Merge requests

A merge request is “please fast-forward master (or main) to this branch.” There is no web form.

A merge request is “please fast-forward master (or main) to this branch.” There is no web form. Requests are stored in the git repo as refs, so they clone with the project.

You need write to open or comment. You need repo admin (or forge admin) to merge. Review --approve does not merge by itself.

Replace ada/website and host names as in earlier pages.

Before you open one

  1. Create the repo and origin.
  2. Push a feature branch (not master/main unless you are an admin):
git checkout -b feature/contact-form
git add -A
git commit -m "Add contact form"
git push -u origin feature/contact-form

The branch name must already exist on the forge (git push above).

Option A — CLI (request create)

On the server:

rabun-git request create ada/website --head feature/contact-form --title "Add contact form"

Optional --base master (default is the bare repo’s HEAD branch) and --body "…" for a longer description.

From this machine:

ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com request create ada/website --head feature/contact-form --title "Add contact form"

The command prints an id (created request #1).

--head can be a branch name or a commit SHA that is already in the repo.

Option B — Gerrit-style push (no extra round trip)

Still on the feature branch:

git push origin HEAD:refs/rabun/requests/new/feature/contact-form

After receive-pack, the forge allocates the next id and writes refs/rabun/requests/<id>/{head,base,meta}. Need write. You cannot push into refs/rabun/requests/123/… yourself; only …/new/<branch> is allowed.

List and show

rabun-git request list ada/website
rabun-git request show ada/website 1

Or:

ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com request list ada/website
ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com request show ada/website 1

Meta includes title, author, state (open / merged / rejected), base branch, and reviews.

Review

Anyone with write can review. Merge still needs admin.

rabun-git request review ada/website 1 --approve --comment lgtm
rabun-git request review ada/website 1 --reject --comment "needs tests"
rabun-git request review ada/website 1 --comment "nit: rename the helper"

--approve and --reject cannot be combined. --comment is optional with approve/reject.

Merge (fast-forward only)

rabun-git request merge ada/website 1

This moves the base branch (usually master or main) to the request head only if that head is a fast-forward: every commit on the base is already in the feature branch.

If someone else landed commits on master first:

git checkout feature/contact-form
git fetch origin
git merge origin/master    # or: git rebase origin/master
git push

Then merge the request again. There is no --no-ff merge in v1.

After a successful merge, the request state is merged. Protected-branch rules still apply: the merge is performed by the forge as an admin action, not as a raw push from a writer.

Where requests live

Inside the bare repo:

  • refs/rabun/requests/<id>/head — proposed tip
  • refs/rabun/requests/<id>/base — target branch commit when opened/updated
  • refs/rabun/requests/<id>/meta — YAML (title, author, body, state, reviews)

You can inspect with git ls-remote ssh://git@git.example.com:2222/ada/website.git and look for refs/rabun/requests/.

Opening or updating a request can start CI if a workflow has on: request:.

Next: CI workflows.