Pull Request Management

GitHub Pull Request Management Skill

This skill provides comprehensive pull request (PR) management operations including creating, listing, reviewing, merging, and managing PR status.

Available Operations

1. Create Pull Request

Create a new pull request from one branch to another.

2. List Pull Requests

List PRs with filters (state, base branch, head branch, etc.).

3. Get Pull Request Details

Retrieve detailed information about a specific PR.

4. Get Pull Request Files

View the list of files changed in a PR.

5. Get Pull Request Status

Check the status of CI/CD checks and reviews.

6. Get Pull Request Comments

View review comments on a PR.

7. Get Pull Request Reviews

View all reviews submitted on a PR.

8. Update Pull Request Branch

Update PR branch with latest changes from base branch.

9. Merge Pull Request

Merge a pull request using different merge strategies.

Usage Examples

Create a Pull Request

Basic PR:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo-name \
  --base main \
  --head feature-branch \
  --title "Add new feature" \
  --body "This PR adds a new feature to the application"

PR with labels and reviewers:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo-name \
  --base main \
  --head feature-branch \
  --title "Fix critical bug" \
  --body "Fixes issue #123" \
  --label "bug" \
  --label "urgent" \
  --reviewer reviewer1,reviewer2

Draft PR:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo-name \
  --base main \
  --head feature-branch \
  --title "WIP: New feature" \
  --body "Work in progress" \
  --draft

Interactive PR creation:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo-name
# Follow prompts for base, title, and body

PR from current branch:

cd repo-name
git checkout feature-branch
gh pr create --title "My feature" --body "Description"

PR with template:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo-name --template pull_request_template.md

List Pull Requests

List all open PRs:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name

List all PRs (including closed):

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --state all

List closed/merged PRs:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --state closed
gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --state merged

Filter by base branch:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --base main

Filter by head branch:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --head feature-branch

Filter by label:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --label "needs-review"

Filter by author:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --author username

Filter by assignee:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --assignee username

Limit results:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --limit 50

Custom JSON output:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo-name --json number,title,state,headRefName --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title) (\(.headRefName))"'

Get Pull Request Details

View PR in terminal:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name

View with comments:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --comments

View in browser:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --web

JSON output:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json number,title,body,state,isDraft,mergeable,reviews,statusCheckRollup

Get PR by branch:

gh pr view feature-branch --repo owner/repo-name

Get Pull Request Files

List changed files:

gh pr diff 123 --repo owner/repo-name --name-only

View full diff:

gh pr diff 123 --repo owner/repo-name

View diff for specific file:

gh pr diff 123 --repo owner/repo-name -- path/to/file.js

Get file list with stats:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/pulls/123/files --jq '.[] | "\(.filename): +\(.additions) -\(.deletions)"'

Get Pull Request Status

Check overall status:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json statusCheckRollup

Check if checks passed:

gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo-name

Watch checks in real-time:

gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo-name --watch

Check specific workflow:

gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json | jq '.[] | select(.name=="CI")'

Get Pull Request Comments

View comments:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --comments

Get review comments as JSON:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/pulls/123/comments --jq '.[] | {author: .user.login, body: .body, path: .path}'

List all conversation threads:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json comments --jq '.comments[] | "\(.author.login): \(.body)"'

Get Pull Request Reviews

View all reviews:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json reviews

Check review status:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json reviewDecision
# Returns: APPROVED, CHANGES_REQUESTED, or REVIEW_REQUIRED

List reviewers:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo-name --json reviews --jq '.reviews[] | {reviewer: .author.login, state: .state}'

Update Pull Request Branch

Update with base branch:

gh pr checkout 123 --repo owner/repo-name
git pull origin main
git push

Rebase on base branch:

gh pr checkout 123 --repo owner/repo-name
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main
git push --force-with-lease

Merge base into PR branch:

gh pr checkout 123 --repo owner/repo-name
git merge origin/main
git push

Using GitHub API to update:

gh api repos/owner/repo-name/pulls/123/update-branch -X PUT

Merge Pull Request

Merge with merge commit:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --merge

