Key takeaways
- Bitbucket Cloud shows each repository's size on the Size line of Repository details; add the repositories to get a total in GB, or run git count-objects -v on a mirror clone and read size-pack.
- git clone --mirror copies every branch, tag and commit but not pull requests or their comments, and downloaded .zip archives are capped at 2 GB, so a clone is the dependable export.
- Atlassian scheduled the removal of Bitbucket Cloud's issue tracker for August 20, 2026; where it still exists, Issues > Import & export > Start export gives a ZIP with db-2.0.json and attachments.
- You don't need to export anything to apply: have your size in GB, your years of history and your user count ready, and the data vendor anonymizes the records before any AI lab sees them.
01
What is Bitbucket data, and why do AI labs and data vendors buy it?
The short answer
Bitbucket data is the stored history of a company's software: every file in its repositories, every change made to them, and the pull requests where colleagues reviewed those changes. AI labs (companies that build and train AI models) and data vendors (companies that anonymize business records and package them for those labs) buy a copy because a repository shows how working software was built, one reviewed change at a time.
What a Bitbucket workspace records
Bitbucket Cloud is a service that hosts Git repositories. Git is the tool most software teams use to save versions of their code, and a repository is a project's folder together with the complete history of every change made to it. A company's Bitbucket workspace is its account, and it holds all of the company's repositories.
- Commit
- One saved set of changes, recorded with its author, its time and a short message that says why the change was made.
- Branch
- A separate line of work, where a developer can try a change without touching the main version of the code.
- Pull request
- A proposal to merge a branch into the main code, where colleagues read the change, comment on it and approve it.
- Issue
- A written report of a bug or a request for a feature, kept in Bitbucket's built-in issue tracker.
Why a repository's history teaches an AI model something
An AI model learns by studying a very large number of examples and finding the patterns in them, and those examples are called training data. The finished code in a public project shows only the end result. A company's repository history shows how the code changed: what was asked for, the change that was written, and the fix that followed once something broke.
Bitbucket repositories often sit beside Jira, Atlassian's tool for tracking tasks, so commit messages and branch names carry a ticket key such as the code for a task. That key lets a code change be matched to the written request that caused it. AI labs now want to train AI agents, software that carries out a job step by step, and turning a request into working code is a job they care about. The full mechanism is in AI training data: why AI companies want your company's data.
How Bitbucket fits into a dataset
Bitbucket is usually one app among several in a company's dataset, alongside chat, email and project-tracking records. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to. The price covers the whole dataset, not each app on its own, and what your data is worth explains what moves it.
02
Where does Bitbucket show how much data you have?
The short answer
Bitbucket Cloud shows each repository's size on the Size line of its Repository details page, which you reach from the repository's Settings. You add the sizes across the workspace and report the total in gigabytes (GB). Workspace admins and repository admins can open a repository's settings.
How to read a repository's size
The steps below give the size of one repository, and Atlassian's repository and file size limits page describes the same path.
- Open the repository in Bitbucket Cloud and, in the left sidebar beside the repository name, select More actions, then Settings.
- On the Repository details page, read the Size line.
- Repeat for every repository in the workspace and add the sizes together.
How to get an exact figure from Git
For a precise number, make a mirror clone, which is a complete copy of a repository's Git data including every branch and tag, and read its size from Git. The person who runs this needs read access to the repository.
git clone --mirror \
https://bitbucket.org/WORKSPACE/REPO.git
cd REPO.git
git count-objects -vThe size-pack line is the size of the repository's compressed history, and Atlassian's page on checking a repository's size says Git prints it in kilobytes. The same page warns that the copy Bitbucket keeps can be somewhat larger than a clone, because the server holds some objects that a clone leaves out.
What your plan limits
| Plan | Storage limit |
|---|---|
| Free | 1 GB of total repository storage across the whole workspace. |
| Standard and Premium | 4 GB for each repository, with a warning message once a repository passes 2 GB. |
A repository that passes 4 GB is set to read-only, and Atlassian says Premium customers who need more can contact its support team. A workspace near these limits is a sign that its history is large and mostly binary files, which is worth noting in your total.
Why the total can fall short
The Size line covers the repository's Git data, so pull request discussions and issues are not in it. Git LFS (Large File Storage), which keeps big files such as images outside the normal Git history, is not described as counting toward the size on Atlassian's limits page, so check your LFS usage separately and add it to the total.
03
What should you know about your Bitbucket data before you apply?
The short answer
Have three facts ready: the total size of your repositories in GB, how many years of history they cover and how many users are on your workspace plan. They go into the data manifest, the written summary of which apps hold your records, how many years each covers and roughly how much. Applying shares no data, and you don't need to run an export first.
The size in GB
Report the total across all repositories in GB, taken from the Size lines or from the size-pack values of your mirror clones. Add any Git LFS files if your team uses them.
The years of history
The years of history come from the date of the oldest commit across your main repositories. Running git log --reverse on the default branch lists the oldest commit first.
The number of seats
Count the users on your workspace plan, which is the number of people Bitbucket bills you for.
