Where should I see all the jobs required for a merge queue?

[scariabpc]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Misc

Discussion Details

I have the following checks required to merge to main:

The following workflow defining the jobs is triggered on each push to a PR and after passing makes the PR eligible to be added to a merge queue.

name: Pull Request Checks
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
  merge_group:
    types: [checks_requested]

Once the PR is added to the merge queue, it seems like these checks need to be run again - which makes sense since the PR is rebased on main. I have a separate workflow defined with

name: Merge Queue

on:
  merge_group:
    types: [checks_requested]
...

I do see this workflow getting triggered, but on the https://github.com///queue/main UI I don't see any indication that this workflow is required to pass before merging the PR.

Am I doing something wrong? Functionally I want to run some tests on each push to a PR and other tests as part of the merge queue.

[unixreaper]

You’re not doing anything wrong the key is that only checks you mark as required in branch protection will show up as blocking in the merge queue UI. Your merge_group workflow is running, but unless you explicitly add those jobs (from the “Merge Queue” workflow) as required status checks on main, they won’t appear as required before merge.

So try to:

• Keep the PR checks on pull_request.
• Add the merge queue checks to branch protection too.
• That way both sets will be enforced in the right contexts.

[scariabpc]

If I add the merge queue check (let's call it "integration-test") in branch protection, I see "integration-test" as pending in the PR before I add it to the merge queue. Is that expected? Will it block the PR from being added to the merge queue?

[unixreaper]

Yeah, that’s expected. When you add the merge queue check to branch protection, GitHub will show it as “pending” on the PR even before it enters the queue. It looks like it’s waiting, but that won’t block you from adding the PR to the merge queue. The actual run for that check only happens once the PR is queued, so it’ll stay pending until then. Do you have any other question though ??

[scariabpc]

Nope, thanks!

[scariabpc]

@unixreaper So I added merge-queue-checks as a required check, but now it seems to not allow the PR to get added to the merge queue.

[leandromlmoreira]

Short answer: you’re close. Your merge queue jobs are running, but they’re not marked as required status checks for main, so the queue UI doesn’t show them as blockers.

What to do

Keep two sets of checks

PR checks → run on pull_request for every push to the PR.

Queue checks → run on merge_group after the PR enters the merge queue (rebased on main).
GitHub only enforces checks that run on merge_group while the item is in the queue.
GitHub Docs
+2
GitHub Docs
+2

Make the merge_group jobs required

Go to Settings → Branches → Branch protection rule for main.

Under Require status checks to pass before merging, add the job names from your merge_group workflow (e.g., mq-tests, smoke-on-queue). It’s the job names (the check runs), not the workflow file name, that become required.

FYI: a check must have run in the last 7 days to appear in that list—enqueue a PR once so the checks show up.
GitHub Docs
+2
GitHub Docs
+2

Example YAML (single file, split by event)

name: CI

on:
pull_request:
branches: [main]
merge_group:
types: [checks_requested]

jobs:
pr-tests:
if: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: npm ci && npm test

mq-tests: # <- add this job name to required checks for main
if: ${{ github.event_name == 'merge_group' }}
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: npm ci && npm run e2e

Avoid a common pitfall

If a status check is required in branch protection but only runs on pull_request, it won’t report during merge queue runs and the queue can’t satisfy it. Ensure anything required for the queue runs on merge_group.
GitHub Docs
+1

TL;DR: Your “Merge Queue” workflow is fine. Add its job names (from the merge_group run) to the required status checks for main. Keep your faster checks on pull_request, heavier ones on merge_group. This is the intended setup for running different tests on PR pushes vs. in the merge queue.