Enforce build-required merges to main, but allow controlled emergency hotfix path

[Yariv Yarmus]

Hi,

I’ve configured branch restrictions so that: 

• main requires pull requests

• The last commit must have at least 1 successful build

• Merging with unresolved merge checks is not allowed

 This works well — merges to main are blocked if the build fails.

Now I’m trying to implement an emergency hotfix path with the following behavior:

1. Normal flow:

   • PR → main

   • Merge blocked if build fails

2. Emergency flow:

   • Create hotfix/* branch

   • Allow controlled merge to main even if the build fails (only for a restricted group, e.g., release managers)

What is the recommended approach in Bitbucket Cloud to support this?

[Saxea _Flowie_]

Hi @Yariv Yarmus

This workflow is currently not supported by branch restrictions out of the box.

We do provide a solution for this kind of workflow via our Bitbucket app Flowie.

You can use rules and conditions along with the merge plugin and the allow option. Your configuration would be something like this: 

configure({
  plugins: [
    minimumBuilds([source(/hotfix.*/), 0], [otherwise, 1]),
    merge(
      [source(/hotfix.*/), {allow: ["RELEASE_MANAGERS_GROUP"]}],
      [otherwise /* default options */]
   ),
 ],
})

Hope it helps!