Managing requirements for merging a pull request with approval rules

When you create a pull request, you can choose to add required or optional reviewers to that individual pull request. However, you can also create requirements that all pull requests must meet when merging to a specific destination branch. These requirements are called approval rules. Approval rules are configured for branches in a repository. When you create a pull request whose destination branch has an approval rule configured for it, the requirements for that rule must be met in addition to approvals from any required reviewers before you can merge the pull request to that branch. Creating approval rules can help you maintain quality standards for merges to branches such as your default branch.

Approval rules that are applied to the default branch of your source repository will behave a little differently than approval rules applied to other branches. Any rule applied to the default branch will be automatically applied to any branch you specify as the default branch. The branch that was formerly set as the default branch will still keep the rules applied to it.

When you create approval rules, you should consider how that rule will be met by your project users both in the present and in the future. For example, if you have six users in your project, and you create an approval rule that requires five approvals before it can be merged to the destination branch, you have effectively created a rule that requires everyone except the person who created the pull requets to approve that pull request before it can be merged.

Note

You must have the Project administrator role to create and manage approval rules in CodeCatalyst projects. You cannot create approval rules for linked repositories.

You cannot delete approval rules, but you can update them to require zero approvals, which effectively removes the rule.

To view and edit approval rules for destination branches for pull requests

1. Navigate to the project where your repository resides.

2. Choose the name of the repository from the list of source repositories for the project. Alternatively, in the navigation pane, choose Code, and then choose Source repositories.

   Choose the repository where you want to view approval rules.

3. On the overview page of the repository, choose Branches.

4. In the Approval rules column, choose View to see the status of any rules for each branch of the repository.

   In Minimum number of approvals, the number corresponds to the number of approvals required before a pull request can be merged to that branch.

5. To create or change an approval rule, choose Manage settings. On the settings page for the source repository, in Approval rules, choose Edit.

   Note

   You must have the Project administrator role to edit approval rules.

6. In Branch, choose the name of the branch for which you want to configure an approval rule from the drop-down list. In Minimum number of approvals, enter a number, and then choose Save.