Spam from unwatched repos in private atom feed

[NotMithical]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

A couple days ago I started getting notifications in my private atom feed (https://github.com/username.private.atom?token=token) for releases in repos that I do not watch. They're repos I've starred, but on all of them my watch settings are just on the default participating and mentions.

This is particularly annoying on certain repos that frequently publish releases via github actions. Do I have to un-star these repos to stop them from showing up in my feed?

[Con-Adonis]

[NotMithical]

Yes, as I mentioned above I have most of the repos I've starred set to "participating and mentions" through that menu. I'm still getting notifications for releases regardless.

[NotMithical]

Well, that's unfortunate. Thanks for confirming.

[Grinkers]

With this recent change, there's no way to differentiate Watch with Stars. This seems more like a bug , or at least unintentional.

As an example of a popular repo https://github.com/astral-sh/uv – 115 people are watching it but 63.5k have starred it. We expect over 63 thousand people to un-star it so they don't get watch notifications? It's actually maybe worse than this too, those 115 people might have had customized Watch configurations. I realize not everybody uses atom feeds, but it highlights the issue.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[shinybrightstar]

Hi @NotMithical

Our engineering team has just deployed a fix for this issue. The private feeds should now properly exclude releases from starred, unwatched projects.

Could you please check your private feed and let us know if it's working correctly now?

Thank you for your patience.

[NotMithical]

Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately I'm still getting release notifications for at least one starred repo I'm not watching as of 38 minutes ago.

[shinybrightstar]

Thanks for letting me know. The team is aware and is working on a Fix.

[alwaysprince05]

Hey all 👋

Just to close the loop on this:

✅ The GitHub team has deployed a fix for the issue where private Atom feeds (https://github.com/username.private.atom?token=...) were including release notifications from starred but unwatched repositories.

As of now, your feed should only show releases from repositories you’re actively watching, not just starred. If you’re still seeing unrelated release events, try refreshing your feed or clearing cached tokens.

Big thanks to the GitHub team for the quick resolution! 🚀

⸻

[aminvakil]

This has not been fixed yet.

I removed my RSS feed and added it again and it's still showing releases from repos I've starred, can you clarify what do you mean by clearing cached tokens? Maybe that's my problem.

[NotMithical]

Update: I've gone ahead and removed the private feed from my reader. Not only am I still getting release notifications from starred repos, I'm not getting notifications for ANY activity from repos I've actually watched.

The previous behavior (which is what I wanted) gave me notifications for activity that appeared in https://github.com/dashboard-feed. Until this behavior is restored, I have no use whatsoever for the private atom feed.

[Grinkers]

Thanks for that link, that is exactly what I wanted too... at least I have a way to get this info. I've actually missed things because of how unintuitive it is to get info from followed projects now.

I'm also not getting any info from repos I'm watching but am getting release spam from projects I've only starred.

[NotMithical]

Unfortunately, the dashboard link I provided above now shows an algorithmic feed. I no longer have ANY way of viewing an aggregated feed of commits from repos I've actually watched.

[the-real-tokai]

I'm seeing tons of unwanted entries in my atom feed too. It renders that feature entirely useless to me atm.

I did disable the "Include Events from starred repositories" in the "Filter" option on the dashboard a few days ago, but it made no difference.

[shinybrightstar]

Hi @NotMithical,

Could you please check your private feed again and let us know if it's working correctly now?

Thank you for your patience.

[NotMithical]

I re-added the feed to my reader a few days ago and there's been absolutely no activity in it, despite the activity in repos I have watched.

[aminvakil]

I cannot remember the exact time, but it's been about two weeks which it has been fixed for me.

Thank you!