Can't disable Allow Force Pushes via REST API

[rafaelfelix]

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Bug

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Given a repo with allow force pushes enabled (doesn't matter if it allows everyone or specific people/teams/apps):

$ gh api repos/my-org/my-test/branches/main/protection | jq '{allow_force_pushes}'
{
  "allow_force_pushes": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Trying to disable it via REST API (according to https://docs.github.com/en/rest/branches/branch-protection?apiVersion=2022-11-28#update-branch-protection) never works:

setting to false:

gh api --method PUT repos/my-org/my-test/branches/main/protection --input - <<'EOF' | jq '{allow_force_pushes}'
{
  "required_status_checks": null,
  "enforce_admins": true,
  "required_pull_request_reviews": null,
  "allow_force_pushes": false,
  "restrictions": null
}
EOF
{
  "allow_force_pushes": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

or setting to null:

❯ gh api --method PUT repos/traderepublic/rafaelcorrea-test/branches/main/protection --input - <<'EOF' | jq '{allow_force_pushes}'
{
  "required_status_checks": null,
  "enforce_admins": true,
  "required_pull_request_reviews": null,
  "allow_force_pushes": null, 
  "restrictions": null
}
EOF
{
  "allow_force_pushes": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

or not sending it as part of the payload:

gh api --method PUT repos/traderepublic/rafaelcorrea-test/branches/main/protection --input - <<'EOF' | jq '{allow_force_pushes}'
{
  "required_status_checks": null,
  "enforce_admins": true,
  "required_pull_request_reviews": null,
  "restrictions": null
}
EOF
{
  "allow_force_pushes": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Am I missing something? This looks a lot like a bug to me.

Cheers,

UPDATE: bug is happening only when specific people/teams/apps are added to the "Specify who can force push" list. I just re-tested and when "Everyone" is selected, the REST API call could disable it

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[0xDynamic]

Sooo... from the REST docs, allow_force_pushes=false or null should always disable force pushes, but it looks like that only works when the branch is in the “Allow force pushes for everyone with write access” mode

As soon as you switch to “Specify who can force push” and have a non-empty list of actors, the REST allow_force_pushes flag appears to become effectively read-only: the response always comes back with "enabled": true, even if you send false/null or omit it completely. That points to a backend bug or an unsupported state that the REST API doesn’t handle yet

Right now the only reliable workarounds seem to be:

1. Use the UI to clear “Specify who can force push” (back to “Everyone”), then call the REST API with "allow_force_pushes": false
2. Or, if you need full automation, switch to the GraphQL API and use updateBranchProtectionRule with allowsForcePushes: false for that rule (GraphQL exposes branch protection rule fields such as allowsForcePushes, and appears to be more up to date for newer protection features)

Based on the current REST docs and your repro, I’d definitely classify this as a GitHub bug / missing REST support for the “Specify who can force push” variant rather than misusing the endpoint

[rafaelfelix]

I can confirm that the GraphQL API mutation query works for this purpose. I've contacted GH via their support as well, but would love if they could update this discussion, for the sake of public awareness once they (hopefully) fix this