How to create, review, and merge stacked PRs on GitHub | GitHub Checkout
Sameen Karim demonstrates GitHub’s stacked pull requests workflow, showing how to split large feature branches into smaller PR layers, work with stacks from the GitHub CLI using the gh-stack extension, and merge an entire stack efficiently while using Copilot to help generate tests.
Overview
This episode of GitHub Checkout introduces stacked PRs: a way to break a large change into multiple small pull requests that build on top of each other (a “stack”), making review and iteration easier.
Key things covered:
- How stacked PRs help break down large feature branches into smaller, focused PRs
- Installing and using the gh-stack GitHub CLI extension
- Navigating stack “layers” in a terminal UI
- Using GitHub Copilot to help add branches and auto-generate tests within a stack
- Submitting stacked PRs and merging an entire stack
Quickstart documentation
- Quickstart for stacked pull requests: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/get-started/stacked-prs-quickstart?utm_source=youtube-github-checkout&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=stacked-prs-gtm-public-preview-2026
Topics and flow (from the video chapters)
Introduction to stacked PRs
- What stacked PRs are and how they fit into the GitHub PR experience
Breaking down large changes
- How to split a large feature branch into multiple smaller PRs that depend on each other
Installing gh-stack
- Installing the gh-stack CLI extension
Initializing and navigating stacks
- Initializing a stack
- Navigating layers in the stack from the CLI
Reviewing changes in the terminal UI
- Viewing files and commits using the terminal UI
Using Copilot inside a stack
- Leveraging Copilot to help add branches and generate tests within the stack
Submitting stacked PRs
- Submitting stacked PRs using
gh stack submit
Merging a full stack
- One-click merging for the entire PR stack
Feedback and what’s next
- How to share feedback on stacked PRs
- What’s next for stacked PRs and the PR experience