Connect GitHub
For sites whose pages live in a repository, RankGrep opens pull requests instead of writing to a database.
If your website is built from a repository, RankGrep can still fix it. Instead of writing to a database, every approved fix becomes a pull request.
How it works
- Click Connect GitHub on the Connections page. GitHub asks which repositories to grant RankGrep access to. Choose only the one for this website.
- Once a fix is approved, RankGrep creates a branch named
rankgrep/<id>, commits the single change, and opens a pull request with the before and after in its description. - You review and merge. RankGrep never merges. Nothing is live until a person clicks the button.
What RankGrep can see and do
The GitHub App asks for three permissions and nothing else:
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Contents: read and write | Create the branch and commit the change |
| Pull requests: read and write | Open the pull request |
| Metadata: read | Required by GitHub for every app |
RankGrep stores no long-lived token. It holds only the installation id, and GitHub issues it a one-hour token each time it needs to act. Removing the installation under GitHub → Settings → Applications ends access instantly.
Undo
While the pull request is open, Undo in Change history closes it and deletes the branch. Once it is merged, undo it the way you would any commit: with a revert pull request.
Why there is no deploy problem here
The repository is the source of truth. A fix that lands as a merged pull request is in every future build, so local changes and RankGrep's changes never diverge. The deploy precautions in this documentation are for WordPress sites.