Pull Requests

This page describes how Renovate pull requests work.

How Renovate finds existing PRs¶

Renovate does not need to maintain any database/state about open or closed Pull Requests. Instead, it uses the code platform's APIs to search and find such PRs.

Renovate finds existing PRs (open or closed) by matching both:

the branch name, for example: renovate/lodash-4.x,
and the Pull Request title, for example: Update lodash to v4.17.21

In cases like the above, there is typically one existing PR with a matching branch name and PR title. But if you group PRs and use titles like "All non-major updates", then multiple past PRs may match.

Normal PRs¶

As explained above, Renovate PRs normally have some "uniqueness" in their title relating to the version in the upgrade. When you close a "unique" PR, Renovate assumes you don't want to see that PR again in future, for example:

You ignored lodash@4.17.21 by closing Renovate's PR
Renovate assumes you don't want any updates to 4.17.21 of lodash
Renovate creates a new PR when the branch + title "uniqueness" exists again, like when lodash@4.17.22 releases

Renovate behaves similarly for major updates, for example:

You ignored a major update for Lodash (pr title: "Update lodash to v4") by closing Renovate's PR
Renovate assumes you don't want any updates to v4 of lodash
Renovate won't create any update PRs for v4 of lodash, even if there are newer versions of v4

Immortal PRs¶

Some Renovate pull requests have a section like this:

👻 Immortal: This PR will be recreated if closed unmerged. Get config help if that's undesired.

An immortal PR keeps popping up again after you close it.

This document explains why we have immortal PRs, and how you can fix them.

Why we have immortal PRs¶

First off, we don't have immortal PRs for some philosophical reason like: "don't ignore this update, it's good for you!". We have no good way to ignore some PRs after they're closed.

Branch name and PR title are cache keys¶

Renovate uses the branch name and PR title like a cache key. If the same key exists and the PR was closed, then we ignore the PR.

Cache keys can cause problems¶

Let's say you have an "All non-major updates" PR. If you close the PR, and Renovate ignores it based on the PR title, then you would never get a non-major update again.

Only unique version PRs can be ignored¶

Renovate can only ignore PRs if they have a unique version, like "to v16.1.2" or "to v16" in the title.

Grouped updates with different versions¶

The problem comes when there are groups of updates which have different versions. Then the update becomes "Update react (major)", which is not safely ignorable, instead of "Update react to v16".

Future plans for immortal PRs¶

In the future we may embed metadata in each PR identifying the exact files and packages + versions that PR contains. Then we could allow such PRs to be closed/ignored but then as soon as there's any chance to files/packages/versions being updated then we'd be cache busted and create a new PR. If you regularly wish to close immortal PRs, it's an indication that you may be grouping too widely.

How to fix immortal PRs¶

Avoid grouping dependencies together which have different versions, or which you have a high chance of wanting to ignore. If you have immortal PRs which you want to keep closed, then set "recreateWhen": "never".

Major updates require Dependency Dashboard approval¶

Avoid grouping major upgrades together unless they are related dependencies. Instead, set "dependencyDashboardApproval": true for major updates so that you have control about when they are created.

Ignoring PRs¶

Close a Renovate PR to ignore it.

Note

Renovate re-creates any PRs that are marked "immortal". This means that any immortal PR you close, pops up again the next time Renovate runs. To ignore immortal PRs, follow the advice in the How to fix immortal PRs section.