Sunset notice for automatic watching of repositories and teams #157470
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On May 18, 2025, we’re deprecating the automatic watching of repositories and teams. We’re making this change in order to:
Note Existing repository subscriptions created through auto-watching will not be impacted. Users will remain subscribed to repositories or teams they were previously watching. To review or adjust your current repository subscriptions, visit the Watching section. For more detailed notification preferences, head to Notification Settings. Have questions or feedback, please share with us in the discussion below. |
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Replies: 11 comments 11 replies
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Thanks for the clarification! This is a welcome change — I often found myself overwhelmed by notifications from repos I wasn’t even aware I was watching. For anyone wondering where to manage these settings, you can go directly to your Watching settings or customize more under Notification Settings. 💡 Tip: After joining a new organization, it’s a good idea to double-check your watch settings to avoid accidental noise. Appreciate this update! 🙌 |
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Thank you for your feedback @IceUnite! The auto-watching feature has been deprecated today: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-05-22-sunset-of-automatic-watching-of-repositories-and-teams/ |
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So will there be no way to opt-in to automatic watching? If I notice something I don't need I unsubscribe from the notifications tab, but not knowing about new projects within my org would be unfortunate. If automatic watching must be removed, can I still get notified when a repository gets created I have access to? |
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If I may chip in; I suddenly didn't get notifications for newly created repositories anymore, which was very confusing. I do want to watch all repositories I create, but there doesn't seem to be an option to do this automatically anymore; so now I have to watch a repository manually when I create it (which is a pain). I think this is a good change for repositories other people create that you have access to; but I don't think it's logical to not get any notifications from a repository I created. |
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There is a downstream effect on Dependabot usage. Since new repositories are not followed in my organization any longer, I no longer receive Dependabot notifications for new repositories. A hidden backlog of dependency updates now builds up that I have to actively seek out. Prior to the deprecation, all update notices showed up in my Github notifications inbox to manage Dependabot updates. Are there existing alternatives to receive automatic Dependabot notifications for new repositories with auto-watch disabled? |
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afaik this feature was opt-in, so the reasoning is a bit confusing, as they chose it. |
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I was susprised to learn of this change today. I found an issue had been created in one of my personal repos, and I had not had any notification. I definitely appreciate it was noisy (I'd often been given access to an org repo and been spammed loads overnight before I woke up and "Unwatched"), but for my own repos, it felt like a better default. It would've been nice to have kept the option, but allow it to be scoped to only created repos. I fear that I (and many others) are going to accidentally miss out on notifications because we were used to the previous default and forget to Watch on new repos. |
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I noticed I've missed notifications in my new repos for weeks. Honestly, what the *** was GH thinking with this change? Solo devs that helped GH grow to where it is now matter no longer? It's all about big orgs now? |
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Up. There should be an option that toggles automatic watching. You can make it off by default, but user should have ability to toggle it on. |
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Days since last missed issue or pull request caused by this: 0 |
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So a user who creates a new repository will, by default, not be notified of issues and PRs, leaving potential contributors screaming in to the void? That is utterly absurd. I've been thinking that GitHub decision making seems dysfunctional for a while. This might be the final straw. |
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Thank you for your feedback @IceUnite!
The auto-watching feature has been deprecated today: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-05-22-sunset-of-automatic-watching-of-repositories-and-teams/