Feature · archived
GitHub
GitHub no longer sends the built-in email notifications for repository push events; the feature is shut down
left 15 Oct 2026
Quick answers
- Is it true that GitHub retires email notifications for repository push events?
- Yes — and the date has already passed (15 Oct 2026). If you relied on GitHub emailing you when commits were pushed to a repository, those emails stopped on 15 October 2026.
- When did it take effect?
- 15 Oct 2026 (already passed). Verified against the vendor's own announcement.
- What should I use instead?
- GitHub's suggested path is to send the emails yourself: use a GitHub Actions workflow triggered on push events to send mail through your own SMTP server or email provider.
What this means for you
If you relied on GitHub emailing you when commits were pushed to a repository, those emails stopped on 15 October 2026. Per GitHub's changelog, the push-event email notification feature has been retired and is no longer sent at all. GitHub says it shut the feature down to curb spam and abuse: because recipients never had to consent before receiving these emails, the feature could be used to push unwanted messages through GitHub's email infrastructure. The people affected are anyone who used push emails as a lightweight change feed — solo maintainers watching a repo, small teams without a CI notifier, or scripts that parsed those emails. This is a quiet removal of a convenience, not a security or data change, but if push emails were your only signal that code landed, that signal is now gone with no in-product replacement.
Where to go
GitHub's suggested path is to send the emails yourself: use a GitHub Actions workflow triggered on push events to send mail through your own SMTP server or email provider. That gives you the same notify-on-push behavior with control over recipients and formatting. Other built-in signals remain unaffected — repository watch settings, @mention and review notifications, and webhooks (including the push event webhook) all still work, so if you need programmatic notice of pushes a webhook or Actions workflow is the durable replacement.
- A GitHub Actions workflow triggered on push that sends email via your own SMTP server or provider (GitHub's suggested replacement)
- The repository push webhook, for programmatic notice of pushes without email
GitHub has turned off one of its older built-in notifications. Per its changelog post, as of 15 October 2026, email notifications for repository push events have been retired and are no longer sent.
GitHub’s stated reason is abuse prevention. Because recipients of these emails never had to consent before receiving them, the feature could be misused to send unwanted messages through GitHub’s own email infrastructure — so GitHub shut it down rather than leave that channel open.
This is a small, quiet removal, but it has an identifiable loser: anyone who used push emails as a free change feed. Solo maintainers watching a repository, small teams without a dedicated CI or chat notifier, and any script that parsed those emails lose their signal that code was pushed. There is no in-product toggle to bring it back.
The replacement GitHub points to is to send the mail yourself. A GitHub Actions workflow triggered on push can send email through your own SMTP server or email provider, which restores the behavior with control over who gets the message. If you only need programmatic notice rather than email, the repository push webhook is unaffected and is the more robust option. Watch settings, @mention notifications, and review notifications are also unchanged — this retirement is specific to the automatic push-event emails.
Entry changelog
- — last reviewed.
- — Entry created from GitHub's official changelog post (github.blog, 15 October 2026). The retirement date (15 October 2026), the stated reason (preventing spam/abuse because recipients did not have to consent), and the suggested Actions-plus-SMTP replacement are all quoted from that post. Status recorded as passed — the feature is already off. No detect: fingerprint — this is a platform notification setting, not something a repo scan can match.
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