GitHub · Pull requests · Review suggestions · Checked October 26, 2026

GitHub: why a suggested change cannot be applied

A reviewer can put a suggestion block in a comment on lines of a pull request, with the lines as they would have them (GitHub's documentation on commenting on a pull request). GitHub's documentation on incorporating feedback says you can apply it if you have write access to the repository, or, for a pull request from a fork whose author allowed edits from maintainers, write access to the upstream repository. Applying one suggestion, or a batch of them, creates a single commit on the pull request's compare branch: each person whose suggestion is in it is a co-author, and the person who applies it is a co-author and the committer (checked October 26, 2026).

```suggestion
if (count == 0) return 0
```

GitHub's messages, and what they mean

GitHub's pull request page carries these messages for a suggestion it will not apply (read from the HTML of a public pull request page on October 26, 2026):

"Outdated suggestions cannot be applied." A later commit changed the commented lines, so the suggestion was written against code that is no longer there (see why a line comment is outdated). Ask for a new suggestion on today's lines, or make the change yourself.
"Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews." The suggestion is in a review its author has not submitted yet. Once the review is submitted, it can be applied.
"Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported." The comment is on a removed line: the left side of the diff (side LEFT in the API).
"Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes." The Files changed tab shows only some of the commits. Show all changes, then apply.
"Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch." Two suggestions in the batch touch the same line. Leave one out of the batch.
"Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed." and "Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge." Reopen it, or wait until it leaves the merge queue.
"This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code." and "You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion." The block holds the same lines as the code: there is nothing to commit.
"This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved." It is in a commit already, or its conversation was resolved.
"Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later." Try again later.
No Commit suggestion button at all: you do not have write access to the repository; for a pull request from a fork, its author has not allowed edits from maintainers (see allowing changes to a branch created from a fork).

No API applies a suggestion

Searched: GitHub's REST API description (api.github.com, OpenAPI 1.1.4) and its public GraphQL schema have no operation that applies a suggestion in a pull request (searched October 26, 2026). Through the API a suggestion is text: the comment's body holds the suggestion block as written.
Not this: the REST endpoints under /repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/NUMBER/suggestions and the GraphQL mutation applyPendingIssueSuggestions are about agent-proposed changes to an issue's type, labels, fields, assignees or closed state. GitHub's description says they support issues, not pull requests.
Taking it without the button: make the change in a commit on the pull request's head branch (checked out locally, or with PUT /repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/PATH and the branch name), credit the reviewer with a Co-authored-by trailer, as Commit suggestion would have made them a co-author, and resolve the conversation.

In IntelliJ IDEA: the suggestion is applied in your local repository, not by GitHub

How the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA applies a suggestion in the pull request's timeline, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRReviewSuggestedChangeComponentFactory.kt, GHPRReviewCommentBodyViewModel.kt, GHSuggestedChangeApplier.kt, intellij.vcs.github.xml, GithubBundle.properties):

The buttons: a comment with a suggestion block shows a Suggested change panel with Apply Locally, and Commit… as its other option (on by default).
When they are off: unless the pull request's branch is the one checked out in your local repository ("Unable to apply the suggested change from a pull request in a different branch"), on a resolved thread ("This suggestion has been resolved"), and when GitHub returns the thread without its line numbers, as for an outdated one ("Outdated suggestions cannot be applied", the same words as GitHub's).
It does not ask GitHub to apply it. Apply Locally patches the file in your working tree. Commit… asks for a commit message (an empty one is refused), writes the patched file into the index and makes a local commit of that file with your message as typed, adding no co-authors. Nothing is pushed: the change reaches the pull request when you push it.
Afterwards, only when the patch applied (and, for Commit…, the commit was made), it resolves the thread on GitHub, and only if GitHub returns viewerCanResolve as true for you. A commit that fails is written to the IDE's log as an error.

GitHub pull requests in IntelliJ IDEA

Pull Request Inbox for GitHub, a plugin by Lesstep for JetBrains IDEs 2024.1 or later, shows comments on lines on the Comments tab with their file and line, and says when a thread was made at an earlier commit whose lines have changed since. A suggested change is labelled as one: which lines it replaces, or that it deletes them when the block is empty, and that it is taken with Commit suggestion on GitHub; on a deleted line, that GitHub does not apply it there. The plugin does not apply suggestions, as GitHub's API has no way to: Open in Browser opens the pull request on GitHub, where Commit suggestion is, and Checkout checks out its branch to make the change yourself. Conversations can be resolved from the diff. 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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