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Overview

Through Blink’s deep GitHub App integration, Blink can understand your codebase, create meaningful contributions, and participate in your team’s workflow just like any other developer.

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Installation

Setting up Blink with GitHub requires linking our GitHub App to your account or organization. You’ll need owner-level access to install apps in your organization. If you don’t have these permissions, the installation will trigger an approval request to your GitHub organization’s owner.

Learn how to link Blink's GitHub app

Linking Blink to your GitHub account or organization takes just a few minutes. Follow our step-by-step guide to get started.

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Permissions

Blink inherits the access and permissions of the user linking their GitHub account. The Blink GitHub App requests specific permissions to deliver its full functionality:

Read

Access to metadata

Read and write

Access to actions, checks, code, commit statuses, issues, organization projects, pull requests, and workflows
These permissions allow Blink to:
  • Perform deep code analysis without permanently storing your source code
  • Create branches and submit pull requests that follow your team’s conventions
  • Participate in code reviews by responding to feedback and making updates
  • Provide context about build failures and CI/CD status
Blink employs installation tokens for all write operations, ensuring actions are only performed when you have the necessary repository permissions.

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Repository Selection

During installation, you can control which repositories Blink can access:
  • All repositories - Provides access to your entire GitHub presence, including future repositories
  • Selected repositories - Limits access to specific repositories you choose
You can modify this selection anytime through GitHub’s App management interface. If you’re a GitHub organization owner, you can also restrict Blink’s access to certain repositories within your organization, even if the authorizing user has broader access.

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Access Control

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Private Repository Access

Blink respects GitHub’s permission model for private repositories:
  • Users with Triage, Write, Maintain, or Admin access can use Blink’s full capabilities
  • Users with only read access can utilize Blink for code research and analysis but cannot create branches or submit pull requests

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Public Repository Access

Public repositories remain available to all Blink users for research and analysis, regardless of specific permissions.

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Issue and Pull Request Management

Blink provides comprehensive support for GitHub’s collaboration features: Issue Handling:
  • Analyzes existing issues to understand project context and requirements
  • Creates well-formatted issues with appropriate labels and assignments
  • Connects related commits and pull requests to relevant issues
  • Tracks progress and status changes throughout the development process
Pull Request Workflow:
  • Creates feature branches using consistent naming conventions
  • Opens pull requests with detailed descriptions and context
  • Engages with code review feedback and implements requested changes
  • Updates PRs based on CI/CD results and team input
  • Maintains proper attribution for collaborative development
Blink administrators can customize several aspects of Blink’s behavior through Blink’s Settings -> GitHub configuration page:
  • Author as Blink: By default, commits and PRs are authored by Blink. Disable this option to have the GitHub user author commits and PRs instead.
  • Branch naming: blink/{feature}
  • Draft PRs: Configurable preference for opening pull requests as drafts
  • Stale PR management: Configurable auto-closure (options: never, 3, 7, or 30 days)
GitHub settings page

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Monitoring PR Builds

Blink actively monitors continuous integration builds for pull requests it’s working on through GitHub webhooks: Automatic Failure Detection:
  • Receives check_run.completed webhooks from GitHub
  • Filters for failed builds (ignores successful or skipped runs)
  • Only monitors PRs that are associated with active Blink chats
  • Validates that check runs match the current PR head SHA
When Builds Fail:
  • Blink automatically receives notification of the failure
  • Queues an internal message to the associated chat
  • Can analyze the failure and suggest fixes
  • Responds proactively to help resolve build issues
Proactive Response: When a build fails on a PR Blink is working on, it can:
  • Analyze the failure logs automatically
  • Automatically commit fixes to resolve failing builds
  • Update the PR description with corrections

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PR Feedback

After opening a PR, Blink monitors for new comments and code review feedback, and will follow the reviewers’ instructions to make updates. Blink will respond in the PR with emojies and/or comments to indicate it has seen the feedback and is working on it.

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Common Use Cases

Here are typical ways teams use Blink with GitHub: Feature Development: 
Implement the user authentication system described in issue #123. Create a new branch, write comprehensive tests, and submit a draft pull request.
Code Review Assistance: 
Analyze pull request #456 for potential security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and adherence to our coding standards.
Bug Resolution: 
Investigate and fix the TypeScript compilation errors in the payment processing module, then create a pull request with the solution.
Codebase Analysis: 
Examine the recent changes to our API authentication layer and provide a summary of modifications made over the past two weeks.

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Removing the Integration

