If your pull request compares your topic branch with a branch in the upstream repository as the base branch, then your topic branch is also called the "compare branch" of the pull request.
For example:
- Your topic branch (also known as “feature branch”) is the branch where you’re making your changes in your forked repository (e.g.
my-topic-branch
). - The base branch is the branch in the upstream (central) repository that you want to merge your changes into (e.g.
main
). - The pull request compares the changes proposed by the topic branch (
my-topic-branch
) with the base branch (main
), somy-topic-branch
is known as the “compare branch”.
For more information about pull request branches, including examples, see "Creating a pull request."
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Navigate to the original repository where you created your fork.
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Above the list of files, in the yellow banner, click Compare & pull request to create a pull request for the associated branch.
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On the page to create a new pull request, click compare across forks.
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In the "base branch" dropdown menu, select the branch of the upstream repository you'd like to merge changes into.
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In the "head fork" dropdown menu, select your fork, then use the "compare branch" drop-down menu to select the branch you made your changes in.
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Type a title and description for your pull request.
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On user-owned forks, if you want to allow anyone with push access to the upstream repository to make changes to your pull request, select Allow edits from maintainers.
Warning: If your fork contains GitHub Actions workflows, the option is Allow edits and access to secrets by maintainers. Allowing edits on a fork's branch that contains GitHub Actions workflows also allows a maintainer to edit the forked repository's workflows, which can potentially reveal values of secrets and grant access to other branches.
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To create a pull request that is ready for review, click Create Pull Request. To create a draft pull request, use the drop-down and select Create Draft Pull Request, then click Draft Pull Request. For more information about draft pull requests, see "About pull requests."
Tip: After you create a pull request, you can ask a specific person to review your proposed changes. For more information, see "Requesting a pull request review."