Claude still appears in Contributors sidebar after Git history rewrite

[ujjawalsingh2966-sys]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

Claude still appears in Contributors sidebar after Git history rewrite

Hello GitHub Community,

I need help correcting stale contributor data in my repository.

Repository: https://github.com/ujjawalsingh2966-sys/SIH26035

Problem:

Claude Code still appears as a contributor on my GitHub repository homepage, even after removing its co-author attribution from Git history.

Actions already completed:

1. Removed 14 Claude co-author entries by rewriting Git history on November 9, 2026.
2. Force-pushed the cleaned history to main and three pull-request branches.
3. Verified that the source files and human commit authors were preserved.
4. Confirmed that the Contributors API lists only two users: ujjawalsingh2966-sys and dinamsingh.
5. Waited more than 24 hours, but the homepage still displays Claude as the third contributor.

Current main commit: 10118aca66ac107eb2a4314b11c2c3659e53b9ff

Previous GitHub Support ticket: #4986352

GitHub Support closed my ticket because my account currently has access to self-service support resources only.

I have retained a backup branch containing the original history, and some older branches and pull-request references remain.

My questions:

• Why does the repository homepage still show Claude when the Contributors API lists only two contributors?
• Is there a safe way to refresh the contributor sidebar?
• Can the stale contributor data be corrected without rewriting history again, deleting backup branches, or affecting my existing deployments and pull requests?

I would appreciate guidance on resolving this issue without disturbing my working project.

Thank you.

[github-actions[bot]]

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[100rootrain]

I checked the repository, and your cleanup worked. Only the homepage cache is stale. You can refresh it without rewriting anything or deleting any branches.

What the repository shows now.

• main (10118aca) has no Co-authored-by: Claude trailer and no Claude-authored commit.
• The three PR branches you rewrote are clean too: work/local-lab-business-snapshot-20261016, feat/sih-evaluator-demo-access-20261025 and fix/remove-business-signup-from-login-20261109. Merging Feature request: support jumping to lines in files #5, Feature Request: Blockquote Button #12 or Feature Request: Sorting of Issues #15 won't bring Claude back.
• Your activity log shows the force push to main and those three branches on Nov 9 at 15:05:34 UTC. Nothing has been pushed to main since.
• At 14:22 UTC today, the homepage's Contributors data (/_sidebar) still returned contributorCount: 3 with claude.

Why the homepage disagrees with the API. The homepage Contributors box is cached separately from the REST API, and a force push doesn't trigger a recount. Waiting longer won't clear it. Recent threads show the same pattern on other repositories (#212504, #212636, #212731, #213020).

You can keep your backup branch and old branches. The trailer is still in several places:

• your backup branch
• 13 older branches, such as feat/24h-browser-demo-isolation-20261031 and fix/link-import-error
• the PR refs of merged PRs Welcome to GitHub product feedback #1–iOS bug report: strange backstack behavior when navigating to a file #4, #6–Feature Request: Push Notifications and Badges for Requested Reviews #11, Feature Request: Dual account support/troubles #13 and Images in readme are not resizing on the mobile app #14

The box doesn't seem to count those refs once it's refreshed:

• In Repository homepage displays ghost contributor despite corrected Git history and failed refresh workarounds #212972, a tag still points at the pre-rewrite history, which includes another person's commits. After the refresh, the box lists only the owner (contributorCount: 1 today).
• In Stale Contributors sidebar remains after history cleanup #212998, PR refs still pointed at commits by contributors who had been removed. The refreshed list left those contributors out.

How to refresh it: switch the default branch away and back. This fixed the same stale entry in #212504, #212972 and #212998.

1. Create a temporary branch at the same commit as main:

   git push origin main:refresh-tmp

   Use a new branch, not one of the old ones above. Those still contain the Claude commits, and the recount would pick them up.
2. Settings → General → Default branch: switch to refresh-tmp, then open the repository homepage once.
3. Wait a couple of minutes, switch the default branch back to main, and open the homepage again.
4. Once the list looks right, delete the temporary branch: git push origin --delete refresh-tmp.

This won't disturb your project:

• Nothing is renamed or rewritten, and both branches point to the same commit.
• Open PRs Feature request: support jumping to lines in files #5, Feature Request: Blockquote Button #12 and Feature Request: Sorting of Issues #15 keep main as their base. Changing the default branch doesn't retarget open PRs. Only renaming a branch does.
• The workflows on main only run on pull_request, or on a push to one specific branch. So pushing refresh-tmp doesn't start any of them.

In the two most recent cases, the list was corrected first, and contributorCount caught up a few hours later. So check again later in a private window. The expected end state is ujjawalsingh2966-sys and dinamsingh, with a count of 2.

If claude is still listed a day after the switch, only GitHub can purge the cache. Since your Support ticket was closed as self-service only, post a short update here with the /_sidebar vs API mismatch. #204093 collects reports of this exact issue.

To keep it from coming back: Claude Code adds the trailer by default. To turn it off, add this to ~/.claude/settings.json for all projects, or to .claude/settings.json for just this repo:

{
  "attribution": { "commit": "", "pr": "" }
}

[kaluarachchiteshan]

Hi,

Your checks are thorough. The homepage sidebar, the Contributors API and the Insights graph are computed and cached separately, so a mismatch after a history rewrite is a known type of problem. In your case there is a likely cause you can check yourself.

1. The most likely cause: old commits are still reachable

You kept a backup branch with the original history, and older branches and pull request references remain. The sidebar can reflect contributors from every ref in the repository network, not only main. The API is limited to the default branch, which is why it shows only two users.

Check what still contains the old commits:

git ls-remote origin

Look for refs/pull/*, refs/tags/* and any other branches. Then check where a Claude-attributed commit still lives (use a SHA from your backup):

git branch -r --contains <old-commit-sha>
git log --all --format='%H %an <%ae>%n%b' | grep -i -E "co-authored-by|claude|anthropic"

Pull request refs (refs/pull/N/head) are not removed by a force-push. They keep the old commits reachable, even when you pushed the cleaned history to the PR branches.

2. Check for remaining trailers on main

git log main --format='%H%n%B' | grep -i "co-authored-by"

Any remaining Co-authored-by trailer naming that account or its email on a commit in main can keep it listed.

3. Safe ways to trigger a refresh without rewriting history

• Push a normal commit to main (no force-push). This often makes GitHub recompute the cached stats:

git commit --allow-empty -m "chore: refresh repository stats"
git push origin main

• Check the repository page signed out or in a private window to rule out a browser cache.
• Wait a while after the push, since caches can take hours to refresh.

4. What probably can't be fixed from your side

If old pull request refs hold the commits, you can't delete them yourself. Only GitHub can purge them. Moving the backup branch elsewhere (for example into a local bundle) can help the branch side, but it doesn't touch PR refs:

git bundle create backup.bundle --all

Only delete the remote backup branch after you have verified the bundle with git bundle verify backup.bundle. You said you want to keep it, so this is optional.

5. Escalation

Support told you to use self-service resources, so the realistic paths are:

• Reply on your existing ticket (#4986352) asking for a human review, explaining that the API and Insights are correct and that only the sidebar cache is stale.
• Try the private information removal form (https://support.github.com/contact/private-information), but only if it fits your case, as it is meant for sensitive data.
• If the sidebar still shows the contributor after several weeks and a normal commit, a fresh repository with the cleaned history is the last-resort fix. It loses issues, pull requests and stars, and it affects your deployments, so I wouldn't do it unless you need it.

Please don't post secrets or private details in this thread.