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Forge regularly resets "subscriptions" and "waching", adding a lot and thus causing a lot of spam-like emails #499

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opened 2026-04-08 10:12:31 +00:00 by py0xc3 · 7 comments

py0xc3 commented

2026-04-08 10:12:31 +00:00

Summary

Forge regularly resets "subscriptions" and "waching", adding a lot and thus causing a lot of spam-like emails

Details

I posted this issue some time ago in the #fedora-forgejo Matrix channel but I think it's not regularly monitored:

I am member of the FAS group Docs, and as such, I was automatically added to many "subscriptions" and many "watching" (the two sub-categories within the "subscriptions" category) in forge. I have removed all "watching", but not the "subscriptions" as its too many and I guess I would need an hour or so to remove them (I hoped they would become silent/obsoleted at some point and not cause notifications anyway then). Anyway, now my email traffic has increased again, with newly created stuff rather than just the old subscriptions, and I checked again: I then saw that all "watches" have been reset, and forge added again all Docs repos to my watch list. Is that issue known? (I was recently added to a newly created FAS group with a Forge group - security SIG - not sure if that maybe triggered that?) [supplement: I removed again the Docs-related "watched", just in case someone wants to verify and wonders]

I know issues belong here, but I was lazy :) (I am not sure though if this belongs here or to /infra/tickets ?)

The issue repeats: I get regularly added again to several Docs repos in "Watching" (contributors-guide, release-notes, beginnes-guide) and to 22 pages of "subscriptions". I already tried to remove both, but I become added to both again.

This has become a noteworthy issue as it breaks my workflow, flooding me occasionally with "spam-like" emails not relevant for me.

I would like to avoid removing myself from the Docs FAS group, as it still is complementary, but I do not need the Docs in forge.

I wonder no one opened a ticket about this before, but I did not find one off the cuff when reading through the open ticket list (maybe I missed one?).

I'm happy to provide more information or test stuff.

Thanks.

### Summary Forge regularly resets "subscriptions" and "waching", adding a lot and thus causing a lot of spam-like emails ### Details I posted this issue some time ago in the #fedora-forgejo Matrix channel but I think it's not regularly monitored: > I am member of the FAS group Docs, and as such, I was automatically added to many "subscriptions" and many "watching" (the two sub-categories within the "subscriptions" category) in forge. I have removed all "watching", but not the "subscriptions" as its too many and I guess I would need an hour or so to remove them (I hoped they would become silent/obsoleted at some point and not cause notifications anyway then). Anyway, now my email traffic has increased again, with newly created stuff rather than just the old subscriptions, and I checked again: I then saw that all "watches" have been reset, and forge added again all Docs repos to my watch list. Is that issue known? (I was recently added to a newly created FAS group with a Forge group - security SIG - not sure if that maybe triggered that?) [supplement: I removed again the Docs-related "watched", just in case someone wants to verify and wonders] I know issues belong here, but I was lazy :) (I am not sure though if this belongs here or to /infra/tickets ?) The issue repeats: I get regularly added again to several Docs repos in "Watching" (contributors-guide, release-notes, beginnes-guide) and to 22 pages of "subscriptions". I already tried to remove both, but I become added to both again. This has become a noteworthy issue as it breaks my workflow, flooding me occasionally with "spam-like" emails not relevant for me. I would like to avoid removing myself from the Docs FAS group, as it still is complementary, but I do not need the Docs in forge. I wonder no one opened a ticket about this before, but I did not find one off the cuff when reading through the open ticket list (maybe I missed one?). I'm happy to provide more information or test stuff. Thanks.

supakeen commented

2026-04-08 10:16:54 +00:00

I think I recently encountered similar behavior but I didn't look at it good enough to add anything of value except a vague 'yea might be'.

ryanlerch commented

2026-04-13 03:33:30 +00:00

Owner

Been trying to recreate this on staging, but cannot.

We do have AUTO_WATCH_NEW_REPOS turned on, so if you are a member of an org, and that org creates a new repo you will be added to watching it. Same if you are added to that org, but you shouldnt be added to ones you have unwatched because you were added to an unrelated org. Unless you were removed from the docs org then re-added for some reason, then you will likely be re-added i think.

Here is what i tried:

created a new repo in the server org -- because i created it, i was watching it.
unwatched it.
logged out, and logged back in -- still repo still unwatched.
was added to a different org, logged out and logged back in, still unwatched.

Been trying to recreate this on staging, but cannot. We do have AUTO_WATCH_NEW_REPOS turned on, so if you are a member of an org, and that org creates a new repo you will be added to watching it. Same if you are added to that org, but you shouldnt be added to ones you have unwatched because you were added to an unrelated org. Unless you were removed from the docs org then re-added for some reason, then you will likely be re-added i think. Here is what i tried: 1. created a new repo in the server org -- because i created it, i was watching it. 2. unwatched it. 3. logged out, and logged back in -- still repo still unwatched. 4. was added to a different org, logged out and logged back in, still unwatched.

py0xc3 commented

2026-04-13 08:28:11 +00:00

Author

so if you are a member of an org, and that org creates a new repo you will be added to watching it

I don't think this is what happens, because, e.g., the https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/release-notes or https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/contributors-guide are very old.

But that said, I can only see the age of the git repos, and if the old repos are transferred here, their age might be transferred too (?): have ALL of the following been migrated to, or created in, forge in the last two weeks?

https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/beginners-guide (I think this one has been just created)
https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/release-notes
https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/contributors-guide

-> that's what had been added (again?) to me recently.

If all of them have been just recently created, or moved from somewhere else to forge, then this might indeed explain the issue.

