GitHub · Pull requests · GraphQL and REST API · Checked October 25, 2026

GitHub: why draft, ready for review or close was refused

GitHub's REST endpoint for updating a pull request, PATCH /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/NUMBER, takes title, body, state (open or closed), base and maintainer_can_modify, and no draft field: a pull request is closed there, and turned into a draft or marked ready for review with the GraphQL mutations convertPullRequestToDraft and markPullRequestReadyForReview, which take the pull request's id. The documented answers to the PATCH are 200, 403, and 422 when the request fails validation or the endpoint has been spammed. The refusals below are quoted from public reports, with GitHub's documented rules behind them (checked October 25, 2026).

mutation {
  markPullRequestReadyForReview(input: {pullRequestId: "PR_…"}) {
    pullRequest { isDraft }
  }
}

What GitHub says, and why

Resource not accessible by integration (convertPullRequestToDraft) or (markPullRequestReadyForReview), from a workflow's GITHUB_TOKEN: public reports found that pull-requests: write alone was refused, and that adding contents: write let the same command through. Another found that a workflow run for a pull request from a fork gets a read-only token, which is refused as well.
Resource not accessible by personal access token (FORBIDDEN): a public report found the same with a fine-grained token that had Pull requests read and write; a classic token converted the same pull request.
Closing needs less: in a public report, a workflow token with contents: read and pull-requests: write was refused the draft conversion but closed the pull request. In GitHub's list of permissions, the PATCH is Pull requests with write access, for a fine-grained token.
The role: in GitHub's table of repository roles, marking a draft ready for review and converting a pull request to a draft take the Write role or above; closing and reopening any pull request takes Triage or above.
The plan: GitHub's documentation says drafts are available in public repositories with GitHub Free, GitHub Free for organizations, GitHub Pro and legacy per-repository plans, and in public and private repositories with GitHub Team and GitHub Enterprise Cloud. A private repository on GitHub Free or GitHub Pro has no drafts to convert to.
Who may update: GitHub's documentation for the PATCH says that updating a pull request in a public repository takes write access to the head or source branch, and in a repository owned by an organization, membership of that organization.

What changes when it goes through

GitHub's documentation says that marking a pull request ready for review requests reviews from any code owners.
After converting to a draft, no one can merge the pull request until it is marked ready for review again; people subscribed to its notifications stay subscribed.
A closed pull request can be reopened with state open.

What to do

A workflow: give its job contents: write as well as pull-requests: write.
A fine-grained token: give it Contents with write access as well as Pull requests, or use a classic token with the repo scope (see which permission to add).
Your role: ask for the Write role to change the stage of someone's pull request, or Triage to close it.
No drafts on the plan: leave the pull request open, and say in it that it is not ready yet.
A merge refused because it is a draft: mark it ready for review first (see why GitHub refused the merge).

In IntelliJ IDEA: a draft gets only Post Pull Request, and nothing turns it back into a draft

How the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA changes the stage of a pull request, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRDetailsActionsComponentFactory.kt, CodeReviewDetailsActionsComponentFactory.kt, GHPRPostReviewAction.kt, GHPRCloseAction.kt, GHPRReviewFlowViewModelImpl.kt, GHPRDetailsServiceImpl.kt, GHGQLRequests.kt):

What it offers: on a draft, the only button is Post Pull Request, which marks it ready for review (GraphQL markPullRequestReadyForReview); there is no Close or merge on a draft there. 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. Closing and reopening use the REST PATCH above with state.
Who gets them: all three are on only for 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. So a Triage account sees Post Pull Request on someone else's draft, although GitHub's table above puts marking ready for review at Write.
Nothing turns a pull request back into a draft: the source has a request for markPullRequestReadyForReview but none for convertPullRequestToDraft. Use GitHub for that.
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 Ready for Review on a draft, and Convert to Draft on a pull request you opened; Close asks first, and says that the pull request can be reopened on GitHub. Afterwards it says what changed. When GitHub refuses, it shows GitHub's words; for a token without the permission, it says so and points to Settings, where it asks for Pull requests and Contents with write access. The review inbox, diffs and conversations are free; approving, commenting, drafts, closing and merging are Pro (US$1.50 a month, with a 30-day trial).

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