docs: update pr template with critical checks and improve guidelines by Th3Un1q3 · Pull Request #20872 · open-webui/open-webui

Th3Un1q3 · 2026-01-22T12:28:01Z

Pull Request Checklist

Note to first-time contributors: Please open a discussion post in Discussions to discuss your idea/fix with the community before creating a pull request, and describe your changes before submitting a pull request.

This is to ensure large feature PRs are discussed with the community first, before starting work on it. If the community does not want this feature or it is not relevant for Open WebUI as a project, it can be identified in the discussion before working on the feature and submitting the PR.

Before submitting, make sure you've checked the following:

Target branch: Verify that the pull request targets the dev branch. Not targeting the dev branch will lead to immediate closure of the PR.
Description: Provide a concise description of the changes made in this pull request down below.
Changelog: Ensure a changelog entry following the format of Keep a Changelog is added at the bottom of the PR description.
Documentation: If necessary, update relevant documentation Open WebUI Docs like environment variables, the tutorials, or other documentation sources.
Dependencies: Are there any new dependencies? Have you updated the dependency versions in the documentation?
Testing: Perform manual tests to verify the implemented fix/feature works as intended AND does not break any other functionality. Take this as an opportunity to make screenshots of the feature/fix and include it in the PR description.
Agentic AI Code: Confirm this Pull Request is not written by any AI Agent or has at least gone through additional human review AND manual testing. If any AI Agent is the co-author of this PR, it may lead to immediate closure of the PR.
Code review: Have you performed a self-review of your code, addressing any coding standard issues and ensuring adherence to the project's coding standards?
Title Prefix: To clearly categorize this pull request, prefix the pull request title using one of the following:
- BREAKING CHANGE: Significant changes that may affect compatibility
- build: Changes that affect the build system or external dependencies
- ci: Changes to our continuous integration processes or workflows
- chore: Refactor, cleanup, or other non-functional code changes
- docs: Documentation update or addition
- feat: Introduces a new feature or enhancement to the codebase
- fix: Bug fix or error correction
- i18n: Internationalization or localization changes
- perf: Performance improvement
- refactor: Code restructuring for better maintainability, readability, or scalability
- style: Changes that do not affect the meaning of the code (white space, formatting, missing semi-colons, etc.)
- test: Adding missing tests or correcting existing tests
- WIP: Work in progress, a temporary label for incomplete or ongoing work

Changelog Entry

Description

Add concise warnings and checklist items to the PR template to reduce automated rejections and review friction (CLA/branch errors, docs in wrong repo, over-configuration, non-reproducible fixes). These are editorial/template changes only-no production code changes.

Changed

⚠️ Top warning: explicit callouts to target dev, do not delete the CLA, and do not add docs to this repo.
📚 Docs guidance: brief “what to document” and “where to put it” (link to open-webui/docs).
🧭 Design & architecture: require Discussions for large UX/arch changes; prefer smart defaults and local state.
🧪 Testing: ask for reproducible steps and failing test where applicable; test edge cases (URL encoding, HTML entities, type coercion).
🔧 Dependencies: require rationale and compatibility notes for upgrades.
🔁 Git hygiene: encourage atomic PRs and pushing updates to the same branch (avoid close/reopen).
🔐 CLA block protection: explicit inline comment warning not to remove CLA text.

Additional Information

I designed this change after analyzing first-time contributors' mistakes. It aims to boost their success on the first try and cut maintainers' manual effort.

Contributor License Agreement

By submitting this pull request, I confirm that I have read and fully agree to the Contributor License Agreement (CLA), and I am providing my contributions under its terms.

Note

Deleting the CLA section will lead to immediate closure of your PR and it will not be merged in.

pr-validator-bot · 2026-01-22T12:28:21Z

👋 Welcome and Thank You for Contributing!

We appreciate you taking the time to submit a pull request to Open WebUI!

⚠️ Important: Testing Requirements

We've recently seen an increase in PRs that have significant issues:

PRs that don't actually fix the bug they claim to fix
PRs that don't implement the feature they describe
PRs that break existing functionality
PRs that are clearly AI-generated without proper testing being done by the author
PRs that simply don't work as intended

These untested PRs consume significant time from maintainers and volunteer contributors who review and test PRs in their free time.
Time that could be spent testing other PRs or improving Open WebUI in other ways.

