Fix · GitHub and Git

My pull request cannot be merged

What you may see

GitHub says this branch has conflicts or checks have failed
The merge button is grey

Most likely cause

Something GitHub requires is missing: a conflict, a failing check, or an approval.

Check first (about two minutes)

Scroll to the bottom of the pull request: the red or yellow lines say what blocks it.

The fix prompt

What you type here never leaves your browser. The search runs on this page, and nothing is sent to a server or to an AI.

The exact error or what you see

What you did before it happened

Kept only in this browser, on this device. Keys and passwords are removed before anything is saved.

Prompt language

You are a patient senior engineer who knows Git and GitHub very well and explains them to people who are not developers. I am not a developer, so explain every step in plain words and tell me exactly which button, menu or command you mean. If you are not sure about something, say so; do not guess.

THE PROBLEM
My pull request cannot be merged

THE EXACT ERROR OR WHAT I SEE
[paste the exact error here]

WHAT I DID BEFORE IT HAPPENED
[write in a few words what you did before it happened]

MOST LIKELY CAUSE
Something GitHub requires is missing: a conflict, a failing check, or an approval.

DO THESE STEPS, IN THIS ORDER
1. Ask me to paste the text of the blocking lines (no secrets).
2. For a conflict: update my branch from main (git fetch, then git merge origin/main), solve conflicts with me, push.
3. For a failing check: open the check's log, find the first real error, reproduce it locally and fix it.
4. For a missing approval: tell me who must approve; do not look for ways around the rule.
Stop and tell me if what you see does not match a step. Do not skip ahead.

CHECK THAT IT WORKED
- The pull request shows all green and the merge button is active.
Tell me exactly what I should see on the screen when it works.

DO NOT CHANGE
- Do not turn off branch protection or checks.
- Anything I did not ask about: the design, the text, other pages, other settings or the data.
- Do not delete files, data or branches, do not reset or force-push, and do not rewrite history, unless you first show me exactly what would be lost and I say yes.
- Do not paste, print or ask me to paste a password or secret key into this chat. If one is needed, tell me which settings page of the right service to store it in.

WHEN YOU FINISH
Explain in simple words what you changed (file by file or setting by setting), why you changed it, and how I can undo it.

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Cursor, then follow what it says.

After you tried it, did it work?

Steps

Ask me to paste the text of the blocking lines (no secrets).
For a conflict: update my branch from main (git fetch, then git merge origin/main), solve conflicts with me, push.
For a failing check: open the check's log, find the first real error, reproduce it locally and fix it.
For a missing approval: tell me who must approve; do not look for ways around the rule.

Do not do this

Do not merge with admin override unless the owner decides.
Do not turn off branch protection or checks.

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