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The REST API is now versioned. For more information, see "About API versioning."

REST API endpoints for source imports

Use the REST API to start an import from a Git, Subversion, Mercurial, or Team Foundation Version Control source repository.

About source imports

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, the Source Imports API is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

You can use these endpoints to start an import from a Git, Subversion, Mercurial, or Team Foundation Version Control source repository. This is the same functionality as the GitHub Importer. For more information, see "Importing a repository with GitHub Importer." A typical source import would start the import and then (optionally) update the authors and/or update the preference for using Git LFS if large files exist in the import. You can also create a webhook that listens for the RepositoryImportEvent to find out the status of the import.

These endpoints only support authentication using a personal access token (classic). For more information, see "Managing your personal access tokens."

The following diagram provides a more detailed example:

+---------+                     +--------+                              +---------------------+
| Tooling |                     | GitHub |                              | Original Repository |
+---------+                     +--------+                              +---------------------+
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Start import                |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |  Download source data                        |
     |                              |--------------------------------------------->|
     |                              |                        Begin streaming data  |
     |                              |<---------------------------------------------|
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Get import progress         |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |       "status": "importing"  |                                              |
     |<-----------------------------|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Get commit authors          |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Map a commit author         |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |                       Finish streaming data  |
     |                              |<---------------------------------------------|
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |  Rewrite commits with mapped authors         |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |  Update repository on GitHub                 |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Map a commit author         |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |  Rewrite commits with mapped authors         |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |  Update repository on GitHub                 |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Get large files             |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  opt_in to Git LFS           |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |                              |  Rewrite commits for large files             |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |  Update repository on GitHub                 |
     |                              |------+                                       |
     |                              |      |                                       |
     |                              |<-----+                                       |
     |                              |                                              |
     |  Get import progress         |                                              |
     |----------------------------->|                                              |
     |        "status": "complete"  |                                              |
     |<-----------------------------|                                              |
     |                              |                                              |
     |                              |                                              |

Get an import status

View the progress of an import.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Import status

This section includes details about the possible values of the status field of the Import Progress response.

An import that does not have errors will progress through these steps:

  • detecting - the "detection" step of the import is in progress because the request did not include a vcs parameter. The import is identifying the type of source control present at the URL.
  • importing - the "raw" step of the import is in progress. This is where commit data is fetched from the original repository. The import progress response will include commit_count (the total number of raw commits that will be imported) and percent (0 - 100, the current progress through the import).
  • mapping - the "rewrite" step of the import is in progress. This is where SVN branches are converted to Git branches, and where author updates are applied. The import progress response does not include progress information.
  • pushing - the "push" step of the import is in progress. This is where the importer updates the repository on GitHub. The import progress response will include push_percent, which is the percent value reported by git push when it is "Writing objects".
  • complete - the import is complete, and the repository is ready on GitHub.

If there are problems, you will see one of these in the status field:

  • auth_failed - the import requires authentication in order to connect to the original repository. To update authentication for the import, please see the Update an import section.
  • error - the import encountered an error. The import progress response will include the failed_step and an error message. Contact GitHub Support for more information.
  • detection_needs_auth - the importer requires authentication for the originating repository to continue detection. To update authentication for the import, please see the Update an import section.
  • detection_found_nothing - the importer didn't recognize any source control at the URL. To resolve, Cancel the import and retry with the correct URL.
  • detection_found_multiple - the importer found several projects or repositories at the provided URL. When this is the case, the Import Progress response will also include a project_choices field with the possible project choices as values. To update project choice, please see the Update an import section.

The project_choices field

When multiple projects are found at the provided URL, the response hash will include a project_choices field, the value of which is an array of hashes each representing a project choice. The exact key/value pairs of the project hashes will differ depending on the version control type.

Git LFS related fields

This section includes details about Git LFS related fields that may be present in the Import Progress response.

