## TL;DR

Draft PRs cannot be merged by design. Click 'Ready for review' on the PR page (or change the draft flag via the API) once the work is actually ready, then merge normally.

## Error

```text
Draft pull requests cannot be merged.
```

## Steps

1. Confirm the PR is in draft state: the badge says 'Draft' under the title. Expected: the draft badge is present.
2. Finish the work and self-review the diff. Expected: the PR is genuinely ready for reviewers.
3. Click 'Ready for review' at the bottom of the conversation tab. Expected: the badge changes to 'Open' and review requests fire.
4. Merge once checks and approvals are satisfied. Expected: the merge button is enabled.

## When to use

- The merge button says draft pull requests cannot be merged.
- The PR was opened as a draft (or converted to one).

## When not to use

- The PR is open but blocked by checks or reviews  -  those are separate blocks.
- You want to keep it a draft; then do not try to merge it.

## Tool compatibility

- GitHub draft pull requests.
- N/A for other hosts (GitLab uses draft in title / WIP).

## Variant phrasings

### PR converted to draft by accident

'Convert to draft' is in the Reviewers menu  -  convert back with 'Ready for review'.

### Draft PR via API

Set `draft: false` with the pull-request update endpoint or the CLI equivalent.

## Why it happens

Drafts are GitHub's 'not ready' state: they skip review requests and block merging so half-finished work cannot land. The block lifts the moment the PR is marked ready.

## Edge cases

- Marking ready notifies requested reviewers  -  only do it when the PR is actually reviewable.
- Some repos use draft PRs for CI-only validation; check team convention before marking ready early.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_qpKAXqgKMygvH5uDoWcSDQ