Developers are writing more code than ever, often with the help of AI tools. This leads to bigger pull requests that are harder to review. To make the process smoother, GitHub has introduced a new feature called Stacked PRs. It aims to help teams handle large code changes more efficiently by breaking them into smaller, manageable pieces.

What Are Stacked PRs and How Do They Help?

Large pull requests can slow down development because reviewers struggle to understand the full context. They also tend to conflict more often, making merges tricky. GitHub’s Stacked PRs address this by allowing developers to split big changes into smaller, dependent pull requests that are easier to review step by step.

This new approach reduces the need for constant rebasing, which is often a tedious part of managing large changes. It also improves visibility into continuous integration (CI) processes and policies across the stack. Overall, it helps maintain higher review quality and speeds up the merging process.

How Stacked PRs Work in Practice

The feature is delivered through a new extension called gh-stack, which works with GitHub CLI. This tool manages local workflows like creating branches, rebasing, pushing changes, and opening pull requests with the correct base branches. It streamlines the developer’s experience and reduces manual effort.

On the GitHub website, all changes created using gh-stack are shown in a stack map. Reviewers can navigate through each layer, seeing focused diffs for individual steps. They can then approve or merge specific requests or entire stacks. When a PR is merged, remaining changes are automatically rebased, keeping everything aligned with the main branch.

This setup makes it easier for teams working on large monorepos or platform engineering projects. It encourages modular development, where different parts like database, API, and UI can be worked on and reviewed independently.

Industry Impact and Developer Perspectives

Experts say Stacked PRs are a response to the trend of bigger monorepos and more modular workflows. Pareekh Jain, a principal analyst, points out that traditional PR models created bottlenecks, with developers waiting long periods for reviews or bundling many changes into one big PR. This increased risks and slowed down progress.

Jain notes that stacking allows teams to break features into smaller, dependent PRs, which can be reviewed incrementally. This means development can continue in parallel, reducing delays. He also highlights that the biggest benefit is eliminating the hassle of rebasing multiple branches when the base branch changes.

Since the feature is integrated into both GitHub CLI and the web interface, adoption is likely to grow quickly, especially in mid-to-large enterprises managing complex repositories. Removing the need for third-party tools and streamlining workflows makes it attractive for many teams.

Overall, GitHub’s Stacked PRs aim to make code reviews faster and more reliable, helping teams deliver quality software more efficiently in a fast-paced development environment.

Inspired by

• https://www.infoworld.com/article/4158575/github-adds-stacked-prs-to-speed-complex-code-reviews.html

Sources

• github.com
• github.com
• github.com
• pareekh.com
• hfsresearch.com