Help: With enough students, some idiot will always do a pull request with homework answers. CAN PULL REQUESTS BE DISABLED?

[hydrodog]

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With apologies, I found discussion: 112013 that discusses this issue. Of course, no one did anything with it.

I put all my course materials out in github repos. I specifically do not use github classroom because I found the workflow to be prohibitive. So i have assignments in my course, and collect assignment in Canvas not git.

The fact that all my documentation is in github encourages students to learn how to use git, though I make individual files accessible from canvas via links, particularly for undergrad courses where programming is not the main point.

The problem is, there is always some genius that does a pull request with their HOMEWORK into my course repo. They aren't supposed to do this. It isn't even mentioned. That means there are files with answers embedded in pull requests in my course. Most people presumably don't notice, in fact I didn't notice until now that someone did it last semester. It's highly annoying.

I don't want pull requests. I don't want students able to do this at all. Worse, once they do this, I don't really know of any way to undo it. This is making git increasingly unusable for distributing my course materials. Can support come up with anything to stop this?

My suggestion: at the very least, a flag to disallow pull requests in a repo without permission of the owner. So a student can send a message requesting a pull request, and if they are allowed, then it can go. And perhaps owners of repos should be able to completely delete pull requests. Why not?

[drdixit]

No, you cannot completely disable pull requests on GitHub.

What's NOT Possible

GitHub does not provide:

• A toggle to turn off pull requests entirely
• A way to remove the "Pull requests" tab from your repository
• An option to prevent people from creating PRs altogether

What You CAN Do Instead

1. Auto-Close PRs with GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/close-prs.yml
name: Close Pull Requests
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]
jobs:
  close:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/github-script@v6
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.pulls.update({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              pull_number: context.issue.number,
              state: 'closed'
            });

2. Archive the Repository

This disables PRs and issues completely

Only use if you want to make the repo read-only

1. Navigate to Your Repository

• Go to the main page of the repository you want to archive
• You must be the repository owner or have admin access

2. Open Repository Settings

3. Scroll down and you will find Danger Zone

4. Click "Archive this repository" button

5. Read the warning message carefully

6. Type the exact repository name in the confirmation field

7. Click "I understand the consequences, archive this repository"

What Happens When You Archive

The repository becomes completely read-only:

• No code changes allowed
• No new pull requests can be created
• No new issues can be opened
• No comments or reactions can be added
• All scheduled workflows are stopped

[drdixit]

Oh sorry i forgot to tell you

How to Unarchive (If Needed)

1. Go to the same Settings page

2. In the Danger Zone, click "Unarchive this repository"

3. Type the repository name to confirm

4. Click "I understand the consequences, unarchive this repository"

Important: Archiving is easily reversible, unlike deleting a repository. People can still fork archived repositories, so development can continue elsewhere if needed.

so basically Unarchive it, make your changes, archive it again.

[hydrodog]

Can someone in support contact me and delete the pull request? I had this happen once before. A student just puts answers into my course repo. Archiving won't stop it after it's happened