Squash and merge:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --squash

Rebase and merge:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --rebase

Auto-merge when checks pass:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --auto --squash

Merge with custom commit message:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --squash --subject "feat: add new feature" --body "Detailed description"

Delete branch after merge:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --squash --delete-branch

Merge and close issues:

gh pr merge 123 --repo owner/repo-name --squash --body "Fixes #456, closes #457"

Common Patterns

Complete PR Workflow

# 1. Create feature branch
cd repo-name
git checkout -b feature/new-feature
git commit -m "Add feature"
git push -u origin feature/new-feature

# 2. Create PR
gh pr create --title "Add new feature" --body "Implements feature X"

# 3. Check status
gh pr checks --watch

# 4. Request reviews
gh pr edit --add-reviewer team1,user1

# 5. Respond to feedback
git commit -m "Address review comments"
git push

# 6. Merge when ready
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch

Review and Approval Workflow

# 1. List PRs needing review
gh pr list --label "needs-review" --repo owner/repo-name

# 2. View PR details
gh pr view 123 --comments

# 3. Check out PR locally
gh pr checkout 123

# 4. Test changes
npm test

# 5. Add review (see code-review skill)
gh pr review 123 --approve --body "LGTM!"

# 6. Merge if approved
gh pr merge 123 --squash

Handle Merge Conflicts

# 1. Check if PR has conflicts
gh pr view 123 --json mergeable

# 2. Check out PR
gh pr checkout 123

# 3. Update with base branch
git fetch origin
git merge origin/main

# 4. Resolve conflicts
# (manually edit files)

# 5. Complete merge
git add .
git commit -m "Resolve merge conflicts"
git push

Draft PR Workflow

# 1. Create draft PR
gh pr create --draft --title "WIP: Feature X"

# 2. Continue working
git commit -m "Progress on feature"
git push

# 3. Mark as ready when done
gh pr ready 123

# 4. Request reviews
gh pr edit 123 --add-reviewer team1

Auto-merge Setup

# Enable auto-merge when checks pass
gh pr merge 123 --auto --squash

# Cancel auto-merge
gh pr merge 123 --auto=false

Error Handling

PR Already Exists

# Check for existing PR from branch
gh pr list --head feature-branch --repo owner/repo-name

Merge Conflicts

# Check if PR is mergeable
gh pr view 123 --json mergeable --jq '.mergeable'

# If not mergeable, update branch
gh pr checkout 123
git merge origin/main
# Resolve conflicts, commit, push

Failed Checks

# View failed checks
gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo-name

# View workflow runs
gh run list --branch feature-branch

# Rerun failed checks
gh run rerun <run-id>

Insufficient Permissions

# Check permissions
gh api repos/owner/repo-name --jq '.permissions'

# Ensure you're authenticated
gh auth status

Best Practices

1. Write clear PR descriptions: Explain what, why, and how
2. Reference issues: Use "Fixes #123" to auto-close issues
3. Keep PRs focused: One feature/fix per PR
4. Request specific reviewers: Tag relevant domain experts
5. Respond to feedback: Address all review comments
6. Keep branch updated: Regularly merge/rebase with base branch
7. Use draft PRs: For work-in-progress changes
8. Clean up branches: Delete branches after merging
9. Use templates: Create PR templates for consistency
10. Squash commits: Use squash merge for cleaner history

PR States and Transitions

[Draft] -> [Ready for Review]         # gh pr ready
[Open] -> [Merged]                    # gh pr merge
[Open] -> [Closed]                    # gh pr close
[Closed] -> [Open]                    # gh pr reopen
[Open] -> [Auto-merge Enabled]        # gh pr merge --auto

Integration with Other Skills

• Use issue-management to link PRs to issues
• Use code-review to add reviews and comments
• Use commit-operations to view commit history
• Use repository-management to manage branches

References

• GitHub CLI PR Documentation
• GitHub Pull Requests Guide
• GitHub Merge Methods