Do You Need a Merge Queue?
How many of these have you experienced?
Merge Queue Bingo
Click each pain point you've experienced
0 / 16 checked
Take the Quiz
Section titled “Take the Quiz”Answer these 7 questions to find out if your team would benefit from a merge queue.
Question 1 of 7
How often does your main branch break (tests fail after merge)?
Understanding Your Score
Section titled “Understanding Your Score”0-30%: You’re Probably Fine
Section titled “0-30%: You’re Probably Fine”Your workflow is working. Low merge frequency, fast CI, and stable main mean a merge queue might add unnecessary complexity. Revisit as your team grows.
31-69%: Consider It
Section titled “31-69%: Consider It”You’re experiencing some friction. A merge queue would smooth things out, but it’s not urgent. Good time to evaluate options and plan for adoption.
70-100%: You Need One
Section titled “70-100%: You Need One”The pain is real. Broken main, rebasing loops, and coordination overhead are costing your team significant time. A merge queue would pay for itself quickly.
The Signals
Section titled “The Signals”Technical signals
Section titled “Technical signals”- PR CI passes, post-merge CI fails — The classic symptom. PRs test against stale main.
- CI takes 20+ minutes — Long CI means stale branches and wasted re-runs.
- Frequent reverts — “Revert ‘Revert ‘Add feature X”” is a red flag.
- Flaky tests appear on main but not PRs — Integration issues only surface after merge.
Organizational signals
Section titled “Organizational signals”- Merge races — Two devs refreshing GitHub, waiting to click merge first.
- Informal merge coordination — Slack messages like “can I merge?” or “go ahead, I’ll wait.”
- Friday freeze — Unwritten rule to avoid merging before the weekend.
- Blame games — Time spent figuring out who broke main instead of fixing it.
Scale tipping points
Section titled “Scale tipping points”| Factor | Might not need | Great to have | Essential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team size | Under 20 engineers | 20-50 engineers | 50+ engineers |
| Merge frequency | 5-10 PRs/day | 20-50 PRs/day | 50+ PRs/day |
| CI duration | 5-10 minutes | 20-30 minutes | 45+ minutes |
What’s Next?
Section titled “What’s Next?”- Need to convince others? → Making the Case
- Ready to choose a tool? → Tool Comparison
- Want to understand features? → How Merge Queues Work