# <img width="24" height="24" src="docs/assets/logo.svg"> Create Pull Request
[](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request/actions?query=workflow%3ACI)
[](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/create-pull-request)
A GitHub action to create a pull request for changes to your repository in the actions workspace.
Changes to a repository in the Actions workspace persist between steps in a workflow.
This action is designed to be used in conjunction with other steps that modify or add files to your repository.
The changes will be automatically committed to a new branch and a pull request created.
Create Pull Request action will:
1. Check for repository changes in the Actions workspace. This includes:
- untracked (new) files
- tracked (modified) files
- commits made during the workflow that have not been pushed
2. Commit all changes to a new branch, or update an existing pull request branch.
3. Create a pull request to merge the new branch into the base—the branch checked out in the workflow.
## Documentation
- [Concepts, guidelines and advanced usage](docs/concepts-guidelines.md)
- [Examples](docs/examples.md)
- [Updating to v3](docs/updating.md)
## Usage
```yml
- name: Create Pull Request
uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
```
You can also pin to a [specific release](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request/releases) version in the format `@v3.x.x`
### Action inputs
All inputs are **optional**. If not set, sensible defaults will be used.
**Note**: If you want pull requests created by this action to trigger an `on: push` or `on: pull_request` workflow then you cannot use the default `GITHUB_TOKEN`. See the [documentation here](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request/blob/master/docs/concepts-guidelines.md#triggering-further-workflow-runs) for workarounds.
| Name | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `token` | `GITHUB_TOKEN` or a `repo` scoped [Personal Access Token (PAT)](https://help.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line). | `GITHUB_TOKEN` |
| `path` | Relative path under `GITHUB_WORKSPACE` to the repository. | `GITHUB_WORKSPACE` |
| `commit-message` | The message to use when committing changes. | `[create-pull-request] automated change` |
| `committer` | The committer name and email address in the format `Display Name <email@address.com>`. Defaults to the GitHub Actions bot user. | `GitHub <noreply@github.com>` |
| `author` | The author name and email address in the format `Display Name <email@address.com>`. Defaults to the user who triggered the workflow run. | `${{ github.actor }} <${{ github.actor }}@users.noreply.github.com>` |
| `branch` | The pull request branch name. | `create-pull-request/patch` |
| `branch-suffix` | The branch suffix type when using the alternative branching strategy. Valid values are `random`, `timestamp` and `short-commit-hash`. See [Alternative strategy](#alternative-strategy---always-create-a-new-pull-request-branch) for details. | |
| `base` | Sets the pull request base branch. | Defaults to the branch checked out in the workflow. |
| `push-to-fork` | A fork of the checked out parent repository to which the pull request branch will be pushed. e.g. `owner/repo-fork`. The pull request will be created to merge the fork's branch into the parent's base. See [push pull request branches to a fork](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request/blob/master/docs/concepts-guidelines.md#push-pull-request-branches-to-a-fork) for details. | |
| `title` | The title of the pull request. | `Changes by create-pull-request action` |
| `body` | The body of the pull request. | `Automated changes by [create-pull-request](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request) GitHub action` |
| `labels` | A comma or newline separated list of labels. | |
| `assignees` | A comma or newline separated list of assignees (GitHub usernames). | |
| `reviewers` | A comma or newline separated list of reviewers (GitHub usernames) to request a review from. | |
| `team-reviewers` | A comma or newline separated list of GitHub teams to request a review from. Note that a `repo` scoped [PAT](https://help.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line) may be required. See [this issue](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request/issues/155). | |
| `milestone` | The number of the milestone to associate this pull request with. | |
| `draft` | Create a [draft pull request](https://help.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/about-pull-requests#draft-pull-requests). | `false` |
### Action outputs
The pull request number is output as a step output.
Note that in order to read the step output the action step must have an id.
```yml
- name: Create Pull Request
id: cpr
uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
- name: Check outputs
run: |
echo "Pull Request Number - ${{ steps.cpr.outputs.pull-request-number }}"
```
### Checkout
This action expects repositories to be checked out with `actions/checkout@v2`.
