Branches and pull requests

A developer creates a branch from main, commits a feature or fix to it and opens a pull request (GitLab calls it a merge request). Reviewers read the changes line by line and comment, while automated checks run the tests. Once approved, the branch is merged: its commits kept as they are, squashed into one, or rebased onto main.

Branch protection rules can require reviews and passing checks before anything reaches main. Many teams prefer short-lived branches merged within a day or two (trunk-based development), which keeps conflicts small. Hosts such as Vercel and Netlify deploy every pull request to its own preview URL, so anyone can try a change before it ships.