How to select/comment on a range of lines in github pull request?

It isn't possible to comment on multiple lines in a pull request review at GitHub. I hope they will create a new feature where this is possible.

But what you can do, there is a little (time consuming) workaround:

If you go in to the code, in the branch with the changes, you can select multiple lines and then copy a permalink for those lines. When you paste this link into your review comment, it will be shown as a code snippet.

For more, read this: https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-permanent-link-to-a-code-snippet/

Update Github has released a new feature where this is possible. See VonC's answer :-)


Since Oct. 2019, Nat Friedman (CEO of GitHub) declares that feature available
(And, see below, since Feb. 2020, multi-lines comment reference is possible)

🔥
Multi-line comments are here!
Click and drag to comment on multiple lines in a pull request diff. ✨

These little quality-of-life improvements are at the heart of what we love doing at GitHub. 🥰

Multi-line PR comment selection

Thanks to:

  • John Caine
  • Mike Skalnik
  • Pat Nakajima
  • Mike Chlipala
  • Joel Califa
  • Matt Colyer
  • Melanie Gilman

Nick Craver immediately asks:

Follow-up question: are there plans to support suggestions?
It seems to apply to the last line at the moment:

multi-line suggestion?

That would be, according to Nat, "Coming early next year".

Update Feb. 2020: "A new interaction for multi-line pull request comments "

To leave a comment referencing multiple lines, you can either:

  • click on a line number in the diff view, hold Shift, click on a second line number and click the "+" button next to the second line number; or
  • click and hold to the right of a line number, drag and then release the mouse when you’ve reached the desired line.

This was announced by Nat Friedman

Shipping today on GitHub: multi-line suggestions!

multi-lines example

With, again, special thanks to Melanie Gilman, Pat Nakajima, Mike Chlipala, Joel Califa, John Caine, Matt Colyer and , and Kelly Arwine.

GitHub Changelog also references this.


Henry adds an observation

A smaller side effect, but I assume being able to share a multi-line diff in the PR is new too!

Example: babel/babel PR 10511 diff-L261-L263

Share multi line

But that was available since July 2019