Merge commit displays the author as someone who doesn't have permission to merge

Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the cloud platform.

Summary

A merge commit displays the author as someone who doesn't have permission to merge according to your branch permissions settings.

Environment

Bitbucket Cloud

Diagnosis

A merge commit displays an author that, when checking the repository branch restrictions, doesn't have permission to merge to this branch.

Cause

Git uses the merge commit author as the user who created the Pull Request, not the user who has merged it.

Solution

In order to confirm which user has merged the Pull Request, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Pull Request's URL. In the example listed above, it is Pull Request #2

  2. On the right side panel, select the activity tab

  3. Look for the merge entry and it will display the user that merged the Pull request and this user has permission to merge via Pull Request

If the scenarios detailed in the knowledge article do not reflect your individual situation, and you are still encountering difficulties after following the steps  - please feel free to raise a support ticket or raise a community support ticket for further assistance. 

Updated on February 28, 2025

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.