How to add a contributor (not collaborator) to a a private GitHub repository?

Question

I have a free Github account with a private repository.

In the repository settings, there is an option to add an collaborator - who if I understand correctly, is someone who can push to my main branch.

What I'd really like to have is a contributor who can make a private pull request to my main branch (as I understand, pull requests of private repositories are also private).

So the question is, how can I give someone access to my private repository so that they can fork it and submit a pull request without making them a collaborator?

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is not possible, you have to have something other than a free account.

You could then set up branch protection to prevent unauthorized collaborators from pushing to some of your branches. To prevent them from pushing to any branch, you would then set the branch pattern to *.

If it is an option, you could use Gitlab which does have protected branches for free accounts (see here).