Merge request approvals

Merge request approval rules prevent users from overriding certain settings for the project. When enabled for the entire instance, these settings cascade and can no longer be changed:

• In projects.
• In groups.

To enable merge request approval settings for an instance:

1. On the left sidebar, at the bottom, select Admin.
2. Select Push rules.
3. Expand Merge request approvals.
4. Choose the required options.
5. Select Save changes.

Available rules

Merge request approval settings that can be set for the instance are:

• Prevent approval by author. Prevents project maintainers from allowing request authors to merge their own merge requests.
• Prevent approvals by users who add commits. Prevents project maintainers from allowing users to approve merge requests if they have submitted any commits to the source branch.
• Prevent editing approval rules in projects and merge requests. Prevents users from modifying the approvers list in project settings or in individual merge requests.

The following are also affected by rules for the entire instance:

• Project merge request approval rules.
• Group merge request approval settings.