MRs and PRs from IntelliJ

Why this matters

Reviewing in the IDE gives you what a web diff cannot: the rest of the file, the rest of the project, and the ability to run what you are reviewing. For instructions and documentation, that is the difference between spotting typos and spotting mistakes.

The tool windows

With an account connected (lesson 16.2):

Both list what is open, filtered by author, assignee, reviewer or label, and open a selected one as a tab with its description, changed files, timeline and checks.

Creating one

1. Commit and push your branch (⇧⌘K).
2. In the tool window, use Create Pull Request or Create Merge Request.
3. Fill in the title and description; IntelliJ pre-fills from your commits and any template in the repository.
4. Choose reviewers, labels and the target branch.
5. Create, and mark it a draft if it is not ready.

The description is the part that matters: what, why, how to check, and the closing keyword (lesson 9.7).

Reviewing

Opening one gives you the description, the file list and the conversation. Two ways to read the change, and the second is the reason to be here:

• The diff, in IntelliJ's diff viewer, which is the best of the three tools in this course for a large change.
• Check out the branch from the tool window, and read the real files with everything else in place.

Comments attach to lines: click the gutter in the diff, write, and submit. Reviews can be submitted as Comment, Approve, or, on GitHub, Request changes. Threads from the platform appear inline and can be replied to and resolved.

For documentation work, the check-out route is the one to use. Following a set of instructions is a review nobody else reliably does (lesson 13.7).

Checks and pipelines

The tool window shows each check or job with its status, and links to the log. A failing check opens in a browser, which is the right place for a long log (lesson 14.3).

What still belongs in the browser

A reasonable habit, the same as for VS Code: review in the IDE, merge in the browser.

How to do it

$ git fetch
$ git switch docs/12-windows-install-steps

Common mistakes

• Reviewing only the diff when the change is a set of instructions.
• Leaving comments one at a time instead of one review.
• Approving without saying what you checked.
• Forgetting to switch back to your own branch afterwards.
• Expecting the tool window to show every merge requirement. The merge box on the web is authoritative.