Work with GitHub pull requests
Pull requests are used in open-source projects or in some corporate workflows to manage changes from contributors and to initiate code review before such changes are merged.
By creating a pull request, you tell others about the changes you want to push to the original repository, so that the maintainers of that repository can review your changes, discuss them, and integrate them into the base branch.
Create a pull request
From the main menu, choose . The Pull Requests tool window opens.
In the Info tab, the repository on the left is the base repository that will receive the updates.
The repository on the right is the head repository with the changes that will be added to the base repository.
Alternatively, you can create a new pull request by opening the Pull Requests tab and clicking the
icon.Click the name of the base repository on the left. In the popup that opens, specify the branch to which you want to apply your changes.
Click the name of the head repository on the right. In the popup that opens, specify the branch that contains the changes you want to apply.
If you have a project that uses multiple remote repositories, you can change the head repository in this popup as well.
Specify the name for your pull request in the Title field, and, optionally, provide a description of the changes to be applied through your request.
In the Files tab, you can review the changes you are about to submit. Double-click the name of any file to open the Diff view.
In the Commits tab, review the list of commits that will be included in the pull request.
To view the details of a commit, click it to open the Diff view.
Optionally, add reviewers, assign your pull request to someone or add a label to your pull request.
Click Create Pull Request.
If you are not yet ready to push your pull request, you can save it as a draft.
Click the
button next to the Create Pull Request button.In the menu that opens, select Create Draft Pull Request.
Your pull request will appear in the GitHub repository as a draft. You can come back to it later by choosing in the main menu.
View and apply the suggested changes
If the maintainers of the original repository left comments or made suggestions with regard to your changes, you can view and apply them directly from IntelliJ IDEA.
From the main menu, select .
Open the Files tab. To the right of each file, you'll see a counter with the number of comments or suggestions a reviewer has left.
Open a file to view the comments.
You can either resolve a comment, or reply to it.
If the reviewer has left a suggestion, you'll see the diff between your code and suggested one and can either Apply locally (applies a patch to the working copy) or Commit (opens a commit message pop-up).
Both comments and suggestions are also displayed in the pull request timeline in the Info tab.
Manage incoming pull requests
If you're a project maintainer, and you have a GitHub remote configured for your project, you can view and manage incoming pull requests directly from IntelliJ IDEA.
To view incoming pull requests, select from the main menu.
Use the GitHub Pull Requests tool window to:
Filter requests by state, author, label, assignee, and review status.
Jump to a pull request on GitHub: select a pull request and choose Open on GitHub from the context menu.
View diff between the suggested changes and the base revision: click the name of a pull request, switch to the Files tab, select a file and click it or press Ctrl+D.
Create a local branch based on incoming changes: select a pull request and choose Create New Local Branch from the context menu.
Give feedback to a pull request
You may leave individual line comments or suggest a specific change to the code lines.
Leave a comment
Select a pull request and open a file in it.
Click
in the gutter or press Ctrl+Shift+X.Select Add a single comment to post a comment immediately or Start a review with a comment if you want to add more comments and then send them at once.
Type your comment and click
to post it.
Before you submit a review, your comments are marked Pending and you can edit them.
Leave a suggestion
Select a pull request and open a file in it.
Click
in the gutter or press Ctrl+Shift+X to leave a comment.In the comment field, add your version of the code wrapped in a Markdown code block but with the
suggestionspecified as a language:```suggestion Your suggestion for this code line ```
Submit a review
After posting a comment or a suggestion, you need to submit a review.
Click Submit on the toolbar.
Select one of the possible outcomes:
Approve: to approve merging changes.
Request changes: to submit feedback, a pull request author must apply before merging.
Comment: to submit a comment without approval.