Linking a pull request to an issue

About linked issues and pull requests

You can link an issue to a pull request manually or using a supported keyword in the pull request description.

When you link a pull request to the issue the pull request addresses, collaborators can see that someone is working on the issue.

When you merge a linked pull request into the default branch of a repository, its linked issue is automatically closed. For more information about the default branch, see "Setting the default branch."

Manually linking a pull request to an issue

Anyone with write permissions to a repository can manually link a pull request to an issue.

You can manually link up to ten issues to each pull request. The issue and pull request must be in the same repository.

1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.
2. Under your repository name, click Pull requests.
   
3. In the list of pull requests, click the pull request that you'd like to link to an issue.
4. In the right sidebar, click Linked issues.
   
5. Click the issue you want to link to the pull request.
   

Linking a pull request to an issue using a keyword

You can link a pull request to an issue by using a supported keyword in the pull request's description.

• close
• closes
• closed
• fix
• fixes
• fixed
• resolve
• resolves
• resolved

The syntax for closing keywords depends on whether the issue is in the same repository as the pull request.

Only manually linked pull requests can be manually unlinked. To unlink an issue that you linked using a keyword, you must edit the pull request description to remove the keyword.

You can also use closing keywords in a commit message. The issue will be closed when you merge the commit into the default branch, but the pull request that contains the commit will not be listed as a linked pull request.

Further reading

• "Autolinked references and URLs"