Change the target branch of a pull request

[tjfontaine]

It can be necessary to pick a different target branch for a pull request if you accidentally select the wrong one, or perhaps you're asked to rebase the branch against a development branch vs a stable branch.

[thedrow]

Oh this is much needed 👍

[jzaefferer]

What's wrong with closing and opening a new pull request? You can still reference the previous one if the discussion is of any value.

[thedrow]

@jzaefferer There's nothing wrong with it. It's simply inconvenient.

[tjfontaine]

It's also very tedious, and having to open a second because the goal post has changed for a milestone seems inconvenient, especially since I can rebase the target multiple times but in the end all utility of the comparison is lost because it's not pointing to anything sane

[piedar]

I too would appreciate this feature.

It would also be handy if you could set the pull request target to a new branch. github could create a "pending branch" on upstream's repo. When the pull is merged, it creates - and immediately pushes to - the upstream branch.

[jaen]

Also in favour.
Just did a pull request to wrong branch and ended up with the longest diff.

[nicwortel]

👍 this would be a great improvement. I've sent an email to GitHub support, referencing to this issue.

[nicwortel]

I received the following response from GitHub:

Thanks for your feedback about pull requests, Nic!

I've added your suggestions to our internal feature request list. We don't comment publicly about if or when we may implement a particular feature until it has shipped, however your feedback has definitely been recorded.

Let us know if you have any other suggestions.

Cheers,
Ivan

[mvdkleijn]

I received the following response from GitHub:

That's their standard "we can't comment" reply. 😄

[camsaul]

Dear GitHub,

This is a BASIC need for all users. PLEASE do it.

[Myoldmopar]

And it's a QBASIC need for only a few users. And a GWBASIC need for even fewer. :-P I already +1'd this above so I won't again...

[levithomason]

I don't think this is purely a convenience issue.

Some tools, like github_changelog_generator, use the issues and PRs to generate a CHANGELOG. This means erroneous PRs are forever locked in to the CHANGELOG.

Repo metric tools like Pulse and 3rd party tools like http://isitmaintained.com are also thrown off as PRs had to be closed aren't actually resolved. They were closed to change the target branch only.

Without the ability to delete a PR, or change the base branch, our only option is to make a mess of it. That sucks :/ We're developers, we love accuracy and correctness.

Comments are also not carried over. So when you change the target branch after considerable work and comments have been made, you loose all the context. This also sucks as you now have to copy comments over or reference both PRs.

Also, it is super inconvenient. Still ❤️ you, but fix it.

[claydonkey]

+1

[TPS]

@levithomason Did you send that lovely piece off to GitHub support & refer them back here? That's the best I've ever seen it requested!

[claydonkey]

@TPS why you thumb me down dude?

[TPS]

(@claydonkey #18 (comment) & #18 (comment))

[claydonkey]

Wow I thought I had time to waste...
So I put a thumbs up on the initial post but I spose the self posted +1s are working if people are getting irritated.

[btamayo]

Woo!

https://github.com/blog/2224-change-the-base-branch-of-a-pull-request

[domino14]

Finally! May this be the last comment on this thread.

[TPS]

@tjfontaine (OP) @cirosantilli @ALL I hope that https://github.com/blog/2224-change-the-base-branch-of-a-pull-request (from #18 (comment)) means that this can be closed FTW. Else, could someone post what's missing?

(Sorry, @domino14. 😉)

[beldaGR]

I experienced this problem: #750
Changed base branch but Github's visual diff did not change. After merging, previously reverted commits show up.

[XedinUnknown]

How about giving admins the ability to change the target of a PR that someone else created?

[JimLiu]

Is this the most commented issue on Github?

[biolau]

Competitors have it just add it please!!!
+1

[rhutchison]

@biolau it's implemented

@cirosantilli added the implemented label on Aug 16, 2016

[tjohnell-handy]

I motion for the original comment to be edited with the update of implementation so this "thread" can be forever buried. Sorry to the hundreds of people who just got this email.

[domino14]

I'm also sorry for this email.

…

On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 8:10 AM Tom Johnell ***@***.***> wrote: I motion for the original comment to be edited with the update of implementation so this "thread" can be forever buried. Sorry to the hundreds of people who just got this email. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAjuZrIrUEINNEM11kZHX1WBZlVkquWSks5rdHT7gaJpZM4AtTCy> .