Issue and change-request templates exist so reports arrive with the facts you need
Every free-form bug report costs a round trip to ask for the version and the reproduction. A template collects both before the issue is filed.
Observable check
on GitHub, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ holds at least one template, and a pull request template sits at any path GitHub reads: pull_request_template.md at the repository root, in docs/, or in .github/, or a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ directory holding at least one template in any of those three. On GitLab, .gitlab/issue_templates/ holds at least one template and .gitlab/merge_request_templates/ exists. Issue forms are read from .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ alone, so that path is exact where the pull request template's is not.
Where this comes from
- https://docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates-to-encourage-useful-issues-and-pull-requests/configuring-issue-templates-for-your-repository
- https://docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates-to-encourage-useful-issues-and-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-template-for-your-repository
Last read against these sources on 2026-07-31.
Confirms .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ and issue forms as YAML, and that this path is exact: the issue-template page names no root or docs/ alternative. The PR template page resolves the other half: pull_request_template.md is valid in the repository root, docs/, or .github/, and multiple templates live in an uppercase PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ subdirectory selected by the template query parameter rather than applied automatically. This note recorded that false negative on 2026-07-28 and the Check kept it until 2026-07-31, which is the wrong use of this field: a divergence written down here and left in place is a defect with a paper trail rather than a fixed one. The Check now accepts all four documented layouts. The GitLab paths have no source named.