Contribution activity still shows 6 commits after rewriting default branch history

[akshit-mat]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

Hi GitHub team/community,

I'm having an issue with my contribution activity after rewriting the history of a private repository.

Repository:
akshit-mat/Akshit-AI

Date affected:
September 18, 2026

My profile currently shows:

"Created 6 commits in 1 repository"

However, I accidentally created 6 commit contributions on September 18 and then rewrote the default branch history with a force-push so that only 2 of those September 18 commits remain on main.

The two remaining commits are:

• 5daca72 - feat: add training pipeline
• 8df2dc1 - feat: add backend inference

When I go to the repository's Commits page and filter:

• Branch: main
• Author: akshit-mat
• Date: Sep 17 - Sep 18

only those 2 September 18 commits are shown.

I also ran:

git fetch --all --prune

and checked all remote branches. The four removed commits are no longer reachable from the current remote branches.

My private contribution setting is enabled.

It has now been more than 30 hours since the history rewrite, but my profile still reports 6 commits.

I'm trying to understand whether the contribution activity is stale and will eventually be rebuilt, or whether something else is causing the four rewritten commits to remain counted.

Could someone please advise whether the contribution data can be recalculated/rebuilt?

I can provide screenshots and the Git history/reflog output if needed.

Thank you!

[github-actions[bot]]

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[Dani-8]

Handling Ghost Commits After Git Force-Push & History Rewrites

When you rewrite Git history using git push --force, GitHub's contribution graph often retains the count of orphaned/dangling commits due to how event-logging and garbage collection work in the background.

Here is why this happens and how to resolve it:

Why the Contribution Graph Still Shows 6 Commits

1. Event Log Persistence: GitHub's contribution calendar logs events when commits are pushed, not purely by reading git log dynamically. Pushing 6 commits creates 6 event records.
2. Dangling Objects & Reflog: Even though the 4 commits are no longer reachable on main, they remain in GitHub's internal repository cache until garbage collection (git gc) runs on GitHub's servers, keeping them indexed in private contribution metrics.

---

How to Fix / Trigger Recalculation

Option 1: Force a Repository Re-Index (Easiest Method)

To make GitHub rebuild the contribution cache for a private repository:

1. Go to Repository Settings -> Scroll to Danger Zone.
2. Temporarily change the repository visibility from Private to Public, then immediately change it back to Private.
3. Alternative: Push a dummy commit to main, wait 1 minute, and then git reset HEAD~1 and force push again. This forces the GitHub webhook parser to re-scan active commits on the default branch.

Option 2: Wait for Server Garbage Collection

If you do not want to toggle repository settings:

• GitHub runs background garbage collection (git gc) periodically (typically within 24 to 72 hours). Once the orphaned commits are purged from GitHub's server reflog, your contribution calendar will automatically adjust down to 2 commits.

Option 3: Private Contribution Toggle Reset

• Go to your Profile Settings -> Contributions.
• Uncheck "Include private contributions on my profile", click Save.
• Wait 30 seconds, re-check the option, and click Save. This flushes and rebuilds your profile's private contribution cache.

[kit1211]

Hi @akshit-mat

Contribution graph lag after force push history rewrite is a known indexing delay, not necessarily lost commits still counting permanently.

Why profile still shows 6 commits:

1. GitHub contribution graph indexes commits by author email and timestamp at push time
2. Force push removes commits from branch tip but graph cache can take 24 to 72 hours to reconcile
3. Private repo commits only count if you enabled private contributions on profile
4. Removed commits may still appear until GitHub reindexes the repository event stream

What to verify now:

1. Settings, Profile, Include private contributions on my profile (if repo is private)
2. Settings, Emails. Commit author email on 5daca72 and 8df2dc1 must be verified on your account
3. git log main --author=akshit-mat --since=2026-09-17 confirms only 2 commits locally and on remote

If graph still wrong after 72 hours:

1. Open support.github.com, category Profile, describe force push on akshit-mat/Akshit-AI Sep 18 2026
2. Provide before and after commit SHAs and state only 2 commits should count
3. Request contribution graph reindex for that repository

Force push does not instantly shrink the graph. Wait 72 hours before escalating to Support.

[queenofcorgis]

Thank you for reporting this bug. We've been logging these posts and are currently investigating solutions. We will share updates as soon as work begins and we have a better sense of when it will ship.

In the meantime, we did publish a troubleshooting guide for folks who may have missing contributions if you haven't taken the steps outlined in this doc, I recommend doing those first.

We appreciate the patience!

[Lianzy-Baimiao]

我从main最新的commit创建了1个临时分支，并把它设置成了默认分支。等待大概2分钟左右。然后切换回main分支，再删除了临时分支。就处理掉了我的无效提交。我首页的贡献数真实的下降了。https://github.com/Lianzy-Baimiao/crdsrw 这是我处理过的项目。