If there is some reason you need to use `actions/checkout@v1` the following step can be added to checkout the branch.
```yml
- uses: actions/checkout@v1
- run: git checkout "${GITHUB_REF:11}"
```
### Action behaviour
The default behaviour of the action is to create a pull request that will be continually updated with new changes until it is merged or closed.
Changes are committed and pushed to a fixed-name branch, the name of which can be configured with the `branch` input.
Any subsequent changes will be committed to the *same* branch and reflected in the open pull request.
How the action behaves:
- If there are changes (i.e. a diff exists with the checked out base branch), the changes will be pushed to a new `branch` and a pull request created.
- If there are no changes (i.e. no diff exists with the checked out base branch), no pull request will be created and the action exits silently.
- If a pull request already exists and there are no further changes (i.e. no diff with the current pull request branch) then the action exits silently.
- If a pull request exists and new changes on the base branch make the pull request unnecessary (i.e. there is no longer a diff between the base and pull request branch), the pull request is automatically closed and the branch deleted.
For further details about how the action works and usage guidelines, see [Concepts, guidelines and advanced usage](docs/concepts-guidelines.md).
#### Alternative strategy - Always create a new pull request branch
For some use cases it may be desirable to always create a new unique branch each time there are changes to be committed.
This strategy is *not recommended* because if not used carefully it could result in multiple pull requests being created unnecessarily. If in doubt, use the [default strategy](#action-behaviour) of creating an updating a fixed-name branch.
To use this strategy, set input `branch-suffix` with one of the following options.
- `random` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed with a random alpha-numeric string. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-6qj97jr`, `create-pull-request/patch-5jrjhvd`
- `timestamp` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed by a timestamp. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-1569322532`, `create-pull-request/patch-1569322552`
- `short-commit-hash` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed with the short SHA1 commit hash. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-fcdfb59`, `create-pull-request/patch-394710b`
### Controlling commits
As well as relying on the action to handle uncommitted changes, you can additionally make your own commits before the action runs.
```yml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- name: Create commits
run: |
git config user.name 'Peter Evans'
git config user.email 'peter-evans@users.noreply.github.com'
date +%s > report.txt
git commit -am "Modify tracked file during workflow"
date +%s > new-report.txt
git add -A
git commit -m "Add untracked file during workflow"
- name: Uncommitted change
run: date +%s > report.txt
- name: Create Pull Request
uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
```
### Ignoring files
If there are files or directories you want to ignore you can simply add them to a `.gitignore` file at the root of your repository. The action will respect this file.
### Create a project card
To create a project card for the pull request, pass the `pull-request-number` step output to [create-or-update-project-card](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-or-update-project-card) action.
```yml
- name: Create Pull Request
id: cpr
uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
- name: Create or Update Project Card
uses: peter-evans/create-or-update-project-card@v1
with:
project-name: My project
column-name: My column
issue-number: ${{ steps.cpr.outputs.pull-request-number }}
```
## Reference Example
The following workflow is a reference example that sets all the main inputs.
See [examples](docs/examples.md) for more realistic use cases.
```yml
name: Create Pull Request
on: push
jobs:
createPullRequest:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- name: Make changes to pull request
run: date +%s > report.txt
- name: Create Pull Request
id: cpr
uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v3
with:
token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
commit-message: Update report
committer: GitHub <noreply@github.com>
author: ${{ github.actor }} <${{ github.actor }}@users.noreply.github.com>
branch: example-patches
title: '[Example] Update report'
body: |
Update report
- Updated with *today's* date
- Auto-generated by [create-pull-request][1]
[1]: https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request
labels: |
report
automated pr
assignees: peter-evans
reviewers: peter-evans
team-reviewers: |
owners
maintainers
milestone: 1
draft: false
- name: Check output
run: |
echo "Pull Request Number - ${{ steps.cpr.outputs.pull-request-number }}"
```
An example based on the above reference configuration creates pull requests that look like this:
## License
[MIT](LICENSE)