Lesson 11 of 15

Pull Requests

What is a Pull Request?

A pull request (PR) is a proposal to merge changes from one branch into another. It's the primary collaboration mechanism on GitHub.

  • Propose changes for review before merging
  • Discuss code changes with your team
  • Run automated tests and checks
  • Keep a record of what changed and why
  • Require approvals before merging

Creating a Pull Request

Push your branch to GitHub, then create a PR through the GitHub website or CLI.

Example 
# 1. Create and push a feature branch
git switch -c feature-auth
# ... make changes ...
git add .
git commit -m "Add authentication system"
git push -u origin feature-auth

# 2. Create PR via GitHub CLI
gh pr create --title "Add authentication" \
  --body "Implements JWT-based auth with login/register"

# 3. View PR status
gh pr status

# 4. After approval, merge
gh pr merge --squash

PR Best Practices

Good pull requests are easy to review and understand.

  • Keep PRs small and focused on one thing
  • Write a clear description of what changed and why
  • Add screenshots for UI changes
  • Reference related issues: 'Closes #42'
  • Respond to review comments promptly
  • Don't force-push after review has started