Unable to import repo from Bitbucket cloud to GitHub

[deephq]

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To import from BitBucket cloud, I tried with my BitBucket username and generated a token in BitBucket profile. Tried various tokens with all permissions, admin only permissions, etc. But unable to import my repo. All I see is an error that "Whoops! Something went wrong. Please try again later."

Any help is appreciated.

[realsunil]

Hi, this is a common issue when importing repositories from Bitbucket Cloud to GitHub and is usually related to authentication or token type.

Please check the following points:

1. GitHub importer works only with Bitbucket App Passwords, not OAuth access tokens.
   Create an App Password from:
   Bitbucket → Personal settings → App passwords
   Give at least these permissions:

• Repositories: Read
• Pull requests: Read

2. While importing into GitHub, make sure you are using the correct credentials.
   Username should be your Bitbucket account username (not email and not workspace name).
   Password should be the App Password you generated.

3. Use the HTTPS repository URL, not the SSH URL.
   The format should be:
   https://bitbucket.org//.git

4. Verify repository access.
   Make sure the repository exists and you can access it from the Bitbucket UI.
   If the repository is private, using an App Password is mandatory.

5. The “Whoops! Something went wrong” error can also appear due to a temporary GitHub Importer issue.
   Try logging out and logging back in, using a different browser, or waiting 10–15 minutes and retrying.

6. If the importer continues to fail, the most reliable workaround is to migrate manually by cloning the Bitbucket repository locally and pushing it to a new GitHub repository.

Hope this helps.

[deephq]

App passwords has been replaced by API tokens

As of September 9, 2025, app passwords can no longer be created. Use API tokens with scopes instead. All existing app passwords will be disabled on June 9, 2026. Migrate any integrations before then to avoid disruptions.

So, I used that. It doesn't work with that either.

[realsunil]

Root cause

This is not a credential or permission issue.

Bitbucket Cloud deprecated App Passwords and replaced them with API tokens (effective Sept 9, 2025).
GitHub’s Repository Importer has not yet been updated to fully support Bitbucket API tokens, which causes the importer to fail with the generic error:

"Whoops! Something went wrong. Please try again later."

Because of this mismatch, imports from Bitbucket Cloud currently fail even when valid API tokens with full scopes are used.

---

What does NOT work

• Bitbucket API tokens (all scopes)
• OAuth tokens
• SSH URLs
• Re-trying with different permissions

---

Working workaround (recommended)

Manual migration is currently the only reliable solution.

# Clone the Bitbucket repository
git clone https://bitbucket.org/<workspace>/<repo>.git
cd <repo>

# Create an empty repository on GitHub (do NOT add README)
git remote add github https://github.com/<username>/<repo>.git

# Push everything to GitHub
git push github --all
git push github --tags

[deephq]

Ok, but will this approach transfer all branches and commits too? Or just the main branch?

[realsunil]

Yes — this transfers ALL commits, ALL branches, and ALL tags, not just main.

Explanation:

• git clone clones the entire repository history by default
• git push github --all pushes every local branch (main + feature branches)
• git push github --tags pushes all tags

Nothing is lost:

• ✅ Full commit history
• ✅ All branches
• ✅ All tags

The only things NOT migrated automatically are:

• Pull Requests
• Issues
• Wiki
• Pipeline configs (Bitbucket Pipelines)
• Repository settings

If you want to double-check locally before pushing:

git branch -a
git log --oneline --all --decorate

[deephq]

Works great...Thanks :)