What happens to GHCR packages when you transfer a personal github repo to an organization?

[LukeGus]

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I'm the developer of this repository, and I'm planning to transfer it from my personal account to an organization. The repository’s GHCR Docker package has over 500,000 downloads, so I want to make sure the migration doesn’t break anything.

In a previous case, when I moved another project to an organization, its associated package was removed. Before I proceed, I’d like to confirm: is it possible to transfer a repository from a personal account to an organization without losing its associated GHCR package?

For example, is there any way to redirect the existing image path
ghcr.io/lukegus/termix
to the new organization path
ghcr.io/karmaas-software/termix?

It would be a huge inconvenience for the community if users had to manually update their Docker Compose files to point to the new image.

[tmilost]

Hi @LukeGus,

When you transfer a repository from your personal account to an organization, the associated GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) package is not automatically redirected or migrated to the new owner’s namespace. For example, your image at ghcr.io/lukegus/termix will not redirect to ghcr.io/karmaas-software/termix—it will remain under your personal namespace unless you manually migrate it.

What happens after transfer:

• The package (GHCR image) stays where it was published: ghcr.io/<old-owner>/<image>.
• The old image does NOT automatically move or redirect to the organization's namespace.
• Pulling from the old path will not fetch images from the new org path.
• Users will need to update their references if you re-publish or push new versions under the org’s namespace.

Steps to preserve continuity:

1. Push the image to the new namespace: After the repo transfer, re-tag and push your Docker image to the new org path (ghcr.io/karmaas-software/termix).
2. Inform your users: Announce the change and ask users to update their Docker Compose files and CI/CD pipelines.
3. (Optional) Retain the old image: You can leave the old image as-is for continuity, but it won’t receive new updates automatically.
4. No Redirects: GHCR does NOT currently support redirects from old owner/package namespaces to new ones.

References:

• GitHub Docs – Transferring a repository
• GHCR Package Documentation

Summary:
You’ll need to manually migrate your package and there is currently no built-in redirect feature for GHCR images when moving repositories between owners. Users must update their references to use the new image location.

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