Workspace stuck read-only over 1GB limit — force-push still rejected after removing large files

[LeliGames]

My workspace went into read-only mode after exceeding the 1GB free plan limit, caused by a large batch of animation assets (~16GB) that got committed by mistake.

Steps I've taken so far:

1. Used git filter-repo to strip the large asset folder from every commit in history on the affected branch.
2. Verified locally that the rewritten history is clean — confirmed via git log that all other commits and their content are intact, and that the large files no longer appear anywhere in history.
3. Reset the branch back to the last shared commit with the remote (the point just before the large files were originally added), keeping a separate local branch as a backup with the full, cleaned history restored on top.
4. Force-pushed the reset branch to the remote.

The push still gets rejected by the pre-receive hook with "This workspace is over the 1 GB size limit," even though:

• The object transfer itself completes successfully (Writing objects: 100%, all deltas resolved).
• The branch being pushed is now tiny — just a handful of small commits, with the large files removed.

It seems like the ref update itself is being declined before it can take effect, so the branch pointer on the remote never actually moves, and no cleanup/garbage collection gets triggered as a result — meaning I can't get out of read-only mode through any push, regardless of size.

I'm on the Free plan, so I don't have access to a private support ticket — if anyone in the community has run into this and knows another way to get unblocked from my side, I'd really appreciate the pointer. And if anyone from Bitbucket support happens to see this and is able to run a manual garbage collection on my workspace, that would fix it directly. Happy to provide the workspace name via DM/private message if that's easier than posting it here.

Thanks!

[Syahrul · Accepted solution]

Hey @LeliGames 

Welcome to the community.

I have triggered Git GC on the affected repository, and the size has been reduced to 1GB. It's still fairly large, so you may need to reduce it further if you would like to continue using the Free plan.

I see you've subscribed to a Standard plan trial. I recommend reducing the size further while you're unblocked or considering switching to the Standard plan permanently.

Alternatively, you can use BFG tools to further trim the size.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Syahrul

[LeliGames]

@Syahrul Thank you so much!  Yeah I resorted to upgrading my plan for now to unblock me.  I'll reduce the project size some more and consider if its worth staying on the standard plan.

Thanks again!