What you don't need to do first
You don't need to export anything to apply, and you don't need to clean or scrub a repository. The data vendor anonymizes the records before anyone else sees them, and nothing moves until a lawyer-reviewed license is signed. The application, the intro call and each later step are laid out in how to sell your company's data.
04
How do you export your full Bitbucket history?
The short answer
Make a mirror clone of every repository with git clone --mirror, which copies each branch, tag and commit. A clone does not hold pull requests or their comments, and Atlassian scheduled the removal of Bitbucket Cloud's issue tracker for August 20, 2026, so issues survive only where they were exported or moved to Jira before then.
Step 1: copy the code and its history
- For each repository, run
git clone --mirrorwith its URL. This brings down every branch, tag and commit. - Compress each folder into a
.zipor.tar.gzfile so it is easy to move. - Prefer
git cloneover the Downloads page, because Atlassian caps downloaded archive.zipfiles at 2 GB.
Step 2: export the issue tracker, if you still have one
Atlassian's support page for the issue tracker says the tracker leaves Bitbucket Cloud on August 20, 2026, with a ZIP export or a migration to Jira as the two options. That date has passed, so a repository that no longer shows Issues has nothing left to export here. If a repository does still show the tracker, the export takes a few clicks.
- Open the repository and go to Issues, then Import & export.
- Select Start export.
- When the export is ready, download the ZIP from the link on screen or from the email Bitbucket sends.
The ZIP holds a db-2.0.json file with the issues and an attachments folder. If issues were moved into Jira, they are exported from Jira instead.
What each method captures
A clone and an issue export cover different parts of the same repository. The diagram shows the same three kinds of content for each.
Size limits that shape how you export
Atlassian's limits page lists the numbers that matter when moving data. Bitbucket warns at 2 GB, sets a repository to read-only at 4 GB, and refuses a single push larger than 3.5 GB. Archive downloads from the Downloads page stop at 2 GB, which is why a clone is the dependable route for large repositories.
What Bitbucket's export leaves out
A mirror clone leaves out pull requests and everything written on them, because those discussions stay in Bitbucket and are not part of Git. If pull request discussions matter for your dataset, say so when you speak with the data vendor, since they need a separate method.
Sources: Atlassian's pages on repository and file size limits, on exporting or importing issue data and How to check your repository's size and identify large files. Steps checked against these pages in November 2026.
05
What stays private when Bitbucket data is licensed?
The short answer
The company chooses which repositories are in scope, and the data vendor replaces names and other personal details with consistent stand-ins before an AI lab sees anything. The company keeps ownership of its code history, and the license covers defined material for a defined use.
You choose what is in scope
A company picks the repositories it wants to license, so repositories for infrastructure, security work or experiments can stay out. A repository's history can also hold things nobody meant to keep, so the data vendor deletes records too sensitive to clean safely instead of anonymizing them.
Names are replaced before a lab sees them
Anonymization means replacing every detail that identifies a person, such as a name or an email address, with a stand-in that is the same every time it appears. In a repository, the details are mainly the author names and email addresses on commits. The sequence of the change and the fix still reads in order, which is what a lab learns from. The method is in how company data is anonymized for AI training.
Ownership and payment
Licensing gives the buyer limited rights to a copy, while the company keeps ownership of the originals. The terms that matter, such as exclusivity, permitted use and deletion, are covered in data licensing. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of accepting the data, usually as a single payment.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does the Bitbucket Size line include Git LFS files?
Probably not. Atlassian's limits page never states that LFS storage is part of the Size figure, so look at your LFS usage on its own and add it to the total you report.
Can we still export Bitbucket issues?
Only where a repository still shows the issue tracker. Atlassian set August 20, 2026 as the date it would remove the tracker from Bitbucket Cloud, offering a ZIP export or a migration to Jira, so look in Jira if your issues have vanished. Where the tracker remains, open Issues, then Import & export, and select Start export.
Are Bitbucket pull requests included in a mirror clone?
No. Git stores branches, tags and commits, so that is all a clone contains. The discussions on a pull request live in Bitbucket itself and never reach your copy.
What do I get from a Bitbucket issue export?
A ZIP file with a db-2.0.json file holding the issues and an attachments folder. Bitbucket sends the download link by email or shows it on screen.
Why does Bitbucket say a repository is read-only?
Bitbucket Cloud sets a repository to read-only once it passes 4 GB, and it warns you at 2 GB. Pushes larger than 3.5 GB are also refused, so large histories are moved in smaller pushes or kept in Git LFS.
Do we need to export Bitbucket before we apply?
No. The application takes about two minutes and shares no data. You only need your total size in GB, your years of history and your user count for the intro call, and the export comes later, after you sign the license.
What is Bitbucket data worth to AI labs and data vendors?
Repository history is priced as part of a whole dataset rather than on its own. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, and the price depends on the years of history and how completely the records show each job. What your data is worth explains the factors.
Bottom line
Know what is in Bitbucket, then see what it is worth
You don't need to export anything to apply. Apply in two minutes, describe your records on the intro call, and micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, prices the whole dataset and sends an offer 1–2 days later.
Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from micro1's published pages and public reporting as of November 2026.