Unless you were removed from the docs org then re-added for some reason, then you will likely be re-added i think.

I don't think so. But a lot changes had been done to my FAS account recently, due to adding me to different FAS groups for the Security SIG and the Discourse Mods SIG. I am quite sure that the last "reset" has taken place after the last change in my FAS account, but I am not 100% sure. So if the above (so that all mentioned repos are newly created in forge) does not apply, it might be worth exploring if I maybe get re-added to all repos of all my groups if any one group is added or changed.

created a new repo in the server org -- because i created it, i was watching it.
unwatched it.
logged out, and logged back in -- still repo still unwatched.
was added to a different org, logged out and logged back in, still unwatched.

I can reproduce this too. The issue does not take place daily or after each login/logout. Sometimes every few days, sometimes a week or more (the last time it could have been several weeks in between). Your theory with the repos being new thus could explain this if the Docs are still in a creation/migration phase that leads to new Forge repos regularly. I'm just wondering that it's always more than one (though that does not necessarily conflict with your theory).

So far, I cannot determine a clear pattern, but I didn't fully document it. In the future, I will more detailed document the issue, including what exact repos are added.

> so if you are a member of an org, and that org creates a new repo you will be added to watching it I don't think this is what happens, because, e.g., the https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/release-notes or https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/contributors-guide are very old. But that said, I can only see the age of the git repos, and if the old repos are transferred here, their age might be transferred too (?): have ALL of the following been migrated to, or created in, forge in the last two weeks? https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/beginners-guide (I think this one has been just created) https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/release-notes https://forge.fedoraproject.org/docs/contributors-guide -> that's what had been added (again?) to me recently. If all of them have been just recently created, or moved from somewhere else to forge, then this might indeed explain the issue. > Unless you were removed from the docs org then re-added for some reason, then you will likely be re-added i think. I don't think so. But a lot changes had been done to my FAS account recently, due to adding me to different FAS groups for the Security SIG and the Discourse Mods SIG. I am quite sure that the last "reset" has taken place after the last change in my FAS account, but I am not 100% sure. So if the above (so that all mentioned repos are newly created in forge) does not apply, it might be worth exploring if I maybe get re-added to all repos of all my groups if any one group is added or changed. > created a new repo in the server org -- because i created it, i was watching it. > unwatched it. > logged out, and logged back in -- still repo still unwatched. > was added to a different org, logged out and logged back in, still unwatched. I can reproduce this too. The issue does not take place daily or after each login/logout. Sometimes every few days, sometimes a week or more (the last time it could have been several weeks in between). Your theory with the repos being new thus could explain this if the Docs are still in a creation/migration phase that leads to new Forge repos regularly. I'm just wondering that it's always more than one (though that does not necessarily conflict with your theory). So far, I cannot determine a clear pattern, but I didn't fully document it. In the future, I will more detailed document the issue, including what exact repos are added.

py0xc3 commented

2026-04-13 10:25:54 +00:00

Author

According to the Docs team (I asked in Matrix), the contributors-guide has been already migrated to forge in January. So at least for that one, there is no explanation why the repo has been added to my watch list again some days ago.

When we go ahead in the issue about Discussion Mods and the groups and FAS groups, it might be useful to know exactly when you add/remove me to any FAS/forge group, so that I can compare then if that coincides to Docs-repos being added again to my watch list

Supplement: I was pinged by a Docs member -> the above information about the contributors-guide was mixed up with another repo. So it is possible the migration date of the contributors-guide is not January but a later date. They check and let me know...

According to the Docs team (I asked in Matrix), the _contributors-guide_ has been already migrated to forge in January. So at least for that one, there is no explanation why the repo has been added to my _watch_ list again some days ago. When we go ahead in the issue about Discussion Mods and the groups and FAS groups, it might be useful to know exactly when you add/remove me to any FAS/forge group, so that I can compare then if that coincides to Docs-repos being added again to my _watch_ list --- Supplement: I was pinged by a Docs member -> the above information about the _contributors-guide_ was mixed up with another repo. So it is possible the migration date of the _contributors-guide_ is **not** January but a later date. They check and let me know...

py0xc3 commented

2026-04-20 11:29:50 +00:00

Author

Supplement: I was pinged by a Docs member -> the above information about the contributors-guide was mixed up with another repo. So it is possible the migration date of the contributors-guide is not January but a later date. They check and let me know...

Didn't get a feedback, so let's see how this develops. So far I haven't been re-added.

> Supplement: I was pinged by a Docs member -> the above information about the contributors-guide was mixed up with another repo. So it is possible the migration date of the contributors-guide is not January but a later date. They check and let me know... Didn't get a feedback, so let's see how this develops. So far I haven't been re-added.

ryanlerch commented

2026-04-21 01:16:26 +00:00

Owner

Sidenote: The default behaviour here of adding everyone in a org to every new repo in that org (or adding them when they are added to the org) is pretty heavy handed TBH.

I have filed this issue: #529

Note that if you create a new repo, you will be watching it. And if you respond to a ticket you should be subscribed to that ticket too, but you just wont be auto-added to every new repo for every org you are a member of.

Sidenote: The default behaviour here of adding everyone in a org to every new repo in that org (or adding them when they are added to the org) is pretty heavy handed TBH. I have filed this issue: https://forge.fedoraproject.org/forge/forge/issues/529 Note that if you create a new repo, you will be watching it. And if you respond to a ticket you should be subscribed to that ticket too, but you just wont be auto-added to every new repo for every org you are a member of.

👍 1

ryanlerch commented

2026-04-21 01:17:04 +00:00

Owner

Going to close this one off -- feel free to reopen if this happens again (or file a new issue :) )

👍 1