Reviews allow collaborators to comment on the changes proposed in pull requests, approve the changes, or request further changes before the pull request is merged. Repository administrators can require that all pull requests are approved before being merged.

After a pull request is opened, anyone with read access can review and comment on the changes it proposes. Repository owners and collaborators can also request a pull request review from a specific person.

Reviews allow for discussion of proposed changes and help ensure that the changes meet the repository's contributing guidelines and other quality standards.

Header of review requesting changes with line comments

A review has three possible statuses:

  • Comment: Submit general feedback without explicitly approving the changes or requesting additional changes.
  • Approve: Submit feedback and approve merging the changes proposed in the pull request.
  • Request changes: Submit feedback that must be addressed before the pull request can be merged.

Image of review statuses

Tips:

  • If required reviews are enabled and a collaborator with write, admin, or owner access to the repository submits a review requesting changes, the pull request cannot be merged until the same collaborator submits another review approving the changes in the pull request.
  • Repository owners and administrators can merge a pull request even if it hasn't received an approved review, or if a reviewer who requested changes has left the organization or is unavailable.

You can view all of the reviews a pull request has received in the Conversation timeline, and you can see reviews by repository owners and collaborators in the pull request's merge box.

Image of reviews in a merge box

Required reviews

Repository administrators can require that all pull requests receive at least one approved review from someone with write or admin permissions before they're merged into a protected branch. For more information, see "About protected branches."

When required reviews are enabled, anyone with access to the repository can approve changes in a pull request. However, to merge your pull request you need someone who has write or admin permissions in the repository to approve your pull request's changes in their review.

For more information, see "About required reviews for pull requests."

Tip: If necessary, people with admin or write access to a repository can dismiss a pull request review. For more information, see "Dismissing a pull request review."

Further reading