Cant't delete invisible repository

Yufan

During the recent cloud service outage, I attempted to create two code repositories. At that time, the system displayed a "creation failed" message. However, after the cloud service has since recovered and returned to normal, when I try to create new repositories with the same names as the previously failed ones, the system now prompts that "the repository already exists."

The problem is that these two repositories are not visible in my account (I cannot find them in the repository list or any related sections). Could you please guide me on how to delete these invisible repositories so that I can reuse the repository names?

Additional context (if helpful):

• The repository creation attempts failed explicitly due to the cloud service disruption.
• I have refreshed the page, cleared the browser cache, and reloaded my Bitbucket dashboard multiple times, but the invisible repositories still cannot be located.

Jason U

Hi Yufan,

This can happen when a repository creation request fails partway through a cloud service outage — the name gets registered in the backend, but the repository object isn’t fully created or visible in the UI.

Here’s what you can try:

1. Wait a short period (30–60 min) – Atlassian’s cleanup jobs sometimes release “stuck” repo names automatically.
2. Try creating the repo via REST API to confirm the error message and check if the repo ID exists:
3. GET https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/{workspace}/{repo_slug}

If you get a 404, it means it’s ghosted — visible to backend but not front-end linked.

1. If it’s still not visible, raise a ticket with Bitbucket Cloud support and include:
   • Your workspace name
   • The exact repository name(s) affected
   • The approximate timestamp of creation attempt
     They can manually remove the ghost entries from the backend so you can reuse those names.

📘 Official link: Contact Bitbucket Cloud support