Before marking your PR as "Ready for Review":

Please explicitly confirm:

✅ You have personally tested ALL changes in this PR
✅ How you tested it (specific steps you took to verify it works)
✅ Visual evidence where applicable (screenshots or videos showing the feature/fix working) - if applicable to your specific PR

If you're not certain your PR works exactly as intended, please leave it in DRAFT mode until you've thoroughly tested it.

Thank you for helping us maintain quality and respecting the time of our community! 🙏

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR enhances the pull request template with critical warnings and improved contributor guidelines to reduce automated rejections and review friction. The changes are purely editorial—no production code is modified—focusing on better communication of requirements around CLA compliance, branch targeting, documentation placement, and code quality expectations.

Changes:

Added prominent warnings at the top to prevent common contributor mistakes (targeting wrong branch, deleting CLA)
Expanded and clarified checklist items for documentation, dependencies, testing, design decisions, and git hygiene
Added protective comments around the CLA section to prevent accidental deletion

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

.github/pull_request_template.md

tjbck · 2026-01-22T15:11:26Z

@Classic298 looks reasonable to me, thoughts?

@Th3Un1q3 this pr should be rebased to dev

…guidelines

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Classic298 · 2026-01-22T16:00:06Z

"Include reproducible steps and, where possible, a failing test that demonstrates the issue before the fix"

could be interpreted to include an actual test, might need rewording

"include any compatibility notes or tests."

wdym by tests here

🚨 DO NOT DELETE THIS SECTION 🚨
Deleting the CLA/User Agreement below will trigger the CLA-Bot to INVALIDATE your PR.

Might need rewording - might be interpreted as to not delete actually THIS section.

Git Hygiene: Keep PRs atomic (one logical change per PR) and push updates to this branch instead of closing and reopening PRs.

Expand with cleaning up commits and rebasing to dev

Th3Un1q3 · 2026-01-22T16:38:27Z

@Classic298 thank you for taking time to provide feedback.

could be interpreted to include an actual test, might need rewording

Rephrased, added some common edge cases too.

wdym by tests here

I meant the need to test actual library call(here was missing #20748)

Rephrased, to make it actionable and not ambiguous: "Actually run the code/function that uses updated library to ensure it doesn't crash."

Expand with cleaning up commits and rebasing to dev

Good idea, added. It was also my learning.

Classic298 · 2026-01-22T16:41:38Z

LGTM

…pen-webui#20872) * docs: update pull request template with critical checks and improved guidelines * Update .github/pull_request_template.md Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> * docs: solidify pr checklist definitions and statements --------- Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 22, 2026 12:28

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Th3Un1q3 January 22, 2026 12:28 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 22, 2026

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.github/pull_request_template.md Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Th3Un1q3 force-pushed the docs/actionable_pr_template branch from 2f6f414 to 42a89d1 Compare January 22, 2026 15:28

Th3Un1q3 and others added 2 commits January 22, 2026 15:43

docs: update pull request template with critical checks and improved …

5376b94

…guidelines

Update .github/pull_request_template.md

2a6e5fb

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Th3Un1q3 force-pushed the docs/actionable_pr_template branch from 42a89d1 to 2a6e5fb Compare January 22, 2026 15:43

docs: solidify pr checklist definitions and statements

70221f1

Th3Un1q3 changed the title ~~docs: update pr template with critical checks and improved guidelines~~ docs: update pr template with critical checks and improve guidelines Jan 22, 2026

tjbck merged commit fa6f238 into open-webui:dev Jan 22, 2026

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docs: update pr template with critical checks and improve guidelines#20872

docs: update pr template with critical checks and improve guidelines#20872
tjbck merged 3 commits intoopen-webui:devfrom
Th3Un1q3:docs/actionable_pr_template

Th3Un1q3 commented Jan 22, 2026 •

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Pull Request Checklist

Note to first-time contributors: Please open a discussion post in Discussions to discuss your idea/fix with the community before creating a pull request, and describe your changes before submitting a pull request.

Changelog Entry

Description

Changed

Additional Information

Contributor License Agreement

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pr-validator-bot commented Jan 22, 2026

👋 Welcome and Thank You for Contributing!

⚠️ Important: Testing Requirements

Before marking your PR as "Ready for Review":

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Pull request overview

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tjbck commented Jan 22, 2026

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Th3Un1q3 commented Jan 22, 2026

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Th3Un1q3 commented Jan 22, 2026 •

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Classic298 commented Jan 22, 2026 •

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