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Create a pull request in Visual Studio

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If you’re authenticated to GitHub or Azure DevOps and have pushed changes to your remote repository, you can create a pull request without leaving Visual Studio. Pull requests are an essential tool in GitHub and Azure DevOps for code review. These reviews help catch issues in new features and allow teammates to share their experience with different regions of the codebase – improving the health of the codebase overall.

Note

To try out the feature, ensure it’s enabled in Tools > Options > Preview Features > Pull Request

To create a pull request, follow these steps:

  1. Before you can create a pull request, you need to create a new branch for your changes. This branch keeps your modifications separate from the main branch until they’re ready to be merged.

  2. Then, you can commit and push your changes as you normally would in the Git Changes window.

  3. Select the link in the notification banner to Create in Visual Studio or Create in Browser.

    Screenshot of the Git Changes window with the infobar 'Successfully pushed QP to origin. Pull request: Create in Visual Studio or create in browser.' in Visual Studio 2022.

    Alternatively, you can create a pull request from a remote branch by navigating to the New Pull Request window via the top-level menu Git > GitHub or Azure DevOps > New Pull Request. Or right-click a branch in the Git Repository Window.

    The Git top level menu with GitHub selected and 'New Pull Request' text highlighted in Visual Studio 2022.

    Or right select a branch in the Git Repository Window to open the context menu and select New Pull Request.

    The Git Repository window with the outgoing / incoming link text highlighted in Visual Studio 2022.

  4. Select the branch that you want to merge into and give your pull request a descriptive title and description. You can use markdown syntax to format your pull request description from Visual Studio. Try it out by typing the markdown symbols in the Description box and preview your markdown by selecting the Preview button.

    Tip

    With Visual Studio 2022 version 17.10 preview 2 and later and the GitHub Copilot extensions, you can use AI to generate a detailed pull request description that describes your changes. Press the sparkle pen icon to request that GitHub Copilot generate a PR description. To install GitHub Copilot, see Install and manage GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio.

    Screenshot of the sparkly pen icon to request that GitHub Copilot generate a PR description.

    The New Pull Request window with the preview button text highlighted in Visual Studio 2022.

  5. The difference preview allows you to see all the changes in the files that have been committed as a part of your pull request. See Compare files - diff view.

    Tip

    The summary difference view option allows you to review only the changed sections of code.

    The New Pull Request window with the summary button text highlighted in Visual Studio 2022.

  6. You can link work items by referencing them with the issue search, by typing # in the description box or pressing the # button in the lower right corner. You can also add your reviewers by typing their GitHub username or Azure DevOps identity or email.

    The New Pull Request with # in the description box and a list of the related GitHub issues and pull requests shown in Visual Studio 2022.

  7. Once you’ve clicked Create on your pull request, other developers can review your changes and provide feedback.

Next steps

To continue your journey, visit the Fetch, pull, and sync in Visual Studio page.

See also