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This version of GitHub Enterprise Server was discontinued on 2024-01-04. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise Server. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Commenting on a pull request

After you open a pull request in a repository, collaborators or team members can comment on the comparison of files between the two specified branches, or leave general comments on the project as a whole.

About pull request comments

You can comment on a pull request's Conversation tab to leave general comments, questions, or props. You can also suggest changes that the author of the pull request can apply directly from your comment.

You can also comment on specific sections of a file in a pull request's Files changed tab in the form of individual line comments, or as part of a pull request review. Adding line comments is a great way to discuss questions about implementation or provide feedback to the author. For more information about pull request reviews, see "About pull request reviews."

For more information on adding line comments to a pull request review, see "Reviewing proposed changes in a pull request."

Note: If you reply to a pull request via email, your comment will be added on the Conversation tab and will not be part of a pull request review.

To reply to an existing line comment, you'll need to navigate to the comment on either the Conversation tab or Files changed tab and add an additional comment below it.

Tips:

  • Pull request comments support the same formatting as regular comments on GitHub Enterprise Server, such as @mentions, emoji, and references.
  • You can add reactions to comments in pull requests in the Files changed tab.

Adding comments to a pull request

  1. Under your repository name, click Pull requests.

    Screenshot of the main page of a repository. In the horizontal navigation bar, a tab, labeled "Pull requests," is outlined in dark orange.

  2. In the list of pull requests, click the pull request where you'd like to leave line comments.

  3. On the pull request, click Files changed.

    Screenshot of the tabs for a pull request. The "Files changed" tab is outlined in dark orange.

  4. Hover over the line of code where you'd like to add a comment, and click the blue comment icon. To add a comment on multiple lines, click and drag to select the range of lines, then click the blue comment icon.

    Screenshot of a diff in a pull request. Next to a line number, a blue plus icon is highlighted with an orange outline.

  5. In the comment field, type your comment.

  6. Optionally, to suggest a specific change to the line or lines, click , then edit the text within the suggestion block.

    Screenshot of a review comment box. The file diff icon to suggest a specific change is outlined in dark orange.

  7. When you're done, click Add single comment.

Anyone watching the pull request or repository will receive a notification of your comment.

Resolving conversations

You can resolve a conversation in a pull request if you opened the pull request or if you have write access to the repository where the pull request was opened.

To indicate that a conversation on the Files changed tab is complete, click Resolve conversation.

The entire conversation will be collapsed and marked as resolved, making it easier to find conversations that still need to be addressed.

If the suggestion in a comment is out of your pull request's scope, you can open a new issue that tracks the feedback and links back to the original comment. For more information, see "Creating an issue."

Discovering and navigating conversations

You can discover and navigate to all the conversations in your pull request using the Conversations menu that's shown at the top of the Files Changed tab.

From this view, you can see which conversations are unresolved, resolved, and outdated. This makes it easy to discover and resolve conversations.

Screenshot of the "Conversations" menu on the "Files Changed" tab of a pull request.

Further reading