# Pull Requests

## Scope

Each PR should represent a single logical change. If you find yourself writing "and" in the title, consider splitting it into separate PRs.

| Good scope | Too broad |
|---|---|
| Add receipt parser Lambda | Add receipt parser and refactor auth middleware |
| Fix timeout in payment processor | Fix timeout and update dependencies |
| Update Lambda runtime to Python 3.12 | Update runtime and add new endpoint |

## Title

- Keep it under 70 characters
- Use imperative mood, same as commit messages
- Describe the change, not the ticket

| Good | Bad |
|---|---|
| Add retry logic for transient upstream failures | JIRA-123 |
| Fix null check in auth handler | Bug fix |
| Update Lambda runtime to Python 3.12 | Updates |

## Description

Use a structured format:

```markdown
## Summary
Brief explanation of what this PR does and why.

## Changes
- Bullet list of specific changes

## Test Plan
- How you verified this works
- What to check during review
```

The summary should explain **why** the change is needed, not just restate the diff. Reviewers can read the code; they need context.

## When to Open a PR

- Before deploying to production (see [deploy-then-merge](git-workflow.md) workflow)
- When the work is ready for review, not as a draft for parking incomplete work
- After verifying locally that the change works as expected

## Merging

- Squash merge for feature branches with messy interim commits
- Regular merge for branches with clean, meaningful commit history
- Delete the branch after merge