---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#designated-technical-writers
type: index, reference
---

# Merge requests

A Merge Request (**MR**) is a _request_ to _merge_ one branch into another.

Use merge requests to visualize and collaborate on proposed changes
to source code.

## Use cases

A. Consider you're a software developer working in a team:

1. You checkout a new branch, and submit your changes through a merge request
1. You gather feedback from your team
1. You work on the implementation optimizing code with [Code Quality reports](code_quality.md)
1. You verify your changes with [Unit test reports](../../../ci/unit_test_reports.md) in GitLab CI/CD
1. You avoid using dependencies whose license is not compatible with your project with [License Compliance reports](../../compliance/license_compliance/index.md) **(ULTIMATE)**
1. You request the [approval](merge_request_approvals.md) from your manager **(STARTER)**
1. Your manager:
   1. Pushes a commit with their final review
   1. [Approves the merge request](merge_request_approvals.md) **(STARTER)**
   1. Sets it to [merge when pipeline succeeds](merge_when_pipeline_succeeds.md)
1. Your changes get deployed to production with [manual actions](../../../ci/yaml/README.md#whenmanual) for GitLab CI/CD
1. Your implementations were successfully shipped to your customer

B. Consider you're a web developer writing a webpage for your company's website:

1. You checkout a new branch, and submit a new page through a merge request
1. You gather feedback from your reviewers
1. Your changes are previewed with [Review Apps](../../../ci/review_apps/index.md)
1. You request your web designers for their implementation
1. You request the [approval](merge_request_approvals.md) from your manager **(STARTER)**
1. Once approved, your merge request is [squashed and merged](squash_and_merge.md), and [deployed to staging with GitLab Pages](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2016/08/26/ci-deployment-and-environments/)
1. Your production team [cherry picks](cherry_pick_changes.md) the merge commit into production

## Overview

Merge requests (aka "MRs") display a great deal of information about the changes proposed.
The body of an MR contains its description, along with its widget (displaying information
about CI/CD pipelines, when present), followed by the discussion threads of the people
collaborating with that MR.

MRs also contain navigation tabs from which you can see the discussion happening on the thread,
the list of commits, the list of pipelines and jobs, the code changes, and inline code reviews.

To get started, read the [introduction to merge requests](getting_started.md).

## Merge request navigation tabs at the top

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/33813) in GitLab 12.6. This positioning is experimental.

So far, the navigation tabs present in merge requests to display **Discussion**,
**Commits**, **Pipelines**, and **Changes** were located after the merge request
widget.

To facilitate this navigation without having to scroll up and down through the page
to find these tabs, based on user feedback, we're experimenting with a new positioning
of these tabs. They are now located at the top of the merge request, with a new
**Overview** tab, containing the description of the merge request followed by the
widget. Next to **Overview**, you can find **Pipelines**, **Commits**, and **Changes**.

![Merge request tab positions](img/merge_request_tab_position_v12_6.png)

Please note this change is currently behind a feature flag which is enabled by default. For
self-managed instances, it can be disabled through the Rails console by a GitLab
administrator with the following command:

```ruby
Feature.disable(:mr_tabs_position)
```

## Creating merge requests

Learn [how to create a merge request](creating_merge_requests.md).

## Reviewing and managing merge requests

See the features at your disposal to [review and manage merge requests](reviewing_and_managing_merge_requests.md).

## Testing and reports in merge requests

Learn about the options for [testing and reports](testing_and_reports_in_merge_requests.md) on the changes in a merge request.

## Authorization for merge requests

There are two main ways to have a merge request flow with GitLab:

1. Working with [protected branches](../protected_branches.md) in a single repository
1. Working with forks of an authoritative project

[Learn more about the authorization for merge requests.](authorization_for_merge_requests.md)
