Route agent PRs to the right humans with CODEOWNERS

TL;DR

Keep the teams small and real.

Steps

1. A CODEOWNERS file maps file paths to the people or teams responsible for them. Combined with required code-owner review on a protected branch, every pull request automatically requests review from the right human. For agent-authored PRs, this is the routing layer between automation and accountability.
2. Create .github/CODEOWNERS in the repo. Anyone with write access can create or edit it.

3. Assign by path, broad to specific:

   • @org/core-team

   /payments/ @org/payments-team

4. In the branch protection rules, require review from code owners. A PR touching payments cannot merge without the payments team.
5. Keep the teams small and real. A code owner who never reviews is a rubber stamp. Rotate the responsibility.
6. - Open a test PR touching a scoped path and confirm the right team gets requested.

• Audit CODEOWNERS for departed people and dead teams regularly. Stale owners silently block or silently wave through.

When to use

You are seeing this: A CODEOWNERS file maps file paths to the people or teams responsible for them. Use this skill when you run into "Route agent PRs to the right humans with CODEOWNERS".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

GitHub's docs describe using a CODEOWNERS file to define the individuals or teams responsible for code in a repository, and branch protection can require review from a designated code owner. Source: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-code-owners