GitHub pull request flow
To streamline code reviews and deployments for their team, it is strongly recommended that all developers on the VIP Platform use the GitHub pull request flow.
The GitHub flow is a branch-based workflow that requires peer code reviews in a pull request. This provides:
- Inline commenting on code, making it easier for developers to share feedback more directly and follow reviews.
- More control over deployments to environments. Code is deployed right after a pull request is merged, so developers have control over staging changes and deploying whenever they are ready.
The GitHub flow should be used for developing code for new features, bug fixes, and testing. By using the GitHub flow, development teams can collaborate more effectively and more confidently deploy new code to production environments.
Read more about the GitHub flow on GitHub.com
GitHub flow process
In the GitHub flow, a new branch is created and the new code is developed in that branch. When the code is ready for review from other team members, a pull request is created against a branch that deploys to a non-production environment.
Read more about creating branches on GitHub.com
The team communicates in the pull request, sharing feedback on the new code and making requests for changes. Once the pull request is approved, it can be merged to the deploying branch. Merging the pull request will automatically trigger a code deployment to the non-production environment, where additional testing and quality assurance (QA) can be performed.
Read more about creating a pull request on GitHub.com
Required approvals
GitHub repositories can be configured to require a specific number of approving reviews before a pull request can be merged.
By default, even if branch protection rules require approval(s) for a pull request to be merged, users with GitHub Admin permissions for that repository can override the requirement and merge a pull request at any time.
Last updated: March 10, 2026