Two repositories
GitHub Docs runs from two repositories:| Repository | Visibility | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
github/docs | Public | Community contributions, content source |
github/docs-internal | Private | Internal GitHub team work, additional configuration |
github/docs. The deployer service, maintained by the @github/docs-engineering team, handles deployment for both repositories.
Merge queue
Themain branch in github/docs uses a merge queue.
When a pull request is approved and ready to merge, it enters the queue rather than merging directly. The merge queue runs required checks on the combined state of the queue (your changes together with any other queued pull requests) before merging to main. This prevents individual pull requests from breaking the build for others.
You do not need to do anything to add your pull request to the merge queue. A maintainer will add it after approval.
Production deployments
Once a pull request merges tomain, the deployer service automatically picks up the change and publishes it to docs.github.com.
Pull request merges to main
The merge queue completes all checks and merges the pull request into the
main branch.Deployment is triggered
The deployer service detects the new commit on
main and starts a production deployment automatically.Changes go live
The updated content is published to docs.github.com. This can take up to 24 hours from the time of merge.
Staging environments (review deployments)
Review deployments provide a live preview of a pull request’s changes before it merges tomain. These staging environments let reviewers see how content changes look on the actual site without affecting production.
Review deployment configuration is managed by the
@github/docs-engineering team. Details about available staging environments for a specific pull request will appear in the pull request’s deployment section on GitHub.Branch cleanup
After a pull request is closed — whether merged or not — the source branch is automatically deleted. This keeps the repository clean and avoids accumulating stale branches.Summary
| Event | What happens |
|---|---|
| PR approved | Maintainer adds it to the merge queue |
| Merge queue checks pass | PR merges to main |
Commit lands on main | Production deployment starts automatically |
| Deployment completes | Changes are live on docs.github.com (up to 24 hours after merge) |
| PR closes | Source branch is automatically deleted |