Manage your GitHub connection

After you connect a GitHub repository to your WordPress.com site, you can manage that connection from the Deployments tab. This guide covers viewing your connections, reading deployment run logs, disconnecting a repository, and revoking WordPress.com’s access to your GitHub account.

This feature is available on sites with the WordPress.com Business and Commerce plans. If you have a Business plan, make sure to activate it. For free sites and sites on the Personal and Premium plans, upgrade your plan to access this feature.

To manage your existing GitHub repository connections:

1. Visit your hosting dashboard.
2. Click the name of your site to view the site overview.
3. Click on the Deployments tab.
4. You should then see the connections list. 

The connection list is shown if there is at least one connection between a GitHub repository and your site. The list includes relevant information for each connection, such as the repository name and branch, the last commit that was deployed to a site, when it happened, where the code was placed. It also includes how long the deployment run took, and its status.

There are additional actions available after clicking the ellipsis menu (⋮):

• Trigger manual deployment: Starts a deployment run on the latest commit of the configured branch.
• See deployment runs: Opens the deployment run logs view for the connected repository.
• Configure connection: Opens the manage connection view for the repository.
• Disconnect repository: Removes the connection between the repository and the site.

Deployment run logs provide a detailed, step-by-step record of each deployment, whether triggered automatically or manually. These logs help you track changes, monitor deployment status, and troubleshoot any issues that arise. With access to logs from the last 10 runs over the past 30 days, you can easily review what happened during each deployment and ensure everything is running smoothly.

To check the logs of a deployment:

1. Visit your hosting dashboard.
2. Click the name of your site to view the site overview.
3. Click on the Deployments tab.
4. Click the ellipsis menu (⋮) next to the repository you want to view logs for.
5. Select “See deployment runs“.
6. The Deployment runs list view shows commits that were deployed to the site, the deployment status, the date, and the duration.
7. Click anywhere on a run to expand and view more information about the deployment.

The logs provide a record of all executed commands, from fetching code from GitHub to placing it in the target directory. You can expand log lines to see more information by clicking “show more“.

To receive automated notifications when deployments start, finish, or fail, you can set up deployment webhooks through the WordPress.com REST API. See Use deployment webhooks for setup instructions.

When you disconnect a GitHub repository from your site, any future changes to the repository will no longer impact your site. By default, the deployed files remain on your site, but you can remove them during the disconnection process.

To remove a repository:

1. Visit your hosting dashboard.
2. Click the name of your site to view the site overview.
3. Click on the Deployments tab.
4. Click the ellipsis menu (⋮) on the repository.
5. Select “Disconnect repository“.
6. A dialog window will appear. Click the switch to remove associated files from the site.
7. Click “Disconnect repository” to close the dialog and disconnect the repository.

Note that WordPress.com for Developers will still appear in your Installed GitHub Apps and your Authorized GitHub Apps. This is because WordPress.com still has access to the repository, but the connection has been deleted.

You may also choose to revoke WordPress.com’s access to your GitHub account. You can do so at any time by visiting your Applications settings on GitHub. 

To revoke authorized app access to your GitHub account:

1. Go to Authorized GitHub Apps.
2. Click Revoke next to WordPress.com for Developers.
3. Click the “I understand, revoke access” button.

Even if you revoke authorized app access, code can still be deployed because the WordPress.com for Developers app remains installed on the selected accounts.

To revoke access to the WordPress.com installation and disable the ability to deploy code to your WordPress.com site:

1. Go to Installed GitHub Apps.
2. Click Configure next to WordPress.com for Developers.
3. In the Danger zone area, click Uninstall, then click OK when prompted.

Removing WordPress.com from the list of authorized apps does not mean that the repositories will be deleted or stop working; your repositories will still exist on GitHub after you revoke WordPress.com’s access, but WordPress.com will no longer be able to deploy code.