merging is blocked: required approvals not met

TL;DR

Branch protection requires more approving reviews than the PR has. Request reviews from eligible reviewers, address any change requests first (they block regardless of count), and wait for the count to be met.

Error

Merging is blocked: 1 approving review required, 0 have been submitted.

Steps

1. Check the requirement: the PR page shows how many approvals are required and from whom (code owners may be mandatory). Expected: you know the exact gap.
2. Request reviews from specific eligible reviewers - not the author, and not people who already requested changes. Expected: reviewers are notified.
3. Resolve any 'Request changes' reviews first: an outstanding change request blocks merging even with enough approvals. Expected: no open change requests.
4. Once the count is met and checks are green, merge. Expected: the block clears.

When to use

• The PR is blocked on the approvals requirement.
• Branch protection requires approving reviews.

When not to use

• Approvals are met but checks fail - fix the checks.
• The requirement itself is wrong for the repo; change branch protection, not the PR.

Tool compatibility

• GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket protected branches.
• Any CI.

Variant phrasings

Stale approvals after new pushes

If 'dismiss stale reviews' is on, each push resets the count - batch your pushes.

Code owner approval required

An approval from a non-owner does not count; get the owner.

Why it happens

Required approvals are the human gate: N people other than the author must sign off. The count exists so no single person's judgment - or a compromised account - can land code alone.

Edge cases

• Approving your own PR does not count, even with admin rights, when the rule requires other reviewers.
• Do not shop for rubber-stamp approvals; the control only works if reviewers actually read the diff.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_VTqo06yVD78QxQbjP3UKKQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_VTqo06yVD78QxQbjP3UKKQ

Thread query: merging is blocked: required approvals not met

TL;DR: Branch protection requires more approving reviews than the PR has. Request reviews from eligible reviewers, address any change requests first (they block regardless of count), and wait for the count to be met.