GitHub · Pull requests · Closing and reopening · Checked October 27, 2026

GitHub: a pull request cannot be closed or reopened

A pull request is closed without merging with Close pull request, at the bottom of the pull request below the comment box (GitHub's closing a pull request, checked October 27, 2026), and in the REST API by setting its state to closed or open. In an organization's repository, closing and reopening all issues and pull requests takes the triage role or higher. A pull request whose repository or conversation is archived, or that sits in a stack, has rules of its own.

PATCH /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/NUMBER   {"state": "closed"}
PATCH /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/NUMBER   {"state": "open"}
200 OK | 403 Forbidden | 422 Validation failed

Why it is not closed or reopened

The role: "Close, reopen, and assign all issues and pull requests" is in the triage, write, maintain and admin roles of an organization's repository, not in read (GitHub's repository roles for an organization). In a repository owned by a personal account, collaborators can create, merge, and close pull requests (permission levels for a personal account repository).
The REST answers: PATCH /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/NUMBER takes state as open or closed and answers 200, 403 (forbidden), or 422 when validation failed or the endpoint has been spammed. Its documentation adds that opening or updating a pull request in a public repository takes write access to the head or the source branch, and that for a repository owned by an organization you must be a member of that organization (GitHub's update a pull request).
An archived repository: its issues, pull requests, comments and the rest become read-only for all users. To change anything, the repository has to be unarchived first (GitHub's archiving repositories).
An archived pull request: archiving closes it and makes its conversation read-only. Unarchiving makes it visible again, but it remains closed: reopen it separately. Only people with triage access or higher see it, and others get 404 (GitHub's archive pull requests).
A stack: closing a pull request in the middle of a stack blocks all pull requests above it from being mergeable. The stack relationship is kept, so to open a different pull request or change the structure of the stack, dissolve the stack first and then re-create it; unstacking removes only the open, draft and closed pull requests (GitHub's troubleshooting stacked pull requests).

What closes a pull request without Close pull request

Deleting its branch: when a branch is used by at least one open pull request, deleting the branch closes those pull requests, after a warning (GitHub's managing branches within your repository).
A closing keyword: a keyword that references a pull request comment in another pull request links the two, and merging the referencing pull request also closes the referenced one (GitHub's linking a pull request to an issue). See closing keywords.
A Dependabot command: @dependabot ignore this dependency, or this major, minor or patch version, closes the pull request and stops Dependabot from opening more for it, unless you reopen the pull request or upgrade yourself (GitHub's Dependabot pull request comment commands).

What to do

A wrong base branch: change the base branch instead of closing the pull request and opening a new one, as the closing page suggests. See changing the base branch.
Find it: is:closed is:unmerged finds pull requests closed without being merged, and is:archived finds archived ones for people with triage access or higher (GitHub's searching issues and pull requests).
Its branch: on a closed pull request, Delete branch near the bottom removes the branch when no other open pull request uses it, and Restore branch brings back the head branch. See branch not deleted.
Ask for the role: in an organization's repository, triage is the least role that closes and reopens every pull request.

In IntelliJ IDEA: Close and Reopen follow the permission GitHub reported when the IDE connected

How the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA closes and reopens a pull request, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRDetailsActionsComponentFactory.kt, CodeReviewDetailsActionsComponentFactory.kt, GHPRCloseAction.kt, GHPRReviewFlowViewModelImpl.kt, GHPRDetailsServiceImpl.kt):

Where the buttons are: on an open pull request, Close Pull Request is in the more-actions menu; on a closed one, the only button is Reopen Pull Request. A draft shows neither, only Post Pull Request (see draft, ready for review or close was refused).
Who gets them: only the author of the pull request or an account with Triage permission or above, as GitHub reported it when the IDE connected to the repository.
What it sends: the REST PATCH above with state set to closed or open.
When GitHub refuses, nothing appears on screen: the source writes the error to the IDE's log, where showing it is marked as still to do. The pull request is then loaded again, so the buttons follow its state on GitHub.

GitHub pull requests in IntelliJ IDEA

Pull Request Inbox for GitHub, a plugin by Lesstep for JetBrains IDEs 2024.1 or later, shows a pull request's reviews, checks and conversations next to the diff, and merges it with the methods the target branch allows. Close asks first and says the pull request can be reopened on GitHub, and for a pull request in a stack, that while one in the middle of a stack is closed, none of the pull requests above it can be merged; its list shows open pull requests, so a closed one leaves it, and you reopen it on the pull request's page on GitHub. The review inbox, diffs and conversations are free; approving, commenting, resolving, merging and closing are Pro (US$1.50 a month, with a 30-day trial).

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