### Page(s) affected - https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-rulesets/creating-rulesets-for-a-repository - https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-rulesets/available-rules-for-rulesets (bypass list / pull request rule sections) ### What's wrong The Rulesets documentation describes `bypass_actors` (a Team, Role, GitHub App/Integration, etc. added to a ruleset's bypass list) as being able to bypass a rule such as "Require a pull request before merging" / "Require review from Code Owners". It does not document an important limitation we've confirmed by testing: **the bypass grant is only honored by a synchronous, direct merge call — it is not consulted by GitHub's async auto-merge completion process (`gh pr merge --auto`, `enablePullRequestAutoMerge`, or the "Merge when ready" UI button).** ### Repro / evidence - Ruleset: `pull_request` rule, `require_code_owner_review: true`, `required_approving_review_count: 1`, with a GitHub App added to `bypass_actors` (`Integration` type; tested both `bypass_mode: "always"` and `"pull_request"`). - A PR approved by the bypass-listed actor with auto-merge enabled (`gh pr merge --auto --squash`) stayed `mergeStateStatus: BLOCKED` / `reviewDecision: REVIEW_REQUIRED` indefinitely — confirmed via a clean 10-minute poll (every 20s, 30/30 polls) with a fresh trigger event and zero manual intervention. - The same PR, same bypass-eligible actor, merged **instantly** when calling the merge endpoint directly instead: ``` gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/N/merge -X PUT -f merge_method=squash ``` So the bypass mechanism works, but only for one of the two documented ways to merge a PR, and the docs don't call this out anywhere. ### What we'd like to see A note on the bypass_actors / rules pages clarifying that bypass grants are not currently honored by auto-merge completion, and that automation relying on bypass should call the merge endpoint directly rather than enabling auto-merge, until/unless this is fixed at the platform level. ### Related reports (same underlying platform behavior, not a docs-only issue) - https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/162623 - https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/190610 - https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/113172 - https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/167357 - https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/136531 - https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/13388 - https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/13458