curl -X POST 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/rulesets' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "example-name",
  "enforcement": "disabled"
}'

# POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/rulesets (GitHub API)
Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization; GitHub token; required.
Request formats: application/json.
Last verified: 2026-10-20

> Create a repository ruleset

## Critical Gotchas
* GitHub recommends an `Accept: application/vnd.github+json` header and an explicit `X-GitHub-Api-Version` header.
* Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

## cURL
curl -X POST 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/rulesets' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "example-name",
  "enforcement": "disabled"
}'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| owner | path | string | Yes | The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive. |
| repo | path | string | Yes | The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case... |
| name | body | string | Yes | The name of the ruleset. |
| enforcement | body | string | Yes | The enforcement level of the ruleset. `evaluate` allows admins to test rules... |
| target | body | string | No | The target of the ruleset |
| bypass_actors | body | object[] | No | The actors that can bypass the rules in this ruleset |
| conditions | body | object | No | Parameters for a repository ruleset ref name condition |
| rules | body | object[] | No | An array of rules within the ruleset. |

## Response example
{"id":0,"name":"string"}

---
Need an API key? Get one at https://github.com/settings/tokens

POST

POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/rulesets — GitHub API

GitHub token (required); https://api.github.com

GitHub API

Create a repository ruleset

Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <GITHUB_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched

Actions Try in browser→

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 357 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

GitHub recommends an Accept: application/vnd.github+json header and an explicit X-GitHub-Api-Version header.

Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/rulesets' \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  -d '{  "name": "example-name",  "enforcement": "disabled"}'

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
owner	path	string	Yes	The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo	path	string	Yes	The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case sensitive.
name	body	string	Yes	The name of the ruleset.
target	body	string	No	The target of the ruleset
enforcement	body	string	Yes	The enforcement level of the ruleset. `evaluate` allows admins to test rules before enforcing them. Admins can view insights on the Rule Insights page (`evaluate` is only available with GitHub Enterprise).
bypass_actors	body	object[]	No	The actors that can bypass the rules in this ruleset
conditions	body	object	No	Parameters for a repository ruleset ref name condition
rules	body	object[]	No	An array of rules within the ruleset.

Response 200 OK

{
  "id": 0,
  "name": "string",
  "target": "branch",
  "source_type": "Repository",
  "source": "string",
  "enforcement": "disabled",
  "bypass_actors": [
    {
      "actor_id": 0,
      "actor_type": "Integration",
      "bypass_mode": "always"
    }
  ],
  "current_user_can_bypass": "always",
  "node_id": "string",
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "string"
    },
    "html": {
      "href": "string"
    }
  },
  "conditions": {
    "ref_name": {
      "include": [
        "string"
      ],
      "exclude": [
        "string"
      ]
    }
  },
  "rules": [
    {
      "type": "creation"
    }
  ],
  "created_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z"
}

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