How do I set up a pull request reviewer for our team workflow in GitHub?

To set up a pull request reviewer workflow in GitHub, you typically combine branch protection rules, review requirements, and optionally CODEOWNERS for automatic reviewer assignment.

1) Require reviews before merging

In your repository:

1. Go to Settings → Branches
2. Under Branch protection rules, click Add rule
3. Enter your main branch name, like main
4. Enable:
   • Require a pull request before merging
   • Require approvals and set the number of required reviewers
   • Optionally Dismiss stale pull request approvals when new commits are pushed

This ensures PRs can’t be merged until reviewed.

2) Automatically request specific reviewers with CODEOWNERS

If you want GitHub to auto-request reviewers based on files changed:

1. Create a file named CODEOWNERS
2. Put it in one of these locations:
   • .github/CODEOWNERS
   • docs/CODEOWNERS
   • CODEOWNERS in the repo root

Example:

# Everyone in the frontend team reviews UI files
/src/frontend/ @your-org/frontend-team

# Specific people for backend
/src/backend/ alice bob

When someone opens or updates a PR, GitHub will request reviews from the listed owners.

3) Use team review assignments

If your team uses GitHub Organizations:

• Create a team in your org
• Add members
• Reference that team in CODEOWNERS or manually request it in PRs

Example:

/src/api/ @your-org/api-team

4) Optionally enforce code review with branch protections

For stronger workflow controls, also enable:

• Require conversation resolution before merging
• Require status checks to pass before merging
• Restrict who can push to matching branches

5) Set defaults for PR creation

In your team process, you can also standardize PR templates:

• Add .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
• Include a checklist like:
  • Tests added/updated
  • Docs updated
  • Reviewer assigned

Recommended team setup

A common workflow is:

• CODEOWNERS auto-assigns reviewers
• Branch protection requires:
  • 1–2 approvals
  • passing CI
  • resolved conversations
• PR template reminds authors to request the right reviewers

If you want, I can give you:

1. a step-by-step GitHub UI setup,
2. a sample CODEOWNERS file, or
3. a recommended team PR workflow.