Self-approval is when the author of a pull request approves their own changes. It commonly conflicts with the team expectation that another person should review the work, but the right policy depends on team dynamics, tool enforcement, and emergency needs. section 4.4.5
When deciding how to handle self-approval, teams can choose among these approaches:
- Prohibit self-approval through the team working agreement and review tooling. section 4.4.5
- Permit it only during emergencies, using a dedicated emergency tag and a recorded justification. section 3.4.1
- Keep the prohibition intact during emergencies by expanding the emergency approver pool to next-level managers. section 3.4.1
Controlled emergency approval
A team allows the author to count as a second approver only when a pull request carries the emergency tag. The author links a bug report or records why self-approval was necessary. The tool prompts for this justification, and the emergency playbook documents the procedure. section 3.4.1
