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Add a section to the PR guide on how to write good titles and descriptions #1845

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Add a section to the PR guide on how to write good titles and descriptions #1845

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099ddc5
Add section to PR guide on titles and descriptions
sirosen Jun 26, 2026
5e6548c
Update getting-started/pull-request-lifecycle.rst
sirosen Jun 26, 2026
cc60068
Move "good-pull-request-metadata" section down
sirosen Jun 27, 2026
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27 changes: 24 additions & 3 deletions getting-started/pull-request-lifecycle.rst
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Expand Up @@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ should do to help ensure that your pull request is accepted.

#. Proper :ref:`documentation <documenting>` additions/changes should be included.


.. _news-entry:
.. _what-s-new-and-news-entries:

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -503,9 +504,7 @@ This will get your changes up to GitHub.
Now you want to
`create a pull request from your fork
<https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork>`__.
If this is a pull request in response to a pre-existing issue on the
`issue tracker`_, please make sure to reference the issue number using
``gh-NNNNN:`` prefix in the pull request title and ``#NNNNN`` in the description.
See :ref:`the section below on writing good titles and descriptions <good-pull-request-metadata>`.

@StanFromIreland StanFromIreland Jun 27, 2026

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I'm afraid I think this is a little odd, we are now jumping away from the section for some very key information (the amount of PR titles I've fixed is staggering).

I'd like to make further changes to "Submitting" -- I don't think it's quite right in scope right now

I think it's very much in scope now, considering we're editing it ;-) If we want minimal changes in this PR, then let's just add the content directly to the section IMO.

Additionally, I think this makes more sense after the following two comments, as we assume you already have an issue number.


If this is a pull request for an unreported issue (assuming you already
performed a search on the issue tracker for a pre-existing issue), create a
Expand All @@ -525,6 +524,28 @@ A detailed commit history allows reviewers to view the diff of one commit to
another so they can easily verify whether their comments have been addressed.
The commits will be squashed when the pull request is merged.

.. _good-pull-request-metadata:

Write good titles and descriptions
----------------------------------

Reviewers want to be able to understand roughly what your pull request does
before reading the changes.

The title should be a sentence or phrase in the imperative which says what the
pull request does in short form.
Pull requests attached to issues should be linked by putting the issue number in
the title (``gh-NNNNNN:``).
For example, ``gh-12345: Fix bug when spam module is served with eggs``.

The pull request description field should be a detailed summary.

@StanFromIreland StanFromIreland Jun 27, 2026

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Suggested change
The pull request description field should be a detailed summary.
The pull request description field should be a succinct summary.

The amount of descriptions we get now with a list of tests that they ran and passed is quite annoying (all clearly straight from an AI, of course. :-/ )

This is a great place to note caveats, provide links to references, and explain
decisions made in the pull request.
Avoid over-explaining: simpler descriptions are easier to read, so make sure not
to write large descriptions for simple changes.

Use ``#NNNNN`` in the description to refer to and link relevant issues.

@StanFromIreland StanFromIreland Jun 27, 2026

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We don't quite want this here IMO, since the bot automatically links the issue we'll just end up with duplicate references.



Converting an existing patch from b.p.o to GitHub
=================================================
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