Protected branches and required status checks
It’s all too easy to force push to the wrong branch, overwriting someone else’s changes with your own. Sometimes it results in losing work (unless you know how to undo…
It’s all too easy to force push to the wrong branch, overwriting someone else’s changes with your own. Sometimes it results in losing work (unless you know how to undo almost anything in Git).
Over the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out a new feature called Protected Branches which gives repository administrators the ability to disable force pushes to specific branches. When it’s enabled for your repositories you’ll be able to go to the Branches tab in repository settings and protect branches:
In addition to blocking force pushes, a protected branch can have required status checks. Required status checks make integrations that use our Status API enforceable and you can disable the merge button until they pass:
When using required status checks, your branch must be up-to-date to ensure your tests will pass after merging. The new “Update branch” button lets you merge the latest changes from the base branch of the Pull Request with one click.
Written by
Related posts
From pair to peer programmer: Our vision for agentic workflows in GitHub Copilot
AI agents in GitHub Copilot don’t just assist developers but actively solve problems through multi-step reasoning and execution. Here’s what that means.
GitHub Availability Report: May 2025
In May, we experienced three incidents that resulted in degraded performance across GitHub services.
GitHub Universe 2025: Here’s what’s in store at this year’s developer wonderland
Sharpen your skills, test out new tools, and connect with people who build like you.