velocity

Subscribe to all “velocity” posts via RSS or follow GitHub Changelog on Twitter to stay updated on everything we ship.

→ ~ cd github-changelog
→ ~/github-changelog|main git log main
showing all changes successfully

Pull request merge queue is now generally available!

Today we are announcing the general availability of pull request merge queue! 🎉

Merge queue helps increase velocity in software delivery by automating pull request merges into your busiest branches. Screenshot of pull request merge queue

Before merge queue, developers would often need to update their pull request branches prior to merging to ensure their changes wouldn't break the main branch because of incompatibilities with pull requests already merged. Each of these updates caused a new round of continuous integration (CI) checks that would have to finish before the developer could attempt to merge. Merge queue automates this process by ensuring each pull request queued for merging is tested with any other pull requests queued ahead of it.

Merge queue is available on private and public repos on the GitHub Enterprise Cloud plan and all public repos owned by organizations.

Check out this video demo of how merge queue works.

Updates

Over the last few months, we've been busy fixing bugs and responding to feedback. As part of the general availability, we're announcing the following updates:

  • New: A merge_group webhook event with an action of destroyed is now published when a merge group is destroyed for any reason, including when it's merged or invalidated because a pull request is removed from the queue.
  • Fixed: The before and created properties of the push webhook event published when a temporary branch is created by the queue are now set to reflect a branch was created
  • Changed: Jumping to the front of the queue is now only available to admins by default in repos on GitHub Enterprise, but can be granted to individual users and teams using a custom repository role. Previously, any user with write access could jump the queue, but admins did not have a way to limit access to it or grant it to users without write access.
  • Fixed: A pull_request.dequeued webhook event is now consistently published whenever a pull request is removed from the queue for any reason, including when it has been merged by the queue.

Learn more

For more on how to get started with merge queue, check out details on our blog!

A special thanks

A huge shout out and thank you to our customers in the community that participated in the public beta of this feature. Your input will help teams prevent traffic jams on their busiest branches! Hooray! ✨

See more

Pull request merge queue (public beta)

Today we are announcing the public beta of pull request merge queue for repos on GitHub Enterprise Cloud and open source organizations! 🎉

Merge queue helps increase velocity in software delivery by automating pull request merges into your busiest branches.

Pull request merge queue

Before merge queue, developers were often required to update their pull request branches prior to merging to ensure their changes wouldn't break the main branch when merged. Each update resulted in a fresh round of continuous integration (CI) checks that would have to finish before the developer could attempt to merge. If another pull request got merged, every developer would have to go through the process again.

Merge queue automates this process by ensuring each pull request queued for merging is built with the pull requests ahead of it in the queue.

Queueing a pull request to merge

If your pull request targets a branch that uses merge queue, instead of merging your pull request directly when it meets the requirements to merge, you will add it to the queue by clicking Merge when ready from the pull request page or from GitHub Mobile.

Queue to merge

The queue then creates a temporary branch that contains the latest changes from the base branch, the changes from other pull requests already in the queue, and the changes from your pull request. CI then starts, with the expectation that all required status checks must pass before the branch (and the pull requests it represents) are merged.

If a queued pull request has merge conflicts or fails any required status check, it is automatically removed from the queue when it reaches the front, and a notification is sent. Once the problem is resolved, it can be added back to the queue.

Learn more about merging a pull request with merge queue from the pull request page. You can also queue your pull request on the go using the beta version of GitHub Mobile from iOS TestFlight or Google Play (Beta)!

Viewing the queue

Always know where you are in the queue.

The queue details page, which can be accessed from the Branches page or pull request page, shows the pull requests in the queue and status for each, including the required status checks and estimated time to merge. It also shows how many pull requests have been merged and the trend over the last 30 days.

Merge queue details page

Depending on your permissions, you can also remove a pull request from the queue or clear the queue from this page.

Getting started

Merge queue can help improve overall velocity and avoid manual branch updates that impact developer productivity. Learn more about how to enable merge queue on your busiest branches.

We want to hear from you on how we can improve merge queue! Join the conversation in the merge queue public beta discussion.

See more