Branch protection rules in Git - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Setting Up Branch Protection Rules in Git

📖 Scenario: You are working on a team project using Git. To keep the main branch safe from accidental changes, you want to set up branch protection rules. These rules will help prevent direct pushes and require pull requests for changes.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to create a branch protection rule for the main branch using GitHub CLI commands to enforce safe collaboration practices.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a branch protection rule for the main branch

Require pull request reviews before merging

Prevent direct pushes to the main branch

Enable status checks to pass before merging

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Branch protection rules help teams avoid mistakes by enforcing code review and testing before changes reach important branches like main or master.

💼 Career

Understanding how to set branch protection rules is essential for DevOps engineers and developers working in teams to maintain code quality and secure collaboration.

1

Create a GitHub repository called demo-repo

Use the GitHub CLI command gh repo create demo-repo --public --confirm to create a new public repository named demo-repo.

Git

# Run the command to create the repository
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use gh repo create with the repository name demo-repo, make it public, and confirm automatically.

2

Set a branch protection rule variable for the main branch

Create a variable called branch_name and set it to the string main to specify the branch you want to protect.

Git

gh repo create demo-repo --public --confirm
# Create a variable called branch_name and set it to 'main'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use branch_name="main" to store the branch name.

3

Apply branch protection rules to require pull request reviews and prevent direct pushes

Use the GitHub CLI command gh api to create a branch protection rule on the repository demo-repo for the branch stored in branch_name. Require pull request reviews, prevent direct pushes, and require status checks to pass before merging.

Git

gh repo create demo-repo --public --confirm
branch_name="main"
# Use gh api to set branch protection rules for $branch_name
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use gh api --method PUT with the correct endpoint and flags to set protection rules.

4

Verify the branch protection rules are applied

Use the GitHub CLI command gh api to get the branch protection settings for the main branch in demo-repo and print the output.

Git

gh repo create demo-repo --public --confirm
branch_name="main"
gh api --method PUT /repos/:owner/demo-repo/branches/$branch_name/protection -f required_status_checks.strict=true -f required_status_checks.contexts='[]' -f enforce_admins.enabled=true -f required_pull_request_reviews.required_approving_review_count=1 -f required_pull_request_reviews.dismiss_stale_reviews=true -f restrictions=null
# Use gh api to get and print branch protection for $branch_name
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use gh api /repos/:owner/demo-repo/branches/$branch_name/protection to fetch and print the protection settings.