Five rules for pull requests that don’t make your teammates suffer:

Keep it focused

A PR should cover one specific feature or fix. This makes it easier to review and reduces the chance of merge conflicts. Don’t include unrelated changes, formatting tweaks, or leftover debug code. A good target is 5 or fewer modified files.

Write a useful description

Explain what changed, why it changed, and how you tested it. Reviewers shouldn’t have to guess. Screenshots and links to related issues or docs are always helpful.

Test before you open the PR

Make sure your code works and passes relevant tests before requesting a review. The more confident you are in your changes, the faster the review goes.

Respond to feedback quickly

When a reviewer leaves comments, address them promptly. Letting feedback sit for days slows everyone down and makes the review process frustrating.

Treat the review as collaboration, not criticism

The reviewer isn’t judging you, they’re helping you ship better code. Take feedback seriously, ask questions if something is unclear, and remember that the goal is a good outcome for everyone.