Why Disabling GitHub Code Quality Does Not Lower This Period’s License Bill
After Code Quality was disabled on a repository, the active committer count dropped, but the license charge stayed the same. When does turning it off actually free a license?
- Turning Code Quality off does not erase the billing period's peak license count.
- The new CSV shows current active committers, and one person can occupy several rows.
- Check contributions to other enabled repositories before estimating which licenses a change can free.
Scanning stops; the period's license peak remains
GitHub bills Code Quality licenses against the highest count reached during the billing period, not the count left at the end. Its disablement documentation separates that license charge from metered work: disabling a repository stops new scans and their future consumption, while usage already incurred remains billable.
The CSV introduced on October 15 helps plan the next period. It connects active committers to repositories so an administrator can assess which licenses may become unnecessary. The export is available on GitHub Team and Enterprise Cloud.
Download it from the Code Quality licensing card
Open Billing and licensing → Licensing → Code Quality for the organization or enterprise. Organization owners, enterprise owners and billing managers can access the license export. Code Quality downloads directly in the browser rather than arriving by email.
The field reference lists:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| User login | The GitHub username. |
| Organization / repository | A repository contributing to that user's license usage. |
| Last pushed date | The recorded push date; a hyphen means it is unknown. |
| Last pushed email | The user's Git author email. |
This is a snapshot of current active committers, not a complete list of licenses billed throughout the period. A lower present-day count can therefore coexist with a higher license charge.
Three report rows can represent two people
Under the active-committer rules, a commit must have been pushed within the last 90 days; its original authoring date is not decisive. Each person consumes one license across the organization or enterprise, even when contributing to multiple enabled repositories.
Consider a hypothetical organization with two enabled private repositories. Alex contributed to A and B, while Blair contributed only to A. All contributions fall within the active window, and neither person contributed to another enabled repository.
| Report entries | After disabling A |
|---|---|
| Alex → A; Alex → B | Alex still needs a license through B. |
| Blair → A | Blair can leave the active license count. |
The three rows initially represent two users. Disabling A leaves one active user, but a peak of two already reached in this period still governs its license charge. Next period's count also depends on subsequent contributions and enablement changes.
Group the report by username before counting. “Unique to a repository” is useful because it identifies people who would have no remaining enabled repository in that scope—not everyone who appears beside that repository.
The license export is only one part of reconciliation
The published price is $10 per committer per month for private repositories, plus usage. Public repositories have no per-committer charge, although AI-powered work remains usage-billed.
For the wider bill, use the billing usage report to attribute spending to repositories or organizations. On the AI usage page, group by Product to isolate Code Quality's credit consumption.
Use the license CSV to decide which repository changes affect future headcount. Reconcile the current bill against the period's peak licenses and incurred usage, rather than multiplying today's CSV row count by the seat price.