# Status checks Understand how status checks ensure commits meet repository conditions, assist pull request reviews, and manage validations like builds, tests, and deployments. Status checks show whether commits meet the conditions set for a repository. They are usually created by external systems, such as continuous integration builds, tests, code scanning, or deployment checks. Status checks help reviewers and maintainers understand whether a pull request is ready to merge. A check can show that work is still running, that changes passed validation, or that something needs attention. ![Screenshot of a list of commits and statuses.](/assets/images/help/pull_requests/commit-list-statuses.png) Anyone with write permissions to a repository can set the state for any status check in the repository. If status checks are required for a protected branch, they must pass before the pull request can be merged. See [About protected branches](/en/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-protected-branches/about-protected-branches#require-status-checks-before-merging). > \[!NOTE] > A job that is skipped will report its status as "Success". It will not prevent a pull request from merging, even if it is a required check. ## Types of status checks on GitHub There are two types of status checks on GitHub: | Type | Detail level | Created by | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | Checks | Detailed output, annotations, and messages. | GitHub Apps, including GitHub Actions. | | Commit statuses | A simpler status for a commit. | External services and integrations. | > \[!NOTE] > GitHub Actions generates checks, not commit statuses, when workflows are run. Organization owners and users with push access to a repository can create checks and commit statuses with GitHub's API. See [REST API endpoints for checks](/en/rest/checks) and [REST API endpoints for commit statuses](/en/rest/commits/statuses). ## Checks Checks can include build logs, test results, annotations, and links to more detail. In a pull request, the **Checks** tab helps you understand which validations ran and why a check passed or failed. ![Screenshot of the "Checks" tab of a pull request. The "Checks" tab and the dropdown menu to select a commit are both outlined in dark orange.](/assets/images/help/pull_requests/checks-summary-for-various-commits.png) > \[!NOTE] > The **Checks** tab is populated for pull requests only if you set up *checks*, not *commit statuses*, for the repository. When a check points to a specific line, details can also appear in the **Files** tab of the pull request. This helps reviewers connect automated feedback to the code being changed. ## Skipping and requesting checks for individual commits Some repositories allow checks to be skipped or requested for individual commits. This can be useful when a check is not relevant to a specific change, or when checks are not requested automatically. For GitHub Actions workflows, you can skip workflow runs triggered by the `push` and `pull_request` events by including a skip instruction in your commit message. See [Skipping workflow runs](/en/actions/how-tos/manage-workflow-runs/skip-workflow-runs). Alternatively, to skip or request *all* checks for your commit, add one of the following trailer lines to the end of your commit message: * To *skip checks* for a commit, type your commit message and a short, meaningful description of your changes. After your commit description, before the closing quotation, add two empty lines followed by `skip-checks: true`: ```shell $ git commit -m "Update README > > skip-checks: true" ``` * To *request* checks for a commit, type your commit message and a short, meaningful description of your changes. After your commit description, before the closing quotation, add two empty lines followed by `request-checks: true`: ```shell $ git commit -m "Refactor usability tests > > request-checks: true" ``` By default, Git automatically removes consecutive newlines. To leave the commit message exactly as you entered it, use the `--cleanup=verbatim` option on your commit. For more information, see [`--cleanup=`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit#Documentation/git-commit.txt---cleanupltmodegt) in the Git documentation. ## Check statuses and conclusions Checks move through statuses as they run, then receive a conclusion when they finish. Some statuses cannot be set manually and are reserved for GitHub Actions. | Status | Description | GitHub Actions only? | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | | `completed` | The check run completed and has a conclusion (see below). | No | | `expected` | The check run is waiting for a status to be reported. | Yes | | `failure` | The check run failed. | No | | `in_progress` | The check run is in progress. | No | | `pending` | The check run is at the front of the queue but the [group-based concurrency](/en/actions/writing-workflows/choosing-what-your-workflow-does/control-the-concurrency-of-workflows-and-jobs) limit has been reached. | Yes | | `queued` | The check run has been queued. | No | | `requested` | The check run has been created but has not been queued. | Yes | | `startup_failure` | The check suite failed during startup. This status is not applicable to check runs. | Yes | | `waiting` | The check run is waiting for a [deployment protection rule](/en/actions/managing-workflow-runs-and-deployments/managing-deployments/managing-environments-for-deployment#deployment-protection-rules) to be satisfied. | Yes | When a check has a status of `completed`, it has a conclusion. A successful conclusion usually means the check does not block merging. A failure, timeout, or action-required conclusion usually means someone must review the details before the pull request can merge. | Conclusion | Description | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `action_required` | The check run provided required actions upon its completion. For more information, see [Using the REST API to interact with checks](/en/rest/guides/using-the-rest-api-to-interact-with-checks#check-runs-and-requested-actions). | | `cancelled` | The check run was cancelled before it completed. | | `failure` | The check run failed. | | `neutral` | The check run completed with a neutral result. This is treated as a success for dependent checks in GitHub Actions. | | `skipped` | The check run was skipped. This is treated as a success for dependent checks in GitHub Actions. | | `stale` | The check run was marked stale by GitHub because it took too long. | | `success` | The check run completed successfully. | | `timed_out` | The check run timed out. | ## Retention of checks GitHub retains checks data for 400 days. After 400 days, the data is archived. 10 days after archival, the data is permanently deleted. To merge a pull request with checks that are both required and archived, you must rerun the checks.