Generate pull requests and PR descriptions directly from your IDE. Bob analyzes changes, creates detailed descriptions, and streamlines your workflow.

Why use this feature?

Save time: Generate detailed PR descriptions automatically based on your changes.

Maintain consistency: Ensure all PRs follow a consistent format.

Improve collaboration: Provide clear context for reviewers with well-structured descriptions.

Streamline workflow: Create PRs without leaving your IDE.

Bob analyzes your branch changes, commit history, and branch name to understand the purpose and scope of your work. It then generates a meaningful PR title and detailed description that summarizes your changes, making it easier for reviewers to understand the context and purpose of your PR. After generation, you can review and edit the PR description before submission.

The PR generation process is interactive, allowing you to select the target branch and remote repository before creating the PR.

Getting started

Prerequisites

Your changes must be committed to a branch.

You must have push access to the remote repository.

Basic usage

You can choose from 3 options to initiate a PR flow:

Click the PR icon in the Source Control panel.

Use the command palette (Cmd + Shift + P on Mac, Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows/Linux) and search for "Bob: Generate PR".

Type /create-pr in the Bob chat interface.

Bob will then guide you through the following steps:

Select the base branch you want to merge into. Bob will suggest the three most likely branches.

Select the remote repository, if you have multiple remotes.

Review the generated PR description and title.

Create the PR.

Get the newly created PR link in your chat.

Using templates for PR descriptions

Bob automatically detects and uses your project's existing PR templates when generating pull request descriptions. This ensures your PRs are consistent with your team's established standards. When Bob detects multiple PR templates in your project, you can select which template to apply to your pull request.

Template detection

Bob searches for PR templates in the following locations relative to your project root:

${cwd}/pull_request_template.md

${cwd}/docs/pull_request_template.md

${cwd}/.github/pull_request_template.md

${cwd}/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/pull_request_template.md

${cwd}/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/pull_request_template.md

${cwd}/docs/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/pull_request_template.md

If Bob finds multiple templates, Bob will ask the user to choose which template to use for the PR description.

Default template

If no template is found in your project, Bob uses a built-in template that includes:

A descriptive title derived from your branch name

A summary of changes

Key implementation details

Testing information

Any relevant links or references

Editing the generated description

After generating the PR description, Bob presents it inline in the chat. You can then:

Confirm and continue: Approve the description as-is to proceed with creating the PR.

Request changes: Type your feedback in the chat and Bob will regenerate the description based on your input. You can iterate as many times as needed before confirming.

Customizing templates

For the best results with Bob's PR generation:

Use clear section headings in your templates (e.g., ## Summary, ## Changes)

Include placeholder text that provides context (e.g., )

Consider adding sections for testing instructions and related issues

Tips and best practices

Use descriptive branch names to help Bob generate more accurate PR descriptions.

Review and edit the generated description before creating the PR.

Pull requests