Email receipt when transferring a repo

[DrJonnyT]

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I want to transfer a repo to a customer. I want to transfer from my organisation to their personal account (seems like I have to transfer to my personal account first and the transfer from there, but whatever). Having just done a test run it seems like when you transfer a repo, only the recipient gets an email to confirm this has happened. Is there a way to enable an email receipt for the sender? As evidence that we have transferred the repo to the recipient.

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[mrinmayray]

Hi @DrJonnyT,

Great question — you're absolutely right to want a reliable record of repository transfers, especially in a customer-facing context.

📩 Current Behavior
As of now, GitHub only sends a confirmation email to the recipient of the repository transfer, not the sender. The sender does not receive an official transfer confirmation or "receipt" via email.

✅ Workarounds & Recommendations

1. Manual Confirmation (screenshot or audit log):
   After initiating the transfer, you’ll see a confirmation banner or message in the UI. Taking a screenshot can serve as lightweight proof.

If you're using a GitHub Organization, you can also review the Audit Log (Settings > Audit log) for an entry like:

pgsql
Copy
Edit
Transferred repository from org-name/repo to recipient-user/repo
2. Webhook or API Logging:
If you manage many transfers, consider setting up a webhook for repository events in your org to track transferred events programmatically.

Alternatively, use the GitHub REST API to initiate and log transfers, storing timestamps and metadata on your side.

💡 Feature Suggestion
It would definitely be helpful if GitHub sent email confirmations to both sender and recipient, especially for business/legal use cases. You may consider submitting this as a feature request in the GitHub Feedback Discussions.

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[akash-d122]

GitHub doesn’t currently send a confirmation email to the sender when transferring a repository, only the recipient gets notified.

As a workaround, you can:

Take a screenshot of the “repository transfer complete” page or the repo’s visibility/status after transfer.

Use the audit log (if you’re on a GitHub organization plan) to track the event.

Or simply send an email to your customer confirming the transfer, with the timestamp and link, for your own records.

Would be great if GitHub added a sender receipt, but for now, manual proof is your best bet.