  • use_lfs - describes whether the import has been opted in or out of using Git LFS. The value can be opt_in, opt_out, or undecided if no action has been taken.
  • has_large_files - the boolean value describing whether files larger than 100MB were found during the importing step.
  • large_files_size - the total size in gigabytes of files larger than 100MB found in the originating repository.
  • large_files_count - the total number of files larger than 100MB found in the originating repository. To see a list of these files, make a "Get Large Files" request.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Get an import status"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:read

Parameters for "Get an import status"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes for "Get an import status"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

404

Resource not found

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Get an import status"

Request example

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import

Response

Status: 200
{ "vcs": "subversion", "use_lfs": true, "vcs_url": "http://svn.mycompany.com/svn/myproject", "status": "complete", "status_text": "Done", "has_large_files": true, "large_files_size": 132331036, "large_files_count": 1, "authors_count": 4, "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import", "html_url": "https://import.github.com/octocat/socm/import", "authors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors", "repository_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm" }

Start an import

Start a source import to a GitHub repository using GitHub Importer. Importing into a GitHub repository with GitHub Actions enabled is not supported and will return a status 422 Unprocessable Entity response.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Start an import"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:write

Parameters for "Start an import"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
vcs_url string Required

The URL of the originating repository.

vcs string

The originating VCS type. Without this parameter, the import job will take additional time to detect the VCS type before beginning the import. This detection step will be reflected in the response.

Can be one of: subversion, git, mercurial, tfvc

vcs_username string

If authentication is required, the username to provide to vcs_url.

vcs_password string

If authentication is required, the password to provide to vcs_url.

tfvc_project string

For a tfvc import, the name of the project that is being imported.

HTTP response status codes for "Start an import"

Status codeDescription
201

Created

404

Resource not found

422

Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Start an import"

Request example

put/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import
curl -L \ -X PUT \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import \ -d '{"vcs":"subversion","vcs_url":"http://svn.mycompany.com/svn/myproject","vcs_username":"octocat","vcs_password":"secret"}'

Response

Status: 201
{ "vcs": "subversion", "use_lfs": true, "vcs_url": "http://svn.mycompany.com/svn/myproject", "status": "importing", "status_text": "Importing...", "has_large_files": false, "large_files_size": 0, "large_files_count": 0, "authors_count": 0, "commit_count": 1042, "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import", "html_url": "https://import.github.com/octocat/socm/import", "authors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors", "repository_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm" }

Update an import

An import can be updated with credentials or a project choice by passing in the appropriate parameters in this API request. If no parameters are provided, the import will be restarted.

Some servers (e.g. TFS servers) can have several projects at a single URL. In those cases the import progress will have the status detection_found_multiple and the Import Progress response will include a project_choices array. You can select the project to import by providing one of the objects in the project_choices array in the update request.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Update an import"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:write

Parameters for "Update an import"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
vcs_username string

The username to provide to the originating repository.

vcs_password string

The password to provide to the originating repository.

vcs string

The type of version control system you are migrating from.

Can be one of: subversion, tfvc, git, mercurial

tfvc_project string

For a tfvc import, the name of the project that is being imported.

HTTP response status codes for "Update an import"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Update an import"

Request examples

patch/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import
curl -L \ -X PATCH \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import \ -d '{"vcs_username":"octocat","vcs_password":"secret"}'

Example 1

Status: 200
{ "vcs": "subversion", "use_lfs": true, "vcs_url": "http://svn.mycompany.com/svn/myproject", "status": "detecting", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import", "html_url": "https://import.github.com/octocat/socm/import", "authors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors", "repository_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm" }

Cancel an import

Stop an import for a repository.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Cancel an import"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:write

Parameters for "Cancel an import"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes for "Cancel an import"

Status codeDescription
204

No Content

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Cancel an import"

Request example

delete/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import
curl -L \ -X DELETE \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import

Response

Status: 204

Get commit authors

Each type of source control system represents authors in a different way. For example, a Git commit author has a display name and an email address, but a Subversion commit author just has a username. The GitHub Importer will make the author information valid, but the author might not be correct. For example, it will change the bare Subversion username hubot into something like hubot <hubot@12341234-abab-fefe-8787-fedcba987654>.

