---
title: "Data repository with no recent pushes | Metacenta"
description: "A data repository with no push in 180 days is either stable and unowned, or no longer where the work happens. How we measure it, and when it is fine."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-stale"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 566
---

Repository hygiene · rule repo-stale

# Data repository with no recent pushes

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **The repo has recent activity**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

This rule flags a repository whose last push was more than 180 days before we collected its metadata, our default threshold. A push within that window passes. If the host gives no last-push time, we decline rather than guess.

## Why it matters

Either the platform is stable and nobody owns it, or the work has moved to another repository. Both change what the rest of the review means.

## How to fix it

**Confirm this is still the active repository.** Confirm this is still the repository your team works in. If the work has moved, point the review at the active one.

## When it is fine to leave

A finished pipeline that needs no changes can go months without a push. If someone still owns it and watches it run, the quiet is not a problem. Say who, and the finding comes out of your report.

## What we need to check it

Read-only access to the repository's metadata. We compare the host's last-push time with the date we collected it, and read no commit history.

## Published rules it corresponds to

**[OpenSSF Scorecard](https://scorecard.dev/)**, rule `Maintained`. Ours checks the same concern, tested differently. Scorecard scores commit frequency over the last 90 days; this engine reads the repository's last push, because it collects no commit history.

This means our check corresponds to their rule. It does not mean the publisher reviewed or endorses it.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-repo-stale&via=md)

## Related pages

- [Credential files committed to a data repository](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-committed-credential-file)
- [Data repository with no CI pipeline](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-no-ci)
- [Archived repositories under review](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-archived)
- [Data repository with no tests](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-no-tests)
- [A sample review, as a client reads it](https://metacenta.com/sample)
- [All published rules](https://metacenta.com/rules)
- [How a review is assessed](https://metacenta.com/standard)