Even if you're not watching a specific repository, you can subscribe to individual conversations that interest you.

  1. In the upper-right corner of any page, click your profile photo. Sample of an avatar
  2. On your profile page, click the Repositories tab, then click the name of your repository. Repository tab
  3. Click either the Issues tab or the Pull Requests tab for the repository. Issues or Pull Requests tab selection
  4. In the sidebar on the right, click Subscribe. Conversation Subscribe button

Once you subscribe to a conversation, you receive every notification thereafter, as though you were participating in the thread.

Further reading