Contributors sidebar still shows @codex after history cleanup, but API is correct

[cwyalpha]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

The homepage Contributors sidebar is displaying stale data for two public repositories after their commit attribution was cleaned up several days ago:

• https://github.com/cwyalpha/Word-Formatter-Pro
• https://github.com/cwyalpha/bid-check-similarity

Both repository homepages still show @codex alongside @cwyalpha. However, the current reachable Git history has no Codex author or committer identity and no Co-authored-by trailer.

The REST Contributors API already returns only cwyalpha for each repository:

• https://api.github.com/repos/cwyalpha/Word-Formatter-Pro/contributors
• https://api.github.com/repos/cwyalpha/bid-check-similarity/contributors

I also confirmed that the current branches and tags contain only commits authored by cwyalpha (65 commits in Word-Formatter-Pro, 22 in bid-check-similarity). This has persisted for several days, beyond the documented refresh window.

This looks like a stale repository-homepage contributor cache rather than remaining Git history. Is there a user-accessible way to trigger its recomputation, or can GitHub staff refresh it?

I searched Community Discussions and found similar reports, including #201246, #204830, #206983, and #207304, but none provides a self-service resolution.

Thank you.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[amasen02]

The discrepancy occurs because GitHub uses two different mechanisms to report contributors:

1. The REST API (/repos/amasen02/cortex-portable/contributors): Computes contributors dynamically from the reachable commit tree of the default branch. Because you cleaned your Git history, the API immediately reflects the correct, current author state (cwyalpha).
2. The Repository Homepage Sidebar: Populated from a denormalized background aggregation cache. When Git history is rewritten and force-pushed, GitHub's storage servers retain unreachable loose commit objects (to power existing links and forks), and the homepage contributor cache is not automatically purged or rebuilt.

Here are the self-service workarounds to force GitHub to rebuild the sidebar cache:

1. Default Branch Toggle (Most Reliable Self-Service Fix)

Switching the repository's default branch invalidates the cached overview widget:

1. Create and push a temporary branch from your current HEAD:

   git checkout -b refresh-cache
   git push origin refresh-cache

2. Go to Settings > General > Default branch.
3. Switch the default branch from main to refresh-cache, and click Update.
4. Wait 2–3 minutes for the backend indexing queue to reconcile.
5. Switch the default branch back to main and delete the temporary branch.

This forces the homepage worker to discard the previous contributor aggregate and re-traverse the commit tree.

2. Push a New Commit to the Default Branch

If you have not pushed any commits since the force-push, push an empty commit:

git commit --allow-empty -m "chore: trigger contributor index refresh"
git push origin main

The push webhook triggers the repository metadata re-indexing pipeline.

3. Contact Support if Cached Git Objects Linger

GitHub retains unreachable Git objects in repository storage networks for up to 90 days before garbage collection (git gc) runs automatically. If the branch toggle does not clear the ghost contributor, submit a quick ticket via support.github.com asking to run git gc --prune=now on the repository storage pool.

[cwyalpha]

Update: this resolved the issue for both repositories. I created a temporary branch at the current main, switched the default branch to it, waited for indexing, switched back to main, and deleted the temporary branch. The homepage Contributors sidebar now lists only @cwyalpha in both repositories. Thank you.