How GitHub Pull Requests in VS Code Improved My Open-Source Workflow
Source: Dev.to
Introduction
If you contribute to open source, work in a collaborative engineering team, or operate in cloud and CI/CD‑driven environments, you’ve probably felt the pain of reviewing Pull Requests by constantly switching between the browser, VS Code, and the terminal. After adopting the GitHub Pull Requests & Issues extension in VS Code, PR reviews stopped being a distraction and became a first‑class DevOps quality gate in my workflow.
Why This Matters in Cloud‑Native and CI/CD Environments
Pull Requests are no longer just collaboration tools; they sit directly in front of CI/CD pipelines and act as control points that trigger:
- Continuous integration pipelines
- Automated tests and linting
- Security and dependency checks
- Deployment workflows
Every friction point in this stage compounds quickly, affecting deployment speed, system reliability, and production stability.
The Problem: Context Switching Kills Focus
Typical pre‑extension workflow
- Open a Pull Request in the browser
- Read code diffs
- Switch to VS Code to inspect files
- Return to GitHub to comment
- Repeat
Consequences
- Lost focus during reviews
- Slower feedback cycles
- Harder code comprehension
- Increased mental overhead
The GitHub Pull Requests & Issues Extension
The extension brings GitHub directly into VS Code, allowing you to:
- Review Pull Requests inside the editor
- Add inline comments with full code context
- Checkout PR branches locally
- Create and manage Pull Requests
- Track assigned issues
All without leaving your development environment.
Benefits for Cloud‑Native Systems
Reviewing PRs inside VS Code lets you analyze changes with full system context, not just isolated diffs. This is especially useful for:
- Configuration files
- Environment‑specific settings
- API integrations
- Changes affecting scalability or availability
By catching issues early—such as missing default values in environment variables—you prevent runtime errors, misconfigurations, and unstable deployments that CI alone might miss.
Shift‑Left DevOps: Checkout PR Branches Locally
With a single click you can pull the contributor’s branch and run the project locally, turning the review into an early quality gate.
Practical outcomes
- Validate changes before they reach CI/CD pipelines
- Catch issues that could break automated builds or deployments
- Test application behavior in a production‑aware environment
- Review configuration changes in context
Improved Feedback
Because you review inside VS Code, comments are written with full code awareness, making feedback clearer and more specific.
- Vague: “This might break something.”
- Targeted: “This function doesn’t handle null values — consider adding a guard clause to prevent runtime errors.”
Clear, actionable feedback improves collaboration and code quality for everyone involved.
Results After Adoption
- ✅ Less context switching
- ✅ Faster Pull Request reviews
- ✅ Better focus and code understanding
- ✅ Improved collaboration
- ✅ Higher confidence when approving or requesting changes
Who Should Consider This Setup
- Open‑source contributors
- Remote engineering teams
- Backend developers
- Cloud and DevOps engineers managing CI/CD workflows
- Anyone who spends most of their time in VS Code
If VS Code is already your primary development environment, this extension is a simple productivity win.
Small Optimizations That Made a Big Difference
- Enable Pull Request notifications inside VS Code
- Use the Files Changed view instead of raw diffs
- Combine with GitLens for deeper commit insights
- Use Pull Request templates to standardize reviews
Treat Pull Requests not as a checkbox, but as an engineering control point. Small workflow changes can deliver an outsized impact on reliability, collaboration, and deployment confidence.