What a pull request actually is
A GitHub pull request (PR) is a GitHub feature, not a Git command. It's a request that says:
"please merge my branch into main." It gives your team a place to look at the change,
discuss it, and approve it before it becomes part of the main codebase.
Under the hood, a merged PR is just a git merge. GitHub runs the same merge you'd run locally - the PR is the review-and-discuss layer wrapped around it.
Other Git hosts call it the same idea by a different name (GitLab and others say "merge request"). Same concept.
Opening a pull request
First, push your feature branch to GitHub (from the previous lesson):
git push -u origin add-login-page
Then, in the browser:
- Go to the repository on GitHub. It usually shows a banner offering to open a PR from your freshly pushed branch - click Compare & pull request.
- Check the two branches at the top: the base (where you're merging into, usually
main) and the compare (your branch). - Give it a clear title and a description of what changed and why.
- Click Create pull request.
That's it. There's no special Git command - you pushed a branch, and the rest happens on the website.
Review and merge
Once the PR is open, GitHub shows every commit and a line-by-line diff of your changes. Teammates can comment, ask questions, or request changes. If you need to fix something, you just commit to the same branch and push again - the PR updates automatically.
When it's approved, someone clicks Merge pull request. GitHub merges your branch into
main, and the change is now live in the main codebase. You then update your local copy:
git switch main
git pull origin main
Watch the merge box on the PR page. GitHub only shows a green "able to merge" state when
your branch still merges cleanly into main. If someone else's PR lands first and touches
the same lines, that box turns into a conflict warning - GitHub is telling you the same
thing a local merge would, just
in the browser.
A common mistake
Treating a PR as fire-and-forget. Opening the PR isn't the finish line. Reviewers may leave comments, and CI checks may fail. Keep an eye on it, respond to feedback, and push fixes to the same branch until it's approved and merged.
FAQ
Can I review my own pull request?
You can read through your own diff (and you should - it catches mistakes), but the value of a PR is a second pair of eyes. On solo projects some people still open PRs just for the clean diff view and history.
What's the difference between a pull request and git pull?
Nothing, despite the similar names. git pull downloads and merges commits from a remote
into your local branch. A pull request is a GitHub web feature for merging one branch into
another with review. Different things entirely.
What happens to my branch after the PR is merged?
Nothing automatic locally. GitHub offers a "Delete branch" button to remove it on the
remote. Locally you delete it yourself with git branch -d add-login-page once it's
merged.