GitHub · Pull requests · Merging · Checked October 27, 2026

GitHub: Rebase and merge is not available

Rebase and merge adds each commit of the head branch onto the base branch without a merge commit. It takes write permissions in the repository and a repository that allows rebase merging; if GitHub cannot safely rebase the pull request automatically, rebase it locally, resolve the conflicts and push the updated branch (GitHub's rebase and merge your commits, checked October 27, 2026).

Why it is not available

Not allowed in the repository: rebase merging is allowed under Pull Requests in the repository's Settings, Allow rebase merging. A protected branch that requires a linear history needs squash merging, rebase merging or both allowed (GitHub's configuring commit rebasing for pull requests).
GitHub cannot rebase it safely: contributors may have to rebase on the command line, resolve any conflicts, and force push to the head branch before they can use Rebase and merge on GitHub (GitHub's about merge methods on GitHub). In the API, a pull request has a rebaseable field, true, false or null (GitHub's REST API endpoints for pull requests).
The branch rules ask for another method: merge methods set on the repository that conflict with a ruleset's merge method rule prevent merging (see merge method not allowed).

What Rebase and merge changes

New commits: it always updates the committer information and creates new commit SHAs, whereas git rebase does not change the committer information when the rebase happens on top of an ancestor commit. After the merge, the pull request's merge_commit_sha is the commit the base branch was updated to.
Empty commits: it drops commits that were empty to begin with, such as those made with git commit --allow-empty, which git rebase keeps by default.
Signatures: the commits are added to the base branch without commit signature verification, as GitHub cannot sign them on your behalf (see merge blocked by unsigned commits).

What to do

Rebase locally: rebase the head branch onto the base branch, resolve the conflicts, and force push it; force push carefully, so that you do not overwrite work others have based theirs on. A branch rule may block the force push (see force push blocked).
Or another method: squash and merge, or a merge commit, when the branch rules allow them.
Allow it: someone who can change the repository settings selects Allow rebase merging.

In IntelliJ IDEA: Rebase follows GitHub's canBeRebased, not the merge state

When the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA turns its Rebase button on, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRReviewFlowViewModelImpl.kt, GHPRRebaseMergeAction.kt, GHPRMergeabilityStateBuilder.kt, pullRequestMergeability.graphql, GHPRSecurityServiceImpl.kt, GithubSharedProjectSettings.kt, GHPRDetailsServiceImpl.kt):

When it is on: only when all of these hold: the repository allows rebase merging, as the IDE read it when it connected (see why the merge method was refused); GitHub's GraphQL canBeRebased for the pull request, "Whether or not the pull request is rebaseable", is true; the account has Write permission or above; when the target branch has a rule, GitHub reports that you can push to it; the project's shared setting pullRequestMergeForbidden, kept in .idea/vcs.xml, is not on; and no other action of the pull request is running.
Not the merge state: Merge… and Squash and Merge… also need GitHub's merge state to allow the merge, but Rebase looks at canBeRebased instead. So Rebase can be on while those two are off, and then GitHub decides when the request arrives.
When it is pressed, it sends the rebase merge at once, with no dialog. If GitHub refuses, the source writes the error to the IDE's log only.

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. Its merge dialog offers Rebase and merge when the repository settings and the branch rules allow it, says so when GitHub cannot rebase the pull request automatically (rebaseable false), and a refusal is shown in GitHub's words. The review inbox, diffs and conversations are free; approving, commenting, resolving and merging are Pro (US$1.50 a month, with a 30-day trial).

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