Pull request support in the Edit menu

Last modified: 2026-03-28 10:12av bruker: Erik Hagen ID: 88a7cc4a-b428-488f-b159-1696bbc68594 ◍New SAMT-X/solution-samt-bu-docs

Currently, editing via the Edit menu requires the user to have direct push access to the repository. External contributors – subject-matter experts, pilot participants, and others without repo access – cannot contribute via the built-in interface.

Pull request support would allow any GitHub user to suggest changes with the same simple user experience as the current direct flow.

Proposed flow

  1. User opens the edit dialog and makes changes as normal
  2. On save: GitHub API creates a new branch (<login>/patch-<date>) and commits there instead of directly to main
  3. GitHub API then creates a pull request from this branch against main
  4. User sees a confirmation with a link to the PR instead of the build indicator

Permission detection

The GitHub API endpoint GET /repos/SAMT-X/samt-bu-docs/collaborators/<login>/permission returns the user’s permission level (admin, write, read, none). This can be used to select the flow automatically:

Permission levelFlow
write / adminDirect commit to main (current flow)
read / noneBranch + pull request

Alternatively: always offer the PR flow as an option in the dialog, regardless of permissions.

Technical feasibility

All required functionality is available in the GitHub REST API:

OperationEndpoint
Get current SHA for mainGET /repos/.../git/ref/heads/main
Create branchPOST /repos/.../git/refs
Commit to branchPUT /repos/.../contents/<path> with branch parameter
Create PRPOST /repos/.../pulls

The existing createFilesInOneCommit() in custom-footer.html already uses most of these – branch support is largely an extension of what is already there.

Challenges

  • Fork flow: Users without read access to a private repo must fork first. Handled by POST /repos/.../forks + commit to fork + PR from fork. More complex flow.
  • Conflict handling: A PR may have merge conflicts that the user cannot resolve via the interface.
  • Build status: PR builds are not triggered by hugo.yml (only push to main) – the pending indicator does not make sense for the PR flow. Builds occur only after merge.

Priority

Medium – significantly increases accessibility for contributors without changing the experience for existing users with push access.

  • themes/hugo-theme-samt-bu/layouts/partials/custom-footer.html – createFilesInOneCommit(), doGitHubLogin()
  • themes/hugo-theme-samt-bu/layouts/partials/edit-switcher.html – Edit menu and dialogs