This endpoint and the Map a commit author endpoint allow you to provide correct Git author information.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Get commit authors"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:read

Parameters for "Get commit authors"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
since integer

A user ID. Only return users with an ID greater than this ID.

HTTP response status codes for "Get commit authors"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

404

Resource not found

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Get commit authors"

Request example

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import/authors
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import/authors

Response

Status: 200
[ { "id": 2268557, "remote_id": "nobody@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "remote_name": "nobody", "email": "hubot@github.com", "name": "Hubot", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors/2268557", "import_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import" }, { "id": 2268558, "remote_id": "svner@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "remote_name": "svner", "email": "svner@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "name": "svner", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors/2268558", "import_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import" }, { "id": 2268559, "remote_id": "svner@example.com@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "remote_name": "svner@example.com", "email": "svner@example.com@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "name": "svner@example.com", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors/2268559", "import_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import" } ]

Map a commit author

Update an author's identity for the import. Your application can continue updating authors any time before you push new commits to the repository.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Map a commit author"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:write

Parameters for "Map a commit author"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

author_id integer Required
Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
email string

The new Git author email.

name string

The new Git author name.

HTTP response status codes for "Map a commit author"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

404

Resource not found

422

Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Map a commit author"

Request example

patch/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import/authors/{author_id}
curl -L \ -X PATCH \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import/authors/AUTHOR_ID \ -d '{"email":"hubot@github.com","name":"Hubot the Robot"}'

Response

Status: 200
{ "id": 2268557, "remote_id": "nobody@fc7da526-431c-80fe-3c8c-c148ff18d7ef", "remote_name": "nobody", "email": "hubot@github.com", "name": "Hubot", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors/2268557", "import_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import" }

Get large files

List files larger than 100MB found during the import

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Get large files"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:read

Parameters for "Get large files"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

HTTP response status codes for "Get large files"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Get large files"

Request example

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import/large_files
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import/large_files

Response

Status: 200
[ { "ref_name": "refs/heads/master", "path": "foo/bar/1", "oid": "d3d9446802a44259755d38e6d163e820", "size": 10485760 }, { "ref_name": "refs/heads/master", "path": "foo/bar/2", "oid": "6512bd43d9caa6e02c990b0a82652dca", "size": 11534336 }, { "ref_name": "refs/heads/master", "path": "foo/bar/3", "oid": "c20ad4d76fe97759aa27a0c99bff6710", "size": 12582912 } ]

Update Git LFS preference

You can import repositories from Subversion, Mercurial, and TFS that include files larger than 100MB. This ability is powered by Git LFS.

You can learn more about our LFS feature and working with large files on our help site.

Warning: Due to very low levels of usage and available alternatives, this endpoint is deprecated and will no longer be available from 00:00 UTC on April 12, 2024. For more details and alternatives, see the changelog.

Fine-grained access tokens for "Update Git LFS preference"

This endpoint works with the following token types:

The token must have the following permission set:

  • contents:write

Parameters for "Update Git LFS preference"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
use_lfs string Required

Whether to store large files during the import. opt_in means large files will be stored using Git LFS. opt_out means large files will be removed during the import.

Can be one of: opt_in, opt_out

HTTP response status codes for "Update Git LFS preference"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

422

Validation failed, or the endpoint has been spammed.

503

Unavailable due to service under maintenance.

Code samples for "Update Git LFS preference"

Request example

patch/repos/{owner}/{repo}/import/lfs
curl -L \ -X PATCH \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \ https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/import/lfs \ -d '{"use_lfs":"opt_in"}'

Response

Status: 200
{ "vcs": "subversion", "use_lfs": true, "vcs_url": "http://svn.mycompany.com/svn/myproject", "status": "complete", "status_text": "Done", "has_large_files": true, "large_files_size": 132331036, "large_files_count": 1, "authors_count": 4, "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import", "html_url": "https://import.github.com/octocat/socm/import", "authors_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm/import/authors", "repository_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/socm" }