How can I test a pull request before merging it?

Question

I work as a part of a team. Our process is to create a separate branch, work on the separate branch, then push that branch to 'origin' and make a pull request to master.

I am trying to get better with the default command line Git.

Then another person makes a pull request on a branch. Is there an easy way to pull that branch to my local and check out the branch so I can test the code before approving the pull request?

Answer 1

There's even the possibility of checking out the "remote branch" directly, no need to create a local branch (git will say you are working on detached HEAD state), so, using Sajib's example:

git fetch origin
git checkout origin/whatever

Answer 2

You can checkout the branch (say, feature) where pull request is created.

$ git fetch

# create a new branch 'test-feature' with 'origin/feature' history
$ git checkout -b test-feature origin/feature
# now test here

You can merge master into test-feature branch and test if all is ok!

$ git pull origin master
# test more

Answer 3

First, you have to fetch branch:

git fetch origin

Then you can list all files that have been changed:

git diff --name-only origin/master 

Answer 4

Disclaimer: I am the creator of Pull Dog, but I truly believe it solves this particular issue very well.

I made a GitHub app called Pull Dog. For every pull request you open, it takes your docker-compose.yml file, creates a new test environment, runs docker-compose up on it, opens the exposed ports in the firewall, and posts a link with connection details for each of these ports.

Portainer (15k stars on GitHub as of writing) is using it for their project. You can go look at any of their pull requests to see how it behaves.

Highlights:

• Fully managed. No need to host anything.
• Took me 47 seconds to set up for my own project.
• Free plan available for the most basic needs, and cheap otherwise.