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Codespaces Host Image Version Preference

A GitHub codespace is a development environment provided by a container that runs on a virtual machine (VM). The development environment that the developer works within is defined by the dev container configuration. The VM configuration defines the operating system which builds and runs the dev container. GitHub maintains this VM configuration, and regularly upgrades it to improve security, functionality, and performance.

While our regular security patching does not impact capabilities, occasionally we need to upgrade components that may have an impact on the way the container environment functions in certain cases. Therefore, we are introducing a way to opt into the beta image configuration, allowing you to test the changes in your specific environments and provide feedback before we ship the changes to the stable image.

host image preference screenshot

The upgraded host image is initially made available as a beta release, which enables you to ensure your existing dev container configurations are compatible with the next iteration of the VM configuration. Once enabled, all newly created or resumed codespaces will use the specified host configuration. This enables you to test your configurations without impacting other developers who use the same dev container. You may switch between the beta and stable host configurations at any time. Whenever you switch, all of your subsequently created or resumed codespaces will receive the configuration you specified. Changing this setting does not impact currently running codespaces.

Additional Resources

Upcoming changes to repository insights

Beginning January 8th, 2024, we will be making changes to the repository insights UI and API on GitHub for repositories with over 10,000 commits. The targeted UI and API have very low usage and rely on a legacy service we’re moving away from.

User Interface Updates

We are removing the following data:

  1. Under Insights > Contributors, we are removing addition/deletion counts for repositories with over 10,000 commits, as well as the dropdown that shows the graphs associated with additions and deletions. All the commit counts and commit count graphs will remain unchanged.
Current page Repos with over 10,000 commits after the change is made
The current Insights > Contributors tab The new tab which shows no dropdown for additions and deletions, and no addition and deletion counts
  1. Under Insights > Code Frequency, we will only show data for repos with under 10k commits.
Current page Repos with over 10,000 commits after the change is made
The current Insights > Code Frequency tab which shows a graph of additions and deletions over time The new tab which shows that there are too many commits to generate this graph

REST API Modifications

Alongside the UI changes, the following API changes will be implemented:

  1. The REST API responses for repositories with 10,000+ commits will report 0 values for the addition and deletion counts to improve performance. This impacts the /repos/{owner}/{repo}/stats/contributors endpoint to get all contributor commit activity
  2. The /repos/{owner}/{repo}/stats/code_frequency API endpoint will return a 422 status code for repos with 10,000 or more commits.
    • This is different from the previous two because this endpoint only returns additions/deletions, which we will no longer return for repos with over 10k commits. The previous two endpoints also return the total number of commits, which we will continue to generate.

For users who continue to need detailed addition and deletion statistics for large-scale repositories, we suggest using the following Git command, as described in the Git documentation:

git log --pretty="format:%m%ad----%ae%n%-(trailers:only,unfold)" --date=raw --shortstat --no-renames --no-merges

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Enable or disable secret scanning validity checks with the REST API

GitHub Advanced Security users can now use the REST API to enable or disable secret scanning validity checks for a repository, organization, or enterprise. Validity checks retrieve a status for supported tokens from their relevant partner (active, inactive, or unknown). This status is displayed in the secret scanning alert view and the REST API.

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