Switching to ruleset (even in eval mode) prevents merge queue bypass

[wyardley]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

We have a repo with traditional branch protection that I've been working on cutting over to new rulesets.
This mostly looks fine, but even in evaluate mode, I'm noticing that turning on "merge queue" in the ruleset makes the bypass option

With only traditional branch protection:

But with these rulesets in place (whether in "evaluate" or "active"), that bypass option doesn't show up in the UI, even if one is in the group in the "bypass" list. I've also tried toggling "restrict updates" or "restrict creations" on or off - same behavior either way.
Is there a setting I'm missing?

I've also tried making a second, separate ruleset, putting the merge queue rules in that one, and explicitly giving the same groups bypass permissions, but I still don't see the option to bypass merge queue. I've also looked at the "push" and "update"

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[JulyanXu]

#196766 - Switching to ruleset prevents merge queue bypass

This is a known behavior when migrating from branch protection rules to repository rulesets. Even in evaluate mode, enabling a merge queue in a ruleset changes how bypass permissions work for the affected branches.

What is happening

When you enable "Require a merge queue" in a ruleset (even in evaluate mode), GitHub starts evaluating merge queue requirements for matching branches. This interacts with bypass permissions differently than traditional branch protection:

• Traditional branch protection: Bypass list is managed per-rule, and bypass users can skip all checks including merge queue
• Rulesets: Bypass permissions are managed at the ruleset level, but "merge queue bypass" works differently — merge queue is a separate enforcement that bypass does not automatically skip

This means a user in the bypass list can still push directly, but pull requests still go through the merge queue because bypass does not apply to the merge queue scheduling system.

Workaround

Until GitHub fixes this interaction:

1. Do not enable merge queue in your ruleset until you are ready to fully switch over. The evaluate mode does not evaluate "quietly" for merge queue — it actively changes behavior.

2. Keep merge queue in your traditional branch protection rules for now.

3. If you need to test rulesets, create a separate ruleset that only targets a non-production branch (e.g., staging) and test there first.

4. Report this to GitHub Support at github.com/contact — the evaluate mode behavior for merge queue should be documented as affecting bypass behavior, and this is likely a bug.

Migration best practice

When switching from branch protection to rulesets:

1. Start with rulesets that do not include merge queue
2. Verify all bypass permissions work correctly
3. Only then enable merge queue in the ruleset and remove it from branch protection
4. Test on a non-critical branch first