PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md is a Markdown file that a Git host like GitHub or GitLab reads to pre-populate the description box every time a contributor opens a pull request. Dropped into a repository root, docs/, or .github/, it turns an empty text area into a consistent form that asks for a change summary, testing steps, and a review checklist. It is a convention rather than a formal specification, but it has become a near-universal part of how teams standardize contributions.

• Fixed discovery locations - Recognized at the repository root, in docs/, or in .github/, so the host finds it without configuration.
• Structured prompts - A summary section, testing instructions, and checklist items that turn tribal review knowledge into a reusable form.
• Multiple templates - A PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ directory can hold variants selected with a template query parameter for different kinds of change.
• Sibling to issue templates - Part of the same community-health family as ISSUE_TEMPLATE and CONTRIBUTING.md that shapes repository collaboration.

In API operations this template is where governance meets everyday code review. A well-built PR template asks the questions that keep an API contract honest — did the OpenAPI change, was the changelog updated, were breaking changes flagged — so that design and versioning discipline is enforced at the moment of contribution rather than after release. As more pull requests are opened by coding agents, a machine-readable, checklist-driven template also gives an agent an explicit contract for what a complete, reviewable change looks like.