# Pull request flow How a pull request moves through Signed from creation to merge. A PR is a kind-1618 root event whose content is the markdown description; its changes live in a NIP-10-chained series of kind-1617 patch events (one per commit), whose root the PR references via an `e` tag. Revisions publish new patch events plus kind-1619 updates; statuses (kind 1630-1633) resolve the PR's state. ## Whole lifecycle ```mermaid graph TD A["New pull request dialog"] --> B{"Patch source"} B -->|"Paste"| C["Paste git format-patch output"] B -->|"Local checkout"| D["Browse for checkout"] D --> E["Defaults: source = current branch, target = announced HEAD"] E --> F["Generate: merge-base plus format-patch base..tip"] F --> G["Apply check vs mirror clone - non-blocking warning"] C --> H["Submit"] F --> H G --> H H --> I["split_patch_series: one part per commit"] I --> J{"Any part over 60 KB?"} J -->|"Yes"| K["Refuse with message"] J -->|"No"| L["tip = last part's From commit"] L --> M["Publish kind-1617 patch series: first has t root, later parts e-reply chained"] M --> N["Build kind-1618 PR event: c = tip, e = root patch, branch-name, merge-base"] N --> O["Sign early - learn the event id"] O --> P["Push tip to refs/nostr/event-id on every announced grasp server"] P -->|"All rejected"| Q["last_warning banner in PR list"] P --> R["Publish kind-1618 PR event"] Q --> R R --> S{"Draft?"} S -->|"Yes"| T["Publish kind-1633 draft status"] S -->|"No"| U["PR open"] T --> U U --> V{"Author updates?"} V -->|"Yes"| W["Publish revision patch series: first has t root-revision and e-replies to the original root"] W --> X["Publish kind-1619 update: E/P NIP-22 tags, c = new tip"] X --> U V -->|"No"| Y{"Repository author merges?"} Y -->|"Yes"| Z["Apply the series with git am on the mirror clone"] Z --> AA["applied = rev-list previous-head..HEAD"] AA --> AB["Publish kind-1631 applied status: applied-as-commits plus r per commit, q plus e-reply per patch event"] AB --> AC["PR merged"] Y -->|"Close instead"| AD["Publish kind-1632 closed status"] AD --> AE["PR closed"] ``` Key points of the write side: - **Merge base**: only computable in the local-checkout path (`signed_git::merge_base`); the paste path publishes none. The dialog reuses it at submit only while the patch textarea is unchanged. - **Patch series**: each commit becomes its own kind-1617 event so no event grows past NIP-34's 60 KB guidance; the PR's `c` tag carries the *last* commit of the series (the tip), and each part carries its own `commit`/`r` tags. - **Push before publish**: the tip is pushed to every announced grasp server under `refs/nostr/` (nak's convention) so the announced `clone` URLs really can serve the commit. Failure is non-fatal — the patch events remain the source of truth — and surfaces as a `last_warning` banner. ## Creating a pull request - event ordering ```mermaid sequenceDiagram participant User participant App participant Checkout as Local checkout participant Grasp as Grasp servers participant Relays as Nostr relays User->>App: pick checkout and branches, Generate App->>Checkout: merge-base(source, target) Checkout-->>App: base commit App->>Checkout: format-patch base..tip Checkout-->>App: patch series App->>App: split series, check per-part size loop each patch of the series App->>Relays: publish kind-1617 (first: t root, later: e reply) end App->>App: build and sign kind-1618 PR event App->>Grasp: push tip to refs/nostr/event-id Grasp-->>App: accepted or rejected (best-effort) App->>Relays: publish kind-1618 PR event opt draft App->>Relays: publish kind-1633 draft status end ``` ## Updating and merging ```mermaid sequenceDiagram participant Author participant Relays as Nostr relays participant Maintainer participant Clone as Mirror clone Note over Author,Relays: Update - PR author only Author->>Relays: publish revision patch series (t root-revision, e reply to original root) Author->>Relays: publish kind-1619 update (E/P tags, c = new tip) Note over Maintainer,Clone: Merge - repository author only (store-only today) Maintainer->>Clone: git am the patch series Clone-->>Maintainer: applied commits (rev-list previous-head..HEAD) Maintainer->>Relays: publish kind-1631 applied status Note over Relays: applied-as-commits and r per commit, q and e-reply per applied patch event ``` ## Reading side ```mermaid graph TD A["PR root kind-1618"] --> B{"Newest status event by author or maintainer?"} B -->|"1633"| C["Draft"] B -->|"1631"| D["Applied / merged"] B -->|"1632"| E["Closed"] B -->|"1630 or none"| F["Open"] A --> G{"Newest kind-1619 update by PR author?"} G -->|"Yes"| H["tip = update's c tag"] G -->|"No"| I["tip = root's c tag"] A --> J{"Patch set present?"} J -->|"Yes"| K["Root patch via e tag, follow reply chain (newest wins per revision)"] J -->|"No"| L["Diff merge-base..tip from the git clone"] ``` Reader rules that keep the flow consistent: - **Status**: only status events by the root author or a repository maintainer count; the newest wins, `Open` is the default. - **Tip**: only kind-1619 updates by the PR author move the tip — a stranger's update is ignored. - **Diff**: the patch set is preferred (NIP-34 `e`-linked chain); PRs from other clients without patch events fall back to diffing `merge-base..tip` in the local clone.