Migrating from previous versions

The original v1 and v2 versions of PullApprove were built on the OAuth integration system. The current version (v3) is built as a GitHub App and has some significant differences.

PullApprove v3 is built entirely around the official GitHub Reviews, offering more controls for determining who should review what, and automation to help make it happen.

To migrate from an older version, you'll want to roughly follow these steps:

1. Remove your repo from pullapprove.com (via https://pullapprove.com/(repo_name)/settings/)
2. Remove the webhook to pullapprove.com (via https://github.com/(repo_name)/settings/hooks)
3. If you use templates, migrate them to a GitHub repo or other HTTP accessible location
4. Install the GitHub App
5. Change your config to version: 3 and validate it
6. If you use protected branches, update protected branch settings (the new "pullapprove" context won't show up until it appears on a PR at least once)

Previous versions of PullApprove used the code-review/pullapprove status check name. The new version simply uses pullapprove. Once you remove the repo from the old PullApprove, the old status check will stop showing up on new PRs.

PRs that were already open will continue to show the old status check if it was already present.

Biggest differences from v2 to v3

+ Reviewer availability

People can now set themselves as "unavailable" when they go on vacation or aren't able to help review PRs. PullApprove skips unavailable users when sending out review requests.

+ Phased reviews

By using the status of other groups in your conditions, you can set up a phased review process where certain groups aren't activated until others have finished their review first.

+ More review conditions

A more flexible conditions system allows you to write the precise conditions that you need, using almost any of the data available on your PR.

+ No more syncing issues

PullApprove v3 has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up to better handle the scale we've grown to.

+ Addition of PR comment notifications

Notifications and comments play a key role in code review. Now PullApprove has a notifications setting so you can easily integrate automated comments into your PRs that help people know what to do.

+ Review request ordering

Reviewers can now be randomized or chosen in a specific order.

- Authors can no longer review their own PR

This is a limitation of GitHub Reviews, which v3 is built on. You can, however, still get similar behavior to the old "auto" approval with the new author_value setting.

- You can no longer approve with a PR comment

PullApprove v3 is built around the offical GitHub Reviews. We no longer allow comments to trigger your review status, and instead you should use the offical review UI in GitHub.