Creating a pull request template for your repository

When you add a pull request template to your repository, project contributors will automatically see the template's contents in the pull request body.

In this article

For more information, see About issue and pull request templates.

You can create a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ subdirectory in any of the supported folders to contain multiple pull request templates, and use the template query parameter to specify the template that will fill the pull request body. For more information, see Using query parameters to create a pull request.

You can create default pull request templates for your organization or personal account. For more information, see Creating a default community health file.

Adding a pull request template

  1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  2. Above the list of files, select the Add file dropdown menu, then click Create new file.

    Alternatively, you can click in the file tree view on the left.

    Screenshot of the main page of a repository. Above the list of files, a button, labeled "Add file," is outlined in dark orange. In the file tree view of the repository, a button with a plus sign icon is also outlined in dark orange.

  3. In the file name field:

    • To make your pull request template visible in the repository's root directory, name the pull request template pull_request_template.md.
    • To make your pull request template visible in the repository's docs directory, name the pull request template docs/pull_request_template.md.
    • To store your file in a hidden directory, name the pull request template .github/pull_request_template.md.
    • To create multiple pull request templates and use the template query parameter to specify a template to fill the pull request body, type .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/, then the name of your pull request template. For example, .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/pull_request_template.md. You can also store multiple pull request templates in a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE subdirectory within the root or docs/ directories. For more information, see Using query parameters to create a pull request.

  4. In the body of the new file, add your pull request template. This template could consist of asking to include:

    • A reference to a related issue in your repository.
    • A description of the changes proposed in the pull request.
    • @mentions of the person or team responsible for reviewing proposed changes.

  5. Click Commit changes...

  6. In the "Commit message" field, type a short, meaningful commit message that describes the change you made to the file. You can attribute the commit to more than one author in the commit message. For more information, see Creating a commit with multiple authors.

  7. Below the commit message fields, decide whether to add your commit to the current branch or to a new branch. If your current branch is the default branch, you should choose to create a new branch for your commit and then create a pull request. For more information, see Creating a pull request.

    Screenshot of a GitHub pull request showing a radio button to commit directly to the main branch or to create a new branch. New branch is selected.
    Templates are available to collaborators when they are merged into the repository's default branch.

  8. Click Commit changes or Propose changes.

Further reading