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https://github.com/hmarr/auto-approve-action

👍 GitHub Action for automatically approving GitHub pull requests
https://github.com/hmarr/auto-approve-action

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👍 GitHub Action for automatically approving GitHub pull requests

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# Auto Approve GitHub Action

[![CI](https://github.com/hmarr/auto-approve-action/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/hmarr/auto-approve-action/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

**Name:** `hmarr/auto-approve-action`

Automatically approve GitHub pull requests.

**Important:** use v4 or later, as earlier versions use deprecated versions of node. If you're on an old version of GHES (with an old version of the node interpreter) you may need to use an easier version until you can upgrade.

## Usage instructions

Create a workflow file (e.g. `.github/workflows/auto-approve.yml`) that contains a step that `uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4`. Here's an example workflow file:

```yaml
name: Auto approve
on: pull_request_target

jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
pull-requests: write
steps:
- uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4
```

Combine with an `if` clause to only auto-approve certain users. For example, to auto-approve [Dependabot][dependabot] pull requests, use:

```yaml
name: Auto approve

on: pull_request_target

jobs:
auto-approve:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
pull-requests: write
if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
steps:
- uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4
```

If you want to use this action from a workflow file that doesn't run on the `pull_request` or `pull_request_target` events, use the `pull-request-number` input:

```yaml
name: Auto approve

on:
workflow_dispatch:
inputs:
pullRequestNumber:
description: Pull request number to auto-approve
required: false

jobs:
auto-approve:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
pull-requests: write
steps:
- uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4
with:
pull-request-number: ${{ github.event.inputs.pullRequestNumber }}
```

Optionally, you can provide a message for the review:

```yaml
name: Auto approve

on: pull_request_target

jobs:
auto-approve:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
pull-requests: write
if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
steps:
- uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4
with:
review-message: "Auto approved automated PR"
```

### Approving on behalf of a different user

By default, this will use the [automatic GitHub token](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/security-guides/automatic-token-authentication) that's provided to the workflow. This means the approval will come from the "github-actions" bot user. Make sure you enable the `pull-requests: write` permission in your workflow.

To approve the pull request as a different user, pass a GitHub Personal Access Token into the `github-token` input. In order to approve the pull request, the token needs the `repo` scope enabled.

```yaml
name: Auto approve

on: pull_request_target

jobs:
auto-approve:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: hmarr/auto-approve-action@v4
with:
github-token: ${{ secrets.SOME_USERS_PAT }}
```

### Approving Dependabot pull requests

When a workflow is run in response to a Dependabot pull request using the `pull_request` event, the workflow won't have access to secrets. If you're trying to use a Personal Access Token (as above) but getting an error on Dependabot pull requests, this is probably why.

Fortunately the fix is simple: use the `pull_request_target` event instead of `pull_request`. This runs the workflow in the context of the base branch of the pull request, which does have access to secrets.

## Why?

GitHub lets you prevent merges of unapproved pull requests. However, it's occasionally useful to selectively circumvent this restriction - for instance, some people want Dependabot's automated pull requests to not require approval.

[dependabot]: https://github.com/marketplace/dependabot

## Code owners

If you're using a [CODEOWNERS file](https://docs.github.com/en/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/about-code-owners), you'll need to give this action a personal access token for a user listed as a code owner. Rather than using a real user's personal access token, you're probably better off creating a dedicated bot user, and adding it to a team which you assign as the code owner. That way you can restrict the bot user's permissions as much as possible, and your workflow won't break when people leave the team.

## Development and release process

Each major version corresponds to a branch (e.g. `v3`, `v4`). The latest major version (`v4` at the time of writing) is the repository's default branch. Releases are tagged with semver-style version numbers (e.g. `v1.2.3`).