One of our team members recently had their access revoked to our main GitHub repository that contains all the server code. I’m not sure what happened or why this occurred. The developer was working on important features and now can’t push any changes or access the codebase. Has anyone experienced something similar before? What steps should we take to restore access or figure out what went wrong? This is blocking our development workflow and we need to resolve it quickly. Any advice on handling GitHub permission issues would be really helpful.
check if the dev accidentally left the org or got removed by mistake. sometimes admins clean up inactive users without realizing they’re still working on projects. also ask the dev if they got any emails from GitHub about their account - might be a security-related suspension.
This situation is quite common in collaborative projects. Start by reviewing the repository’s settings, specifically the ‘Manage access’ section. Ensure the developer’s account still appears there. If they aren’t listed, you’ll need to re-invite them. Additionally, verify their organization membership since any changes there could impact their access. It’s not unusual for repositories to be transferred, resulting in collaborators losing permissions unexpectedly. Identifying the root cause will guide you in resolving this issue.
Had this exact problem last month with one of our junior devs. First, check if your org has automated compliance policies - these can automatically revoke access after periods of inactivity or failed login attempts. Also see if the dev’s account got flagged or if their 2FA expired. In our case, the developer changed their primary email without properly updating their GitHub account, so the system saw them as a different user. The repo owner can check the audit log under organization settings to see exactly when and why access got removed.
Check if your org recently updated security policies or switched to SAML auth. We had the same thing happen - company rolled out new SSO requirements and several devs lost access overnight because they hadn’t finished the auth setup. Repo permissions looked fine on the admin side, but GitHub was blocking them due to auth mismatch. Could also be someone accidentally changed visibility settings or base permissions. I’ve seen switching from internal to private repos automatically boot certain user groups. Have your repo admin check the recent activity feed on the repo itself, not just the org audit log.
Repository access issues usually come from team changes that aren’t obvious. I’ve seen developers get moved between teams without anyone noticing - this automatically changes their repo permissions. Check if they’re still on the right teams for that specific repo. Someone might’ve also switched the repository from public to private or changed the default permissions. Quick fix: have a repo admin add them back as a collaborator with the right permissions while you figure out what happened.
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