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Engineering
Intermediate
20 min setup
Read-only
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Turn GitHub PRs into Plain English

Paste a GitHub PR link, get a plain-English summary for reviewers and stakeholders. Step-by-step Claude Desktop + GitHub setup — no coding.

Setup progress

0%

Check items off as you move through the recipe.

⚡ TL;DR

  • ✓ A plain-English PR summary with what changed, why it matters, risks, suggested tests, and open questions — ready to share with reviewers or non-technical stakeholders.
  • ✓ ~20 min first-time setup (connect GitHub once); ~2 min per PR after that
  • ✓ Read-only
  • ✓ Uses GitHub

Before you start

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How to connect each app

  • GitHub

    Claude Desktop → Settings → Connectors → GitHub → Connect → sign in with GitHub → Authorize → pick which repos Claude can read

    Open setup help →

Setup (20 min)

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The prompt

I need a plain-English summary of this GitHub pull request for reviewers and non-technical stakeholders.

Pull request URL: [PASTE PR LINK HERE]
Example format: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/pull/123

Please:
1. Read the pull request — title, description, changed files, and the important parts of the diff.
2. Write a summary with these sections:
   - What changed (plain English — avoid jargon)
   - Why it matters (user impact, bug fix, or business reason)
   - Risks or things reviewers should double-check
   - Suggested tests or validation steps
   - Open questions (if anything in the PR is unclear)

Keep it under 400 words. Use bullet points.
If you cannot access the PR, tell me exactly what to copy from GitHub (description, file list, or diff) and wait for me to paste it.

Paste into Claude Desktop. Claude will use your connected apps: GitHub.

Expected outcome

A plain-English PR summary with what changed, why it matters, risks, suggested tests, and open questions — ready to share with reviewers or non-technical stakeholders.

Success checklist

0/6

Troubleshooting

I can't find Connectors or GitHub in Claude Desktop

Cause

You may be using claude.ai in a browser instead of the desktop app, or need an update.

Solution

Install or update Claude Desktop from claude.ai/download. Open Settings → Connectors or Integrations. GitHub should appear in the list.

GitHub won't connect or asks for organization approval

Cause

Your company may require an admin to approve third-party GitHub apps for your org.

Solution

Ask your engineering lead or IT to approve the Claude GitHub integration for your organization. While you wait, use the manual fallback: copy the PR title, description, and list of changed files from GitHub, paste them into Claude, and say "Summarize this PR using only what I pasted."

Claude says it can't access the pull request

Cause

The GitHub account you connected does not have access to that repo, or the PR link is wrong.

Solution

Confirm you can open the PR link in your browser while logged into GitHub. Reconnect GitHub in Claude with the correct account. Make sure you authorized access to that repository during setup.

The summary is still too technical

Cause

The PR touches low-level code and Claude mirrored that language.

Solution

Reply: "Rewrite for a product manager — no code terms, focus on user-visible changes and risks only."

The PR is huge and the summary missed important changes

Cause

Very large PRs exceed what a short summary can cover well.

Solution

Reply: "List the top 5 highest-risk files or changes first" or "Summarize only the database migration section." Break huge PRs into smaller review chunks.