Summary
On github.com, a repo admin trying to merge a blocked standalone PR (e.g. "Review required") is offered a "bypass rules and merge" control — "Merge without waiting for requirements to be met" — the admin escape hatch for branch-protection / ruleset requirements. Inside the Stacked PRs merge box that control is not surfaced: a blocked stacked PR only shows the stack flow ("Merging is blocked", "Unable to merge as a stack", disabled "Squash and merge stack"), with no per-PR admin bypass option. A repo admin therefore cannot bypass-merge a stacked PR from the web UI and has to fall back to the CLI: gh pr merge <n> --admin.
Filing here since gh stack is the interface to the Stacked PRs feature and SUPPORT.md routes bug reports to this repo. Extension version v0.0.8.
Reproduction
- On a repo whose
main requires ≥1 approving review, create a stack: gh stack link --base main <A> <B> <C> (chain main ← A ← B ← C).
- With no approving review submitted, open a blocked member PR in the web UI as a repo admin.
- The merge box shows "Merging is blocked — At least 1 approving review is required" / "Unable to merge as a stack". There is no "bypass rules and merge" control — the affordance a normal blocked PR would show an admin is missing.
Observed on both an intact stack and a partially-merged one.
Expected
A repo admin should get the same "bypass rules and merge" escape hatch on a stacked PR that they get on a standalone PR — able to admin-override-merge the individual PR from the web UI, without dropping to gh pr merge --admin.
Why it's more than a nuisance
It becomes inescapable once the stack is partially merged: after squash-merging the lower PRs, the top PR stays open and stack-associated, but the stack can't be dissolved to free it — gh stack unstack refuses with Unstacking not allowed: Pull requests <A>, <B> cannot be removed from this stack (server-gated; merged members stay pinned). With no web bypass control and no way to unstack, the only route to merge the stranded PR is gh pr merge <C> --admin. The unstack / partial-merge limitation itself is already tracked in Discussions #230 and #310 — this issue is specifically about the missing admin bypass-merge affordance in the stacked-PR merge UI.
Minor client note: the unstack warning at cmd/unstack.go:228 hard-codes "queued for merge or have auto-merge enabled" as the reason for a dissolved=false result, which is misleading when the real cause is merged members — but that's secondary.
Summary
On github.com, a repo admin trying to merge a blocked standalone PR (e.g. "Review required") is offered a "bypass rules and merge" control — "Merge without waiting for requirements to be met" — the admin escape hatch for branch-protection / ruleset requirements. Inside the Stacked PRs merge box that control is not surfaced: a blocked stacked PR only shows the stack flow ("Merging is blocked", "Unable to merge as a stack", disabled "Squash and merge stack"), with no per-PR admin bypass option. A repo admin therefore cannot bypass-merge a stacked PR from the web UI and has to fall back to the CLI:
gh pr merge <n> --admin.Filing here since
gh stackis the interface to the Stacked PRs feature and SUPPORT.md routes bug reports to this repo. Extension version v0.0.8.Reproduction
mainrequires ≥1 approving review, create a stack:gh stack link --base main <A> <B> <C>(chainmain ← A ← B ← C).Observed on both an intact stack and a partially-merged one.
Expected
A repo admin should get the same "bypass rules and merge" escape hatch on a stacked PR that they get on a standalone PR — able to admin-override-merge the individual PR from the web UI, without dropping to
gh pr merge --admin.Why it's more than a nuisance
It becomes inescapable once the stack is partially merged: after squash-merging the lower PRs, the top PR stays open and stack-associated, but the stack can't be dissolved to free it —
gh stack unstackrefuses withUnstacking not allowed: Pull requests <A>, <B> cannot be removed from this stack(server-gated; merged members stay pinned). With no web bypass control and no way to unstack, the only route to merge the stranded PR isgh pr merge <C> --admin. The unstack / partial-merge limitation itself is already tracked in Discussions #230 and #310 — this issue is specifically about the missing admin bypass-merge affordance in the stacked-PR merge UI.Minor client note: the
unstackwarning atcmd/unstack.go:228hard-codes "queued for merge or have auto-merge enabled" as the reason for adissolved=falseresult, which is misleading when the real cause is merged members — but that's secondary.