# Gh Pull Request > Verify, commit, and push changes on a PR branch. Runs pre-flight checks (compile, checkstyle, license headers) before every push. Also creates the PR if one doesn't exist yet. - Skill: `apache/gh-pull-request` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add apache/gh-pull-request` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/apache/gh-pull-request/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: apache (https://skillmd.com/u/apache) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/apache/gh-pull-request --- # PR Branch Workflow Run pre-flight checks, commit, push, and optionally create a PR. ## Pre-flight checks Run these checks before every commit+push and fix any failures: ### 1. Compile and checkstyle ```bash # Checkstyle ./mvnw -B -q clean checkstyle:check # Full build (compile + javadoc) ./mvnw clean flatten:flatten install javadoc:javadoc -B -q -Pall \ -Dmaven.test.skip \ -Dcheckstyle.skip \ -Dgpg.skip ``` ### 2. License header check ```bash license-eye header check ``` If invalid files are found, fix with `license-eye header fix` and re-check. ### 3. Unnecessary fully-qualified class names The project checkstyle forbids inline FQCNs — every type reference in code should resolve through an `import`, not a fully-qualified name. Checkstyle does not always catch this (it misses cases like inline `java.util.HashMap`, `java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit`, or `org.apache.skywalking.oap.server.telemetry.api.HistogramMetrics.Timer` used as a local variable type, generic parameter, or `new` target). Audit the files the branch touched before pushing: Use the `Grep` tool (ripgrep) rather than BSD `grep` on macOS — the scan below relies on a negative lookahead that BSD `grep` doesn't support and GNU `grep -P` does: ``` pattern: ^(?!\s*(import |package |\s*\*)).*\b(java\.util\.|java\.io\.|java\.nio\.|java\.util\.concurrent\.|javassist\.|org\.apache\.skywalking\.)[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9_]* glob: *.java output_mode: content -n: true ``` Scope the scan to files the branch touched, not the whole tree — pre-existing FQDNs on unrelated files generate noise. Use `git diff --name-only master...HEAD -- '*.java'` to get the changed list, then run the ripgrep pattern against each. Acceptable exceptions (same as the `CLAUDE.md` rule): - Two classes with the same simple name would collide if both imported. - A Javadoc `{@link}` where the short name would be ambiguous to the reader. - Inside a string literal (e.g., a class name passed to `Class.forName`). Fix every other hit — add an `import` and switch to the short name. This includes `new java.util.HashMap<>()`, `java.util.Set` parameter types, and `org.apache.skywalking.oap.server.telemetry.api.HistogramMetrics.Timer` as a local variable type. Field declarations, method signatures, local variables, and generic type arguments should all use the imported short name. Re-run checkstyle after the fix — a sloppy `sed`/`replace_all` can corrupt the `import` line itself (e.g., turning `import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;` into `import ReentrantLock;`), which causes a cryptic checkstyle `Range [0, -1) out of bounds for length N` error, not a normal violation line. If you see that error, inspect the imports block first. ## Commit and push After checks pass, commit and push: ```bash git add git commit -m "" git push -u origin ``` ### Branch strategy - **Never work directly on master branch** - If on master, create a new branch first: `git checkout -b feature/` or `git checkout -b fix/` ## Create PR (if not yet created) Check whether a PR already exists for the current branch: ```bash gh pr view --json number 2>/dev/null ``` If no PR exists, create one: ### PR title Summarize the changes concisely. Examples: - `Fix BanyanDB query timeout issue` - `Add support for OpenTelemetry metrics` ### PR description Read `.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE` and use its **exact format with checkboxes**. Do NOT use a custom summary format. Key template sections — uncomment the relevant one: **For Bug Fixes:** ``` ### Fix - [ ] Add a unit test to verify that the fix works. - [ ] Explain briefly why the bug exists and how to fix it. ``` **For New Features:** ``` ### - [ ] If this is non-trivial feature, paste the links/URLs to the design doc. - [ ] Update the documentation to include this new feature. - [ ] Tests(including UT, IT, E2E) are added to verify the new feature. - [ ] If it's UI related, attach the screenshots below. ``` **For Performance Improvements:** ``` ### Improve the performance of - [ ] Add a benchmark for the improvement. - [ ] The benchmark result. - [ ] Links/URLs to the theory proof or discussion articles/blogs. ``` **Always include:** ``` - [ ] If this pull request closes/resolves/fixes an existing issue, replace the issue number. Closes #. - [ ] Update the [`CHANGES` log](https://github.com/apache/skywalking/blob/master/docs/en/changes/changes.md). ``` ### Create command ```bash gh pr create --title "" --body "$(cat <<'EOF' <PR body from template> EOF )" ``` ### Post-creation - Add `copilot` as a reviewer: `gh pr edit <number> --add-reviewer copilot` - Do NOT add AI assistant as co-author. Code responsibility is on the committer's hands. - Return the PR URL when done. ## After the PR is merged Once the PR is merged, sync the default branch and clean up the feature branch: ```bash # 1. Prune stale remote refs. GitHub auto-deletes the PR's branch on merge, so # the remote feature branch is usually already gone; --prune removes the # dangling local tracking ref. git fetch origin --prune # 2. Switch back to the default branch and fast-forward it to include the merge. git checkout master git pull --ff-only origin master # 3. Confirm the change actually landed in master before deleting anything — # `git log --oneline -1` should show the merge/squash commit with the PR # number, or grep for a symbol the PR introduced. git log --oneline -1 # 4. Delete the local feature branch. SkyWalking SQUASH-merges PRs, so the # feature branch's commit is NOT an ancestor of master (master gets a new # squash commit instead). `git branch -d` therefore reports "not fully # merged" — that is expected, not an error. After confirming the content is # in master (step 3), force-delete: git branch -d <branch> 2>/dev/null || git branch -D <branch> ``` Notes: - `git branch -d` failing with "not fully merged" on a squash-merged PR is normal — the squash commit has a different SHA than the feature commit. Verify via step 3, then `-D`. - If the remote branch was not auto-deleted (some repo settings), remove it explicitly: `git push origin --delete <branch>`. - Do NOT skip step 3. Force-deleting a local branch whose work didn't actually merge loses it.