Pull Request

A method of submitting contributions to a development project. It is a request for the project maintainer to pull a branch from a repository, review it, and merge it into the main codebase.

A pull request (PR) is a mechanism in version control platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket for proposing changes to a codebase. A developer creates a branch, makes changes, and opens a pull request to ask the project maintainers to review and merge the changes into the main branch.

Pull requests provide a structured workflow for code review, discussion, and quality assurance. They typically display a diff of all changes, allow inline comments, and can trigger automated checks such as CI/CD pipelines, linting, and test suites. Approval requirements can be configured to ensure that changes are reviewed by the appropriate team members before merging.

In API and infrastructure projects, pull requests are used to review not only application code but also API gateway configurations, routing rules, and deployment scripts. Changes to rate limiting policies, authentication settings, or API specifications can be reviewed in a pull request, providing an audit trail and reducing the risk of misconfigurations reaching production.