Advanced GitHub Governance

Watchflow replaces generic branch protections with highly customizable, condition-based policies and contribution standards. Define policies via a simple rules.yaml file (e.g. require_linked_issue: true, max_pr_loc: 500) and Watchflow validates them on every event. It handles PR checks, branch protections, and code owner reviews, while allowing developer overrides via simple comments. Completely free for OSS and private repos, with full self-hosting support.

Core Capabilities

Native Validation

Watchflow's hybrid engine skips slow LLM calls whenever possible. If you use native conditions (like max_pr_loc or require_linked_issue) evaluations happen in pure Python.

Drop-in Governance Rules

Easily enforce best practices without writing custom CI actions. Watchflow supports:

• Require Linked Issues: Ensure every PR links to a tracking issue.
• Max PR Size: Cap pull requests at 500 lines of code to keep reviews focused.
• Dynamic Code Owners: Require PR authors to request reviews from specific teams if they touch critical paths.
• Title & Description Patterns: Enforce Conventional Commits (feat:, fix:) and minimum description lengths.
• Deployment Protection: Block weekend deployments or require manual approvals for production.

AI-Powered Repository Analysis

Don't know where to start? Use the Watchflow UI to analyze your repository's history. AI agents will scan your recent Pull Requests, detect your CI skip rates, unlinked issue rates, and PR sizes, and automatically generate a tailored rules.yaml file for you to merge.

The Escape Hatch

Sometimes, rules need to be broken. Instead of fighting the tool or requiring an admin to bypass branch protections, developers can simply comment:
@watchflow ack "Emergency hotfix"
Watchflow will record the reasoning, log the audit trail, and instantly turn the Check Run green.

Getting Started

1. Install the App: Add Watchflow to your repositories for free.
2. Add Your Rules: Create a .watchflow/rules.yaml file in your repository root.
3. Merge with Confidence: Watchflow instantly monitors new PRs and posts actionable, collapsible timeline comments when violations occur.

Want to run it in your own AWS/EKS environment? Check out our Self-Hosting Guide to deploy Watchflow internally!