PullApprove 5
CODEREVIEW.toml
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branches

PullApprove runs when a CODEREVIEW.toml is found in the branch's base commit. The configuration is always pulled from the base branch, which means a PR can't modify the requirements for its own review.

There may be branches where the CODEREVIEW.toml is present, but you don't want PullApprove to run (usually because it will run later in a subsequent PR). The top-level branches setting can be used to define when PullApprove runs.

branches = ["main", "develop"]

Branch names are evaluated using fnmatch syntax, and can also use git-style range syntax to specify both head and base branches.

branches = [
    "main",  # base only
    "release/*",  # base with pattern
    "develop..feature/*",  # base and head
    "develop..",  # base only (any head)
]

Advanced branch patterns

Range syntax with .. and ...

PullApprove supports two types of range syntax for matching branch combinations:

Two-dot syntax (..)

The .. syntax matches pull requests where the base (target) branch matches the left pattern and the head (source) branch matches the right pattern. This follows git convention where A..B refers to changes from A to B.

branches = [
    "develop..feature/*",     # feature branches → develop
    "main..hotfix/*",         # hotfix branches → main
    "main..release/*",        # release branches → main
]

Three-dot syntax (...)

The ... syntax works the same as .. - it matches base and head branch patterns.

branches = [
    "develop...feature/*",    # equivalent to develop..feature/*
    "main...hotfix/*",        # equivalent to main..hotfix/*
]

Base-only and head-only patterns

You can match only the base or head branch by omitting one side of the range:

branches = [
    "develop..",              # any branch → develop
    "..feature/*",            # feature/* → any branch
]

Pattern matching examples

branches = [
    # Simple base branch matching
    "main",
    "develop",
    "release/*",

    # Feature branch workflow
    "develop..feature/*",     # features merge to develop
    "main..develop",          # develop merges to main
    "main..hotfix/*",         # hotfixes merge to main

    # Release workflow
    "main..release/*",        # releases merge to main
    "develop..release/*",     # releases also merge back to develop

    # Base-only patterns
    "main..",                 # any branch merging to main
    "develop..",              # any branch merging to develop
]

Complex workflow example

For a GitFlow-style workflow:

branches = [
    # Development
    "develop..feature/*",
    "develop..bugfix/*",

    # Releases
    "main..develop",
    "main..release/*",
    "develop..release/*",

    # Hotfixes
    "main..hotfix/*",
    "develop..hotfix/*",
]