Git Best Practices for Developers

Chapter 2 · Practice 3 of 4

Write a pull request description that explains what, why and how to test

From Branches and pull requests

Why it matters

The description is where the reviewer starts, so it decides how quickly and how well your change gets reviewed.

Cover three things:

  • What the change does
  • Why it is needed
  • How you tested it

Then add context:

  • Link the issue.
  • Add screenshots or a short recording for UI changes.
  • Call out anything risky, such as a database migration or a change in behavior for existing users.

Review your own diff on the hosting site before asking anyone else. You will catch leftover debug code and missing files, and the reviewer can focus on the design instead.