GitHub · pull requests · reviews API · Checked October 24, 2026

GitHub: why the review was refused, or the approval does not count

A review is sent to POST /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/NUMBER/reviews with event set to APPROVE, REQUEST_CHANGES or COMMENT. GitHub's documentation names the statuses: 200 when the review is created, 403 when you may not, and 422 when the request fails validation or the endpoint has been spammed. GitHub's documentation does not list the 422 messages; the ones below are quoted from public reports, with GitHub's documented rules behind them (checked October 24, 2026).

422: what GitHub says, and why

Can not approve your own pull request (for a request for changes, the GitHub CLI reports Review Can not request changes on your own pull request): GitHub's documentation says that pull request authors cannot approve their own pull requests. Your account opened it, or the token belongs to the account that opened it (for example, a bot that both opens and approves).
User can only have one pending review per pull request (on a reply to a line comment: user_id can only have one pending review per pull request): your account started a review on this pull request and has not submitted it. While it is pending, creating another review, or replying to a line comment through the REST API, answers this.
GitHub Actions is not permitted to approve pull requests.: the token is a workflow's GITHUB_TOKEN, and the repository does not allow Actions to create and approve pull requests. For a repository in a personal account this is off by default; a repository in an organization takes the organization's setting.
A request for changes, or a comment review, without body: GitHub's documentation says the body is required for REQUEST_CHANGES and COMMENT. Without event, the review is created as pending, and submitting a pending review without one answers 422.

403, 404

403 Resource not accessible by personal access token (or by integration): the token may read the pull request but not review it; a fine-grained token needs Pull requests read and write (see which permission to add).
404: the repository or pull request is not there for this token, which is also how GitHub answers a private repository the token cannot see.

The review was taken, but the approval does not count

Branch protection decides which approvals count toward the required reviews (GitHub's documentation on protected branches):

Approvals count from people with write permissions in the repository, or from a designated code owner. Anyone with read access can review, but their approval does not count. In a public repository with code review limits on, people without explicit access cannot approve or request changes at all (see code review limits).
With Dismiss stale pull request approvals when new commits are pushed, a push that changes the diff dismisses the approval, and someone must approve again.
With Require review from Code Owners, a change to code with a code owner needs that owner's approval.
With Require approval of the most recent reviewable push, the person who made the last push cannot be the one who approves it.
When someone requested changes, the merge answers Changes have been requested. until that reviewer approves, or someone with write permissions dismisses the review (see why the merge was refused).

What to do

Your own pull request: ask someone else to review it, or use a token of an account that did not open it. Repository owners and administrators can merge without an approving review where the rules allow it.
One pending review: open the pull request in the browser as that account, submit the pending review or discard it, then try again.
GitHub Actions: in the repository's Settings, Actions, General, Workflow permissions, allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests (in an organization, its owner may have to allow it first), or approve with another account's token.
A request for changes: say what should change in body.
The approval does not count: check the branch's rules, and approve again after the last push.

In IntelliJ IDEA: no Approve on your own pull request, and "Failed to submit review"

How the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA submits a review, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRSubmitReviewPopup.kt, GHPRSubmitReviewViewModel.kt, GHPRReviewViewModel.kt, GHPRReviewServiceImpl.kt, GHAPIExceptionUtil.kt):

Approve and Request Changes are offered only when GitHub says the account you logged in with did not open the pull request (viewerDidAuthor). On your own pull request there is only Comment ("Submit general feedback without explicit approval"), so "Can not approve your own pull request" does not come from the IDE.
Request Changes and Comment stay off until you write something or have comments not yet submitted; Approve needs neither.
It submits with GitHub's GraphQL API, not the REST endpoint above. When it has loaded a pending review of yours (comments not yet submitted), it submits that review with the button's event (submitPullRequestReview); otherwise it creates the review with the event in one step (addPullRequestReview).
When GitHub refuses, it reads "Failed to submit review" with GitHub's message; a token without the scopes it needs reads "User authorization failed" instead. What you typed stays, so you can submit again once it is fixed.

GitHub pull requests in IntelliJ IDEA

Pull Request Inbox for GitHub, a plugin by Lesstep for JetBrains IDEs 2024.1 or later, approves or requests changes from the pull request's page in the IDE. A request for changes asks for a comment first, because GitHub needs one. It sends the head commit you had on screen; when the branch moved since, it sends nothing and says to refresh. When GitHub refuses, it shows GitHub's words; for a 403 about the token's permissions, it says which access the token needs. The review inbox, diffs and conversations are free; approving, commenting and merging are Pro (US$1.50 a month, with a 30-day trial).

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