Check and Merge
Check the automatic checks on the change Claude made, then put it into production. This part is your job, not Claude's.
What you do on this page
Claude's work ends when the PR is created. Checking the change and deciding whether it goes to production is up to you. Claude never merges.
Step 1: Open the PR
Open the PR URL Claude gave you in your browser. Log in to GitHub if asked.
There are three places to look on a PR page.
No preview environment was made. To check with real data or with outside services, or to show it to someone else, add the preview label to this PR, or ask Claude "Please create a preview".
- PR Checks / check
- PR Preview (Neon + Staging Deploy) / Decide (full, rehearsal or none)
| Letter | What it is | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| A | The "Preview deployment" comment. Normally it says that no preview was made. When you have asked for a preview, it turns into the link that opens it | Step 3 |
| B | The results of the automatic checks | Step 2 |
| C | The merge button | Step 4 |
Step 2: Wait for the automatic checks
The automatic checks start when the PR is created and take a few minutes. Look at B for the result.
| What you see | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A yellow dot | Still checking | Wait |
| A green check mark | Passed | Go to Step 3 |
| A grey "Skipped" | An inspection this PR did not need | Nothing. You can ignore it |
| A red × | Failed | Do not merge. Have Claude fix it |
If a red × appears, send this request in the same conversation that created the PR.
No preview environment was made. To check with real data or with outside services, or to show it to someone else, add the preview label to this PR, or ask Claude "Please create a preview".
- PR Checks / check
- PR Preview (Neon + Staging Deploy) / Decide (full, rehearsal or none)
While there is a red ×, do not press Merge pull request, even if the button looks as though it can be pressed. You are the one who makes the final decision to put a change into production.
Step 3: Think back to the screen you checked
Before the PR was created, you should have checked the change on the screen Claude opened. If you have not looked yet, or want to look again, say "Please show it to me locally again" in the same conversation that created the PR. Check the Screen lists what to look at.
The "Preview deployment" comment, A in the drawing, normally says "No preview environment was made." A preview, a trial environment on the internet, is made only when you ask for one. When you want to see the change with real data, try whether things like email arrive, or show it to someone else, say "Please create a preview" in the same conversation.
If the comment shows one of the following, do this:
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "No preview environment was made." | This is the normal comment. If you have checked the screen, go to Step 4 |
| "The preview environment is being made" | You see this after asking for a preview. Wait 10 to 20 minutes and it turns into a link with the app's name |
| A link with the app's name | The preview is ready. Check the Screen explains how to open it |
| "deploy unsuccessful" | In the same conversation, send Claude "The preview deploy failed. Find the cause and fix it" |
| "deployed, but the URL did not answer yet" | Wait a few minutes and open it again. If it continues, tell an administrator |
| "The migrations were applied to a copy of the real data" | This appears when the change alters the database structure. It means the change was tried on a copy of the real data and nothing went wrong |
| "The migrations could not be applied to a copy of the real data." | Do not merge. In the same conversation, send Claude "The migration rehearsal failed. Find the cause and fix it" |
| "The preview environment was not used for 48 hours, so it was removed." | A preview is removed when it goes unused for 48 hours. To use it again, ask Claude "Please create a preview" |
If something needs fixing, tell Claude in the same conversation that created the PR. When Claude fixes it, the same PR is updated and the checks run again.
Step 4: Merge
Merge when all three of these are true:
- Every automatic check is green (a grey "Skipped" is fine)
- You have checked the screen with your own eyes (the screen Claude opened, or a preview)
- If the change alters the database structure, an administrator has looked at it
If you are unsure, you can ask Claude to confirm.
To merge:
- Press Merge pull request, C in the drawing.
- Press Confirm merge, which appears next.
- When the label changes to a purple Merged, you are done.
The working copy that is no longer needed (the branch) is tidied away automatically when you merge. If a Delete branch button appears (the repository is not set to tidy up automatically), you may press it.
Step 5: Check production
A few minutes after merging, production is updated. Open the app from the App Portal and confirm that the change is there.
If you find something wrong in production, see What to Ask, by Symptom and tell Claude.
Step 6: Tidy up
When you have checked production and there is nothing more to do, tidy the conversation (the session) away. Send this.
- The conversation is not deleted. You can open it again later from the list of archived sessions.
- If Claude makes a working folder for each session, archiving removes it and gives the disk space back. Otherwise the working folders keep adding up. Each one is large, so left alone they eat into your computer's free space.
- You do not have to ask every time. Ask for the following once, at the beginning. If a confirmation appears, allow it. If Claude answers that it cannot change the setting, set it yourself: open the Claude app's Settings and, under Claude Code, choose a number of days for Archive inactive sessions.
If you decide not to go ahead
If you decide not to put the change into production, press Close pull request near the bottom of the PR page. Nothing goes into production.
Quiz
The screen Claude opened looked fine, but one automatic check shows a red ×. The merge button looks as though it can be pressed. What do you do?