Set code scanning merge protection

You can use rulesets to set code scanning merge protection for pull requests.

Who can use this feature?

Organization owners, security managers, and organization members with the admin role

Code scanning is available for the following repository types:

  • Public repositories on GitHub.com
  • Organization-owned repositories on GitHub Enterprise Cloud with GitHub Advanced Security enabled

In this article

About using rulesets for code scanning merge protection

Note

  • Merge protection with rulesets is not related to status checks. For more information about status checks, see About status checks.
  • Merge protection with rulesets will not apply to merge queue groups or Dependabot pull requests analyzed by default setup.

You can use rulesets to prevent pull requests from being merged when one of the following conditions is met:

  • A required tool found a code scanning alert of a severity that is defined in a ruleset.

  • A required code scanning tool's analysis is still in progress.

  • A required code scanning tool is not configured for the repository.

Typically you should use rulesets target long-lived feature branches, where you would like to guarantee that code has been analyzed before pull requests can be merged.

Configuring a code scanning rule will not automatically enable code scanning. For more information about how to enable code scanning, see Configuring default setup for code scanning.

For more information about code scanning alerts, see About code scanning alerts.

You can set merge protection with rulesets at the repository level, and for repositories configured with either default setup or advanced setup. You can also use the REST API to set merge protection with rulesets.

For more information about rulesets, see About rulesets.

Creating a merge protection ruleset for a repository

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

  2. Under your repository name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

    Screenshot of a repository header showing the tabs. The "Settings" tab is highlighted by a dark orange outline.

  3. In the left sidebar, under "Code and automation," click Rules, then click Rulesets.

    Screenshot of the sidebar of the "Settings" page for a repository. The "Rules" sub-menu is expanded, and the "Rulesets" option is outlined in orange.

  4. Click New ruleset.

  5. To create a ruleset targeting branches, click New branch ruleset.

  6. Under "Ruleset name," type a name for the ruleset.

  7. Optionally, to change the default enforcement status, click Disabled and select an enforcement status. For more information about enforcement statuses, see About rulesets.

  8. Under "Branch protections", select Require code scanning results.

  9. Under "Required tools and alert thresholds", click Add tool and select a code scanning tool with the dropdown. For example, "CodeQL".

  10. Next to the name of a code scanning tool:

    • Click Alerts and select one of: None, Errors, Errors and Warnings or All.
    • Click Security alerts and select one of: None, Critical, High or higher, Medium or higher, or All.

    Screenshot of the "Required tools and alert thresholds" section of "Rulesets" settings.

For more information about alert severity and security severity levels, see About code scanning alerts.

For more information about managing rulesets in a repository, see Managing rulesets for a repository.

Creating a merge protection ruleset with the REST API

You can use the REST API to create a ruleset with the code_scanning rule, which allows you to define specific tools and set alert thresholds. For more information, see REST API endpoints for rules.