curl -X PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/branches/example-branch/protection/required_status_checks' \
  -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 '{}'

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

> Update status check protection

## 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 PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/branches/example-branch/protection/required_status_checks' \
  -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 '{}'

## 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... |
| branch | path | string | Yes | The name of the branch. Cannot contain wildcard characters. To use wildcard c... |
| strict | body | boolean | No | Require branches to be up to date before merging. |
| contexts | body | string[] | No | **Closing down notice**: The list of status checks to require in order to mer... |
| checks | body | object[] | No | The list of status checks to require in order to merge into this branch. |

## Response example
{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_status_checks","strict":true}

---
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PATCH

PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/branches/{branch}/protection/required_status_checks — GitHub API

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

GitHub API

Update status check protection

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
→ 328 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 PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/branches/example-branch/protection/required_status_checks' \  -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 '{}'

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.
branch	path	string	Yes	The name of the branch. Cannot contain wildcard characters. To use wildcard characters in branch names, use [the GraphQL API](https://docs.github.com/graphql).
strict	body	boolean	No	Require branches to be up to date before merging.
contexts	body	string[]	No	Closing down notice: The list of status checks to require in order to merge into this branch. If any of these checks have recently been set by a particular GitHub App, they will be required to come from that app in future for the branch to merge. Use `checks` instead of `contexts` for more fine-grained control.
checks	body	object[]	No	The list of status checks to require in order to merge into this branch.

Response 200 OK

{
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_status_checks",
  "strict": true,
  "contexts": [
    "continuous-integration/travis-ci"
  ],
  "checks": [
    {
      "context": "continuous-integration/travis-ci",
      "app_id": 0
    }
  ],
  "contexts_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches/master/protection/required_status_checks/contexts"
}

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