub Support directly.

Just open a ticket, explain that you own both accounts (just like you did here), and ask them to manually "un-retire" the namespace so you can transfer it. They deal with this scenario pretty often and should be able to release it for you without any issues!

Hope this helps!

[waysnx-tech]

Update —

Thank you for the information and discussion so far.

We have now opened a GitHub Support ticket regarding this issue and provided GitHub Support with the relevant repository and namespace details.

We are currently waiting for GitHub Support to review the case and advise on whether the retired repository path can be restored or otherwise resolved.

We will update this discussion once we receive a response from GitHub Support.

Thank you to everyone who has provided guidance and suggestions.

[amiriguesss]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

Body

Hi GitHub team,

I recently changed my personal GitHub username from waysnx to waysnx-tech.

Before the username change, I had this public repository:

https://github.com/waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit

After the username change, the repository is now:

https://github.com/waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit

I also have an existing GitHub organization named waysnx, which is owned by my waysnx-tech account.

I am trying to transfer the existing repository from:

waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit

to:

waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit

However, GitHub's transfer screen reports:

"The repository waysnx-ui-kit has been retired and cannot be reused."

I understand that GitHub can retire an OWNER/REPOSITORY combination after a username change.

My question is:

Can GitHub restore/release the retired waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit path specifically for this transfer, given that:

1. waysnx was my previous personal username.
2. waysnx-tech is the same account after the username change.
3. waysnx is now an organization owned by that same account.
4. waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit was the original location of this repository.
5. I am trying to transfer the existing repository, not create a
   different repository.

I would like to preserve the repository name and public URL because the project is already publicly documented and referenced.

If the retired path cannot be restored, could you please confirm whether there is any supported way to transfer the repository to the waysnx organization while retaining the waysnx-ui-kit repository name?

Thank you.

Hey — I dug into this one and unfortunately it's a genuine "no", but it's not arbitrary, and there's a path forward.
Short version: GitHub won't release that path. The retirement is deliberate and permanent, not a support toggle.
What's happening is this. There's a specific rule in the username docs (Account and profile → Reference → Username reference, under "Limitations of username changes"):
If the account namespace includes any public repositories that contain an action listed on GitHub Marketplace, or that had more than 100 clones or more than 100 uses of GitHub Actions in the week prior to you renaming your account, GitHub permanently retires the old owner name and repository name combination (OLD-OWNER/REPOSITORY-NAME) when you rename your account. If you try to create a repository using a retired owner name and repository name combination, you will see the error: "The repository <REPOSITORY_NAME> has been retired and cannot be reused."
Your UI kit is public and linked from a public domain, so it clearing the >100 clones bar before the rename is very likely what triggered it.
The important detail people miss: the retired thing isn't the name waysnx-ui-kit, and it isn't the namespace waysnx either — it's the exact pair waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit. That's why "I own the org now" doesn't unlock anything: the check is on target owner + repo name at transfer time, and your target is literally the retired combination. Same reason it would fail if you transferred it as waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit and then tried to rename it to waysnx-ui-kit inside the org. Transfer and rename both hit the same retirement check.
There's a reason it works this way, too — that retirement is what keeps your old links alive. I just checked: https://github.com/waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit still 301-redirects to https://github.com/waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit, including /issues, /pulls and the .git clone URL. GitHub blocks everyone (including you) from reusing the path so that nothing can knock the redirect out. Annoying in your case, but it's the same mechanism that makes everything you published last year keep resolving.
So what you can actually do:

1. Leave it and lean on the redirect. All your existing documented links keep working; the only cost is the address bar showing waysnx-tech.
2. Transfer under a different name. The transfer dialog lets you rename at the same time, so you can do e.g. waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit → not possible, but waysnx/waysnx-ui or waysnx/ui-kit transfers fine. Only that exact pair is retired.
3. Make the custom domain the canonical URL. You already ship at uikit.waysnx.tech — point your README and docs at that, and the owner segment stops mattering. Worth knowing if you use GitHub Pages: project site URLs are the one thing GitHub does not redirect on rename, so a custom domain is what keeps you safe from this whole class of problem.
4. Open a support ticket if you want it in writing, but file it as "confirm this is expected", not "please release it" — I'd plan on a no and not hold anything up waiting for it.
   One thing I would not try: deleting and re-creating the repo to get around the check. The retirement is keyed to the owner/name pair, so it doesn't work, and you'd lose issues, stars and clone history for nothing.

[waysnx-tech]

Thank you for the detailed clarification. This makes the behavior and the repository retirement rule clear.

We understand that the retirement applies specifically to the waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit owner/repository combination and that it cannot be reused, including through a transfer or rename.

We'll proceed without pursuing that exact path and will evaluate moving the existing repository to the waysnx organization under a different name while preserving its history.

We appreciate the investigation and the explanation of how the retirement protects existing redirects.

[amiriguesss]

Anytime mate <3

[waysnx-tech]

Update — transfer to a different available repository name is also blocked

Thanks for the explanation. We accepted this answer and closed the discussion because we understood that waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit itself is permanently retired.

We have since tested a different migration path.

Current repository:
waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit

Target organization:
waysnx

Target repository name:
ui-kit

GitHub's transfer dialog explicitly reports:
ui-kit is available

However, after submitting the transfer, GitHub rejects it with:

Repository name waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit has been retired and cannot be reused

So it appears that the retirement of the historical waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit namespace may be preventing the current repository from being transferred to the same organization even under a different repository name.

Is this expected behavior?

If so, is there a supported way to transfer waysnx-tech/waysnx-ui-kit to the waysnx organization under a new name such as waysnx/ui-kit while preserving the repository's history, issues, stars, releases, and other repository data?

We are not asking GitHub to release/reuse waysnx/waysnx-ui-kit. We only want to understand whether the current repository can be moved to the organization under a different, available repository name.