Pull requests (PRs) are at the heart of modern software collaboration. They're where code quality is shaped, knowledge is shared, and teamwork happens. But as teams grow, PRs also become where bottlenecks creep in: endless reviews, merge conflicts, flaky tests, and wasted CI cycles.

That's why mastering pull request management — and automating it where possible — is essential for engineering velocity.

This guide covers:

• The basics of pull requests

• Best practices for keeping them effective

• How automation (via GitHub Actions or tools like Mergify) takes PRs from overhead to productivity boost

🤔 What Is a Pull Request?

On GitHub, a pull request is a way to propose changes to a repository.

You:

1. Push changes to a branch.

2. Open a PR against main (or another base branch).

3. Collaborators review, discuss, and approve.

4. CI runs checks to ensure the code is safe.

5. Once approved + green, the PR gets merged.

It's simple in theory, but in practice: delays, miscommunication, or flaky CI can slow everything down.

💡 Why Use Pull Requests (Or Not)?

PRs make sense whenever:

• You’re collaborating with teammates and need code review.

• You’re contributing to an open-source project you don’t own.

• You’re building features that need feedback before shipping.

PRs add structure, visibility, and safety.

But they can also add friction if abused:

• Endless back-and-forth nitpicks.

• Large, unreadable diffs.

• Slow CI or flaky jobs blocking merges.

PRs are powerful — but they need discipline and the right workflow.

📚 Pull Request Basics

Creating a PR manually in GitHub involves:

1. Navigating to your branch.

2. Clicking "New pull request."

3. Filling in a title + description.

4. Creating or drafting the PR.

Reviewing involves:

• Checking the "Files changed" tab.

• Commenting on lines or leaving general feedback.

• Approving or requesting changes.

• Merging only once CI is green.

This process works fine on a small scale. But at the team level, you need best practices and automation to avoid chaos.

✅ Pull Request Best Practices

Here are some field-tested rules for making PRs painless:

1. Write a clear description

   • What does this PR do?

   • Why was this approach chosen?

   • Any trade-offs or risks?

   Screenshots, diagrams, or test plans help.

2. Keep PRs small

   • Aim for <500 lines.

   • If it's bigger, split into stacked PRs.

3. Include all relevant files

   • Docs, configs, migrations — don't make reviewers guess context.

4. Leave your ego out of it

   • Reviews aren't personal. Focus on improving the codebase.

5. Communicate with comments & questions.

   • Ask for clarification, givea rationale, and don't be afraid to praise good code.

6. Don't merge too soon

   • CI green, approvals given, discussions resolved → then merge.

These habits keep PRs focused, reviewable, and valuable.

🛠️ Automating Pull Requests

Manual PR management doesn't scale. That's where automation comes in.

Automation can handle:

• Testing → auto-run unit & integration tests.

• Quality gates → enforce linting, coding standards, or coverage thresholds.

• Labeling → auto-label PRs by size, type, or author.

• Approvals → require minimum reviewers or specific teams.

• Auto-merging → once checks + approvals pass, merge without human babysitting.

• Notifications → post PR status to Slack or leave automatic comments.

⚡ Automating with GitHub Actions

Here's a simple GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/pr.yml) to automate PR checks:

name: PR Automation

on: [pull_request]

You can extend it with labeling and auto-merge:

This works — but it's fragile. Each workflow is DIY YAML, hard to maintain, and limited in what it can express.

🚀 Automating with Mergify

Instead of maintaining custom workflows, Mergify gives you declarative rules for PR automation.

Example:

With one rule, you've replaced a pile of Actions.

Other things you can automate with Mergify:

• Merge Queue → stack PRs, run CI once, merge in order.

• Dependency management → merge PRs only when parents are merged.

• Custom commit messages → keep history clean with merge templates.

• Prioritization → critical fixes first, nice-to-haves later.

The result: fewer reruns, less CI churn, faster merges.

✨ Why Automate PRs?

Automation isn’t about laziness — it’s about velocity.

• Faster reviews → short PRs + automation = less waiting.

• Reduced conflicts → merge queue keeps branches fresh.

• Clear ownership → rules define who can approve + merge.

• Happier developers → less babysitting CI, more building.

🤝 Mergify in Action

Hundreds of teams use Mergify to scale PR management without drowning in YAML. Case studies include:

• Contra → reduced merge delays with automated rules.

• Orca Security → cut flaky reruns with merge queue.

• Productboard → kept velocity high even with dozens of active PRs.

Want to see how? Request a demo and try automating your PRs in minutes.