Preventing changes to specific file/line/variable

Question

Hey,

I need to prevent merging to a specific branch any pull requests that include a change to a specific Python variable.

Is it possible to do this? Maybe just for a specific line or a specific file? Or maybe instead of preventing the merge, add an alert?

Thanks!

Aron Gombas _Midori_ · Answer

It may be a bit heavyweight for your use case, but you could:

* Create a commit policy with the Changed paths (files) must match a pattern condition. It will reject changes made on the configured set of files. (It will not check the content of the file though.)
* Install it as a local pre-commit hook to every developer's local clone.

That way, developers won't be able to create a commit to that file, so this approach catches the problem early on.

(Disclaimer: this solution requires a paid Jira app that I'm working on.)

Ulrich Kuhnhardt _IzymesCo_ · Answer

The best option to stop a PR merge under a certain condition would be to create a configurable merge-check. The merge-check would scan the change set in the source branch and detect any condition you configure.

Unfortunately this is not possible with bitbucket cloud branch permissions - however there is an existing feature request https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BCLOUD-19885 that would allow you to create such a merge-check. Please vote and add yourself as a watcher.

Best, Ulrich