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PR/MR Workflow

Use this skill to prepare a merge request or pull request end to end without losing project conventions or accidentally pushing to the wrong branch.

Based on analysis of PR/MR templates and conventions from 16 top projects (react, vscode, electron, turborepo, hermes-agent, biome, vllm, dify, and more).

Template Patterns from Top Projects

Every project template falls into one of these tiers. Match the project, not your habit.

Tier A: Minimalist (react, vscode)

## Summary + ## How did you test this change?

Two sections, no checkboxes. Forces concise prose over checklist theater. React says: "If you leave this empty, your PR will very likely be closed." VS Code doesn't even provide sections — contributors organically produce 5–10 labeled sections because the culture demands it.

Tier B: Three-Section (biome, turborepo)

## Summary + ## Test Plan + ## Docs

Documentation is a first-class deliverable. Biome treats docs updates as a required section alongside code and tests. Turborepo contributors write mini-design-documents with ### Why, ### What I changed, and ### Notes.

Tier C: Checklist-Driven (ohmyzsh, electron, open-webui)

Checklist-heavy templates with 7–12 items. Electron enforces: "PRs submitted that do not follow this template will be automatically closed."

Electron adds a mandatory Release Notes section (Notes: Fixed ...). Open WebUI requires a full Keep a Changelog breakdown.

Tier D: Internal-Structured (vllm, openai/codex)

## Purpose / ## Test Plan / ## Test Result

Every PR pastes actual test output. vLLM: universally followed, even draft PRs include Purpose → Test Plan → Test Result. Codex internal PRs add ## Why / ## What / ## Impact / ## Validation.

Tier E: Gatekeeper (open-webui, CopilotKit, opencode)

Issue-first, discussion-first policies. Open WebUI requires:

• 12 checklist items
• 17 allowed title prefixes
• Mandatory CLA section
• Discussion-first for first-timers

CopilotKit: "Please PLEASE reach out to us first before starting significant work." Opencode: "AI-generated descriptions may be IGNORED or CLOSED."

AI Disclosure

5 of 16 top projects (31%) now require AI-assistance disclosure in PRs.

Project	Disclosure format
ohmyzsh	Explicit checkbox: "If I used AI tools... I've disclosed it below"
biome	HTML comment at template top; "This PR was implemented with AI assistance from Codex"
dify	From <Tool Name> line in Summary
vllm	"AI assistance was used; every line was reviewed per AGENTS.md"
electron	Policy link in checklist: "Using a coding agent / AI? Read the policy"

Rule: Add AI-assistance disclosure only when the project template, CONTRIBUTING, or repository policy requires it. Use the project's preferred format exactly. Do not add a generic disclosure line by default, and never invent the tool name or reviewer statement.

Core Rules

• Prefer project-native templates over any generic template.
• Preserve template section labels and placeholders exactly; fill content in the selected language.
• Always preview title, body, source branch, target branch, and action before creating.
• Create the MR/PR only after explicit user confirmation.
• When gh or glab is available, render the body as normal Markdown in preview — not in a fenced code block.
• If gh or glab is unavailable, output manual form fields and stop.
• Never push to main, master, dev, develop, or a release branch with source:target refspecs unless explicitly requested.
• Never invent issue IDs, test results, approvals, release notes, or screenshots.

Writing Conventions

Title

Match the repo's convention. 13 of 16 projects use Conventional Commits:

feat(scope): summary
fix(scope): summary
docs: summary
refactor(scope): summary

Exceptions: vLLM uses [Area] prefix, Codex internal uses [Module].

Body Sections

Every well-written PR body across all 16 projects has these three:

1. What (Summary / Purpose) — 1–3 sentences. What changed, why.
2. How I tested (Test Plan / Verification) — exact commands + results. VS Code: npm run typecheck-client && npm run eslint vLLM: pytest tests/config/test_config.py -v with pass counts
3. Related (Fixes #NNNN / Closes #NNNN) — real issue link.

Optional but common:

• Screenshots (UI changes) — Before/After table
• Risk / Rollout — migrations, env vars, config changes, external services
• Docs — linked doc PR or "No docs needed"

Test Plan Quality — What Top Projects Actually Do

## How did you test this change?

yarn test ReactDOMFloat-test --runInBand
  ✓ 84 passed, 0 failed

yarn lint
  ✓ No errors

yarn flow
  ✓ No errors

Not this:

## Testing
- [x] Tested manually

Workflow

1. Inspect repository state.

   • git status --short --branch, git remote -v, git branch --show-current
   • Enough git log/git diff to understand what's being submitted
   • Identify source branch; identify target branch from user request, upstream config, or project default
   • Check whether source branch exists on remote before deciding the create command

2. Find project templates first.

   • GitLab: .gitlab/merge_request_templates/*.md, especially Default.md
   • GitHub: .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md, .github/pull_request_template.md, .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/*.md
   • Treat CONTRIBUTING.md as supplementary constraints, not template replacement
   • If no project template: load references/template-sources.md and synthesize from the Tier A pattern (Summary + Test Plan + Related)

3. Determine output language and style.

   • Highest: explicit user language instruction
   • Then: recent same-repo MR/PR titles and descriptions (gh pr list --limit 5 --json title,body)
   • Then: current branch commit subjects (git log --format=%s)
   • Fallback: current conversation language
   • Keep Conventional Commit prefixes in English; write human-readable text in selected language

4. Draft title and body.

   • Title: match repo convention (Conventional Commits, [Area], or plain)
   • Body: fill every relevant project-template section; mark N/A sections per template style
   • Verification: list exact commands run and their results; say why if not run
   • Risk: mention migrations, env vars, config changes, deploy impact, or "none known"
   • Related links: only real URLs actually found
   • AI disclosure: include it only when required by the project template or repository policy.

5. Add AI disclosure if applicable.

   • Match the project's preferred format from the table above.
   • If the project has no disclosure requirement, do not add one by default.

6. Preview before submission. Show in reading-oriented format:

   • provider + source/target branch
   • title
   • body as normal Markdown
   • new vs. update
   • CLI that will be used
   • Do NOT include command blocks by default — user cares about content, not shell syntax

7. Submit only after confirmation.

   • GitLab: glab mr create with --push, -H, project templates, file-backed descriptions
   • GitHub: gh pr create --base <target> --head <source> --title <title> --body-file <file>
   • For GitLab glab mr create, do not assume GitHub-style file flags exist. Current verified glab supports --description <text>, but not --description-file; write long descriptions to a temporary file only as a staging aid, then pass the file content via --description "$(cat "$file")" or an equivalent safely quoted variable.
   • For GitHub gh pr create, pass long descriptions with --body-file <file>.
   • Do not inline bodies containing backticks, $, shell syntax, or Markdown code blocks unless they are already held in a safely quoted variable.
   • Push branch: git push -u <remote> <source> (never source:target)

CLI Notes

Use glab for GitLab, gh for GitHub. If both available, decide from git remote -v.

Before using non-routine CLI flags, inspect the local command's --help. Do not assume GitHub gh flags exist in GitLab glab, and do not assume a newer online CLI reference matches the installed binary.

For GitLab command details, prefer the official GitLab AI Skills glab skill when installed locally. If it is not installed, use its public reference as guidance:

• https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ai/skills/-/blob/main/skills/glab/SKILL.md

Manual Fallback

When no CLI available, provide copyable blocks:

Provider:
Source branch:
Target branch:

Title:

Description:

Then stop. Don't ask for submission confirmation when it can't be performed.

Reference

Load references/template-sources.md only when no project-native template exists or when the user asks why the generated template has those sections.