Repository Governance — Vocabulary and Language

CODEOWNERS automatically assigns specific reviewers when a PR touches matched files — e.g., /src/auth/ @security-team means the security team must approve any changes to that directory.

Branch protection rules prevent unreviewed or untested code from being merged — e.g., requiring 2 approvals, passing CI checks, and up-to-date status before merging to main.

Squash merge combines all PR commits into one commit — keeping the main branch history clean and readable. The trade-off is losing individual commit history from the PR.

Required status checks ensure specific CI jobs (tests, builds, security scans) pass before merging. If a required check fails, the PR cannot be merged even with sufficient approvals.

GitHub Rulesets replace and extend branch protection — allowing organisation-wide rules, multiple branch targeting with patterns, bypass permissions for specific actors, and enforcement across repositories.