Closing Issues via Commit Messages
Recently we changed the way closing issues via commit message works on GitHub. Now when you enter “Fixes #33” in a commit message, issue 33 will only be closed once…
Recently we changed the way closing issues via commit message
works on GitHub.
Now when you enter “Fixes #33” in a commit message, issue 33
will only be closed once the commit is merged into your
default branch (usually master
).
This is super useful because it means the issue’s open / closed
status will map to your default branch. If the bug isn’t fixed
in your default branch, the issue will remain open. Once the
commit with the fix is merged into your default branch the
issue will be automatically closed.
When you do make a commit in a non-default branch with the
“Fixes #33” syntax, the issue will be referenced with a tooltip:
If you work primarily in a non-master branch, such as dev
,
you can change your default branch on the repository settings page:
Didn’t know about this feature? You can use any of these keywords to close an issue via commit message:
close, closes, closed, fixes, fixed
All of them work the same, including this behavior.
Enjoy!
Written by
Related posts

Vibe coding with GitHub Copilot: Agent mode and MCP support rolling out to all VS Code users
In celebration of MSFT’s 50th anniversary, we’re rolling out Agent Mode with MCP support to all VS Code users. We are also announcing the new GitHub Copilot Pro+ plan w/ premium requests, the general availability of models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, next edit suggestions for code completions & the Copilot code review agent.

GitHub Availability Report: February 2025
In February, we experienced two incidents that resulted in degraded performance across GitHub services.

GitHub Availability Report: January 2025
In January, we experienced two incidents that resulted in degraded performance across GitHub services.