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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2023-07-06. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

After a site administrator upgrades your Enterprise Server instance to Enterprise Server 3.9 or later, the REST API will be versioned. To learn how to find your instance's version, see "About versions of GitHub Docs". For more information, see "About API versioning."

Protected branches

Use the REST API to manage protected branches.

Get branch protection

Works with GitHub Apps

Protected branches are available in public repositories with GitHub Free and GitHub Free for organizations, and in public and private repositories with GitHub Pro, GitHub Team, GitHub Enterprise Cloud, and GitHub Enterprise Server. For more information, see GitHub's products in the GitHub Help documentation.

Parameters for "Get branch protection"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

branch string Required

The name of the branch. Cannot contain wildcard characters. To use wildcard characters in branch names, use the GraphQL API.

HTTP response status codes for "Get branch protection"

Status codeDescription
200

OK

404

Resource not found

Code samples for "Get branch protection"

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/branches/{branch}/protection
curl -L \ -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \ http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/branches/BRANCH/protection

Response

Status: 200
{ "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection", "required_status_checks": { "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_status_checks", "contexts": [ "continuous-integration/travis-ci" ], "contexts_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_status_checks/contexts", "enforcement_level": "non_admins" }, "enforce_admins": { "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/enforce_admins", "enabled": true }, "required_pull_request_reviews": { "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_pull_request_reviews", "dismissal_restrictions": { "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/dismissal_restrictions", "users_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/dismissal_restrictions/users", "teams_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/dismissal_restrictions/teams", "users": [ { "login": "octocat", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "gravatar_id": "", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat", "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat", "followers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/followers", "following_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/following{/other_user}", "gists_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}", "starred_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}", "subscriptions_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/subscriptions", "organizations_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/orgs", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/events{/privacy}", "received_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/received_events", "type": "User", "site_admin": false } ], "teams": [ { "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VGVhbTE=", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1", "html_url": "https://github.com/orgs/github/teams/justice-league", "name": "Justice League", "slug": "justice-league", "description": "A great team.", "privacy": "closed", "permission": "admin", "members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1/members{/member}", "repositories_url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1/repos", "parent": null } ], "apps": [ { "id": 1, "slug": "octoapp", "node_id": "MDExOkludGVncmF0aW9uMQ==", "owner": { "login": "github", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjE=", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/events", "hooks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/hooks", "issues_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/issues", "members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/members{/member}", "public_members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/public_members{/member}", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "description": "A great organization" }, "name": "Octocat App", "description": "", "external_url": "https://example.com", "html_url": "https://github.com/apps/octoapp", "created_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00", "updated_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00", "permissions": { "metadata": "read", "contents": "read", "issues": "write", "single_file": "write" }, "events": [ "push", "pull_request" ] } ] }, "dismiss_stale_reviews": true, "require_code_owner_reviews": true, "required_approving_review_count": 2 }, "restrictions": { "url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/restrictions", "users_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/restrictions/users", "teams_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/restrictions/teams", "apps_url": "https://HOSTNAME/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/restrictions/apps", "users": [ { "login": "octocat", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "gravatar_id": "", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat", "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat", "followers_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/followers", "following_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/following{/other_user}", "gists_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}", "starred_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}", "subscriptions_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/subscriptions", "organizations_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/orgs", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/events{/privacy}", "received_events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/users/octocat/received_events", "type": "User", "site_admin": false } ], "teams": [ { "id": 1, "node_id": "MDQ6VGVhbTE=", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1", "html_url": "https://github.com/orgs/github/teams/justice-league", "name": "Justice League", "slug": "justice-league", "description": "A great team.", "privacy": "closed", "permission": "admin", "members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1/members{/member}", "repositories_url": "https://HOSTNAME/teams/1/repos", "parent": null } ], "apps": [ { "id": 1, "slug": "octoapp", "node_id": "MDExOkludGVncmF0aW9uMQ==", "owner": { "login": "github", "id": 1, "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjE=", "url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github", "repos_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/repos", "events_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/events", "hooks_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/hooks", "issues_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/issues", "members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/members{/member}", "public_members_url": "https://HOSTNAME/orgs/github/public_members{/member}", "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif", "description": "A great organization" }, "name": "Octocat App", "description": "", "external_url": "https://example.com", "html_url": "https://github.com/apps/octoapp", "created_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00", "updated_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00", "permissions": { "metadata": "read", "contents": "read", "issues": "write", "single_file": "write" }, "events": [ "push", "pull_request" ] } ] }, "required_linear_history": { "enabled": true }, "allow_force_pushes": { "enabled": true }, "allow_deletions": { "enabled": true }, "required_conversation_resolution": { "enabled": true } }

Update branch protection

Works with GitHub Apps

Protected branches are available in public repositories with GitHub Free and GitHub Free for organizations, and in public and private repositories with GitHub Pro, GitHub Team, GitHub Enterprise Cloud, and GitHub Enterprise Server. For more information, see GitHub's products in the GitHub Help documentation.

Protecting a branch requires admin or owner permissions to the repository.

Note: Passing new arrays of users and teams replaces their previous values.

Note: The list of users, apps, and teams in total is limited to 100 items.

Parameters for "Update branch protection"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
accept string

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
owner string Required

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repo string Required

The name of the repository without the .git extension. The name is not case sensitive.

branch string Required

The name of the branch. Cannot contain wildcard characters. To use wildcard characters in branch names, use the GraphQL API.

Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
required_status_checks object or null Required

Require status checks to pass before merging. Set to null to disable.

Name, Type, Description
strict boolean Required

Require branches to be up to date before merging.

contexts array of strings Required

Deprecated: The list of status checks to require in order to merge into this branch. If any of these checks have recently been set by a particular GitHub App, they will be required to come from that app in future for the branch to merge. Use checks instead of contexts for more fine-grained control.

checks array of objects

The list of status checks to require in order to merge into this branch.