Repository size not reduced after git filter-repo history rewrite — requesting garbage collection

Question

Workspace: rodrigotmo
Repository: rodrigotmo/imobiliaria_colibri
Plan: Free (1 GB workspace storage limit)

Request

Please run garbage collection / repack on the repository above to release unreachable Git objects left behind by a history rewrite. The workspace is at its 1 GB storage limit, but the repository's live history is under 5 MB.

Background

On 2026-02-24 I rewrote this repository's history with git-filter-repo to remove a directory of committed image files (`imagens/` — 4,564 blobs, ~1,011 MB uncompressed), then force-pushed the rewritten history. The rewrite completed without errors and the new history is live on the server.

Current state (verified against a fetch on 2026-08-15)

- Live history reachable from all server refs: 273 commits, 4.68 MiB packed
- Server HEAD matches my local clone: 462651a4e839af55a78aa8035a25ce4591497769
- No branch on the server references imagens/ — verified across every remote ref

Despite this, workspace storage is still reported at roughly 1 GB. I believe this is the ~1 GB of now-unreachable objects from the pre-rewrite history (228 commits) still held server-side, since the force-push made them unreferenced but they have not been garbage collected.

Tomislav Tobijas · Accepted Answer

Hey @Rodrigo Teixeira Machado de Oliveira ,

I've pinged forum support team to take a look at this. Someone should get back to you within 1-2 business days.
*if, for any reason, no one gets back to you, please ping me here and I'll try to escalate it

Cheers,
Tobi

Syahrul · Accepted Answer

Hi @Rodrigo Teixeira Machado de Oliveira,

Thanks for the additional details. It appears that the large files are still being retained by pull-request references from the repository’s previous history. These internal references can preserve objects even after a git filter-repo rewrite and force-push of the normal branches, so the repository size may not decrease through the usual cleanup process.
In this situation, the most reliable option is to rebuild the repository from the rewritten Git history:

1. Create a verified bare clone of the current repository after the history rewrite.
2. Delete the existing remote repository.
3. Create a new empty repository.
4. Push the bare clone to the new repository.

This creates a new repository containing the rewritten Git history, without the pull-request references that are retaining the removed files. As a result, the repository size should reflect the cleaned history.

Please note that this is a destructive migration. Deleting and recreating the repository will permanently remove its pull-request history, including pull requests, comments, approvals, and related PR metadata. Any repository settings that are not part of Git history should also be reviewed and configured again in the new repository.

Please ensure the bare clone has been validated and retained as a backup before deleting the existing repository.

Regards, 
Syahrul