git-mfpr

A CLI tool that migrates GitHub pull requests from forks to branches in the main repository, preserving commit history and authorship.

Overview

git-mfpr (Git Migrate Fork PR) helps maintainers bring pull requests from forked repositories into their main repository as regular branches. This is useful when you want to:

Continue work on a PR after the original author has abandoned it
Run CI/CD pipelines that don't work well with forks
Collaborate more easily on a contribution
Maintain a cleaner repository structure

Value Proposition

Why Use git-mfpr Instead of Manual Commands?

While you could manually run gh pr checkout and git push, git-mfpr provides significant value through:

Safety & Validation

Validates PR is from a fork (prevents mistakes on same-repo PRs)
Checks if branch already exists (no accidental overwrites)
Verifies PR is still open (no dead PR migrations)
Simple branch naming (consistent, predictable names)

Workflow Automation

One command instead of 3-4 manual steps
Batch processing (multiple PRs at once)
Dry-run mode (preview actions before executing)
Consistent commit messages and PR descriptions

Team Benefits

Standardized process across your entire team
Reduced onboarding time (new contributors learn one command)
Prevents human error (forgot to push, wrong branch name, etc.)
Documentation (the process is codified in the tool)

Automation & CI/CD

GitHub Action integration for automated workflows
Scheduled cleanup of abandoned PRs
Non-interactive operation (works in automated environments)
CI/CD pipeline integration (migrate PRs as part of your workflow)

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Abandoned PRs

# Instead of manually checking each PR status and running commands
git-mfpr 123 124 125  # Batch migrate multiple abandoned PRs

Scenario 2: Team Onboarding

# New team member doesn't need to learn the manual process
git-mfpr 123 --dry-run  # Shows them exactly what will happen

Scenario 3: Automated Cleanup

# GitHub Action to automatically migrate PRs that pass CI but are abandoned
- uses: yourusername/git-mfpr@v1
  with:
    pr-ref: ${{ needs.ci.outputs.pr-number }}

When It's Worth It

Perfect for:

Managing multiple repos with frequent fork PRs
Team environments where consistency matters
Automation needs (CI/CD, scheduled cleanup)
High-volume PR management
Reducing cognitive load and preventing mistakes

May not be worth it for:

Occasional use (once a month)
Single-person projects
Simple workflows with just a few commands

Bottom line: It's a quality-of-life tool that shines in team environments and automation scenarios, not just time-saving for individual use.

Features

🔄 Preserves complete commit history and authorship
🚀 Simple one-command migration
🎯 Simple, consistent branch naming with PR number
🔍 Dry-run mode to preview actions
📦 Batch migration support for multiple PRs
🛡️ Safety checks to prevent accidental overwrites

Installation

Prerequisites

Git
GitHub CLI (gh) - must be installed and authenticated

Install from Source

go install github.com/cabljac/git-mfpr/cmd/git-mfpr@latest

Download Binary

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page.

Usage

Basic Usage

# Migrate PR #123 from the current repository
git-mfpr 123

# Migrate multiple PRs
git-mfpr 124 125

# Migrate from a specific repository
git-mfpr owner/repo#123

# Migrate using full GitHub URL
git-mfpr https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/123

Options

--dry-run              # Preview what would happen without making changes
--no-push              # Create local branch but don't push to origin
--no-create            # Don't offer to create a new PR
--branch-name string   # Use custom branch name (single PR only)

As a CLI

You can use git-mfpr directly in your terminal, or as a custom git command:

# Migrate PR #123 from the current repo (dry run)
git-mfpr 123 --dry-run

# Migrate a PR from a specific repo
git-mfpr owner/repo#456

# Use as a custom git command (if installed as git-mfpr)
git mfpr 789

# With custom branch name
git-mfpr 123 --branch-name=my-feature-branch

As a GitHub Action

Add this step to your workflow (e.g., .github/workflows/migrate.yml):

name: Migrate Fork PRs

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      pr-ref:
        description: 'PR reference (number, URL, or owner/repo#number)'
        required: true

jobs:
  migrate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Migrate PR from fork to branch
        uses: yourusername/git-mfpr@v1
        with:
          pr-ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.pr-ref }}
          dry-run: 'true'         # optional
          no-push: 'false'        # optional
          no-create: 'false'      # optional
          branch-name: ''         # optional

Replace yourusername with your actual GitHub username.

Inputs

Name	Description	Required	Default
pr-ref	PR reference (number, URL, or owner/repo#number)	Yes
dry-run	Show what would happen without executing	No	false
no-push	Do not push branch	No	false
no-create	Do not create PR	No	false
branch-name	Custom branch name	No

Examples

Preview Migration

git-mfpr 123 --dry-run

Output:

🔄 Migrating PR #123...
📋 Title: Fix memory leak in worker pool
👤 Author: johndoe
🌿 Branch: migrated-123
$ git checkout main (dry-run)
$ git pull origin main (dry-run)
$ gh pr checkout 123 -b migrated-123 (dry-run)
$ git push -u origin migrated-123 (dry-run)
✅ Migration complete!

Custom Branch Name

git-mfpr 123 --branch-name feature/awesome-feature

Local Branch Only

git-mfpr 123 --no-push

How It Works

Fetches PR Information: Uses gh CLI to get PR details
Validates: Ensures PR is from a fork and is still open
Creates Branch: Generates a branch name like migrated-123
Checks Out Code: Uses gh pr checkout to fetch the PR commits
Pushes to Origin: Pushes the new branch to your repository
Suggests Next Steps: Provides the command to create a new PR

Branch Naming

By default, branches are named using the pattern:

migrated-{number}

For example:

migrated-123
migrated-456

This simple naming convention ensures consistent and predictable branch names.

Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/cabljac/git-mfpr.git
cd git-mfpr

# Build
make build

# Run tests
make test

# Install locally
make install

Project Structure

git-mfpr/
├── cmd/git-mfpr/        # CLI entry point
├── internal/
│   ├── git/             # Git operations
│   ├── github/          # GitHub API interactions
│   ├── migrate/         # Core migration logic
│   └── ui/              # Terminal UI
├── Makefile
└── README.md

Error Handling

The tool provides clear error messages for common issues:

Not in a git repository: Run the command from within a git repository
gh CLI not installed: Install from https://cli.github.com/
PR not found: Check the PR number and repository
Branch already exists: Use --branch-name to specify a different name
PR not from fork: Only PRs from forks need migration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

Built with:

Cobra for CLI framework
GitHub CLI for GitHub API access