On a long pull request, checking what’s blocking often means scrolling past dozens of comments and timeline events just to reach the merge box. And once you’re there, you still need to work out what to do next. As people need to review more and more pull requests, time spent scrolling adds up. So we’ve begun to rethink the entire experience, beginning with addressing a familiar challenge: finding what’s blocking progress and determining what to do next.
Today, we’re introducing the Overview page as an opt-in public preview, with rollout continuing through the weekend. It brings merge status and next available actions to the top of the page in a compact readiness summary. It’s the first step toward making pull requests easier to follow as code, conversations, and reviews evolve.
We’re starting with the merge box, the place developers go to see whether a pull request can move forward. Rather than just moving it higher, we’ve also redesigned it to show the same information in less than half the space.
- Explore the supporting signals: A compact view of checks, comments, and approvals keeps the context nearby without making every detail compete for attention.
- Address what’s blocking: Take action to move the pull request forward, such as updating your branch.
- See if it’s ready to merge: Check merge readiness and merge when requirements are met.
Start with the summary, then follow the detail that matters to your next step (e.g., get to failing checks, see who still needs to approve, or open the relevant comments).
This first preview also introduces more ways to catch up on activity and focus the conversation so you can spend less time finding your place.
- Narrow the conversation: Filter for unresolved conversations or comments you wrote to find open questions or follow up on your feedback.
- Read the latest comments first: Sort comments from newest to oldest instead of starting with the earliest discussion.
- Catch up on activity: Use the summary in the upper-right to find review comments, review requests, and other updates.
You can also mark a draft ready for review or close a pull request from the header, with available actions depending on your permissions.
To join, select the ✨ Try the Overview page button in the header. We’re opening this preview early so you can try the new direction on your own pull requests and help shape what comes next. You can use the same menu to return to the classic overview during the preview.
This preview is very much a starting point, not the finished pull request experience. Try it on your next pull request. What is easier to find? Where do you still lose context? What sends you back to the classic overview?
Share your feedback and report issues in the overview preview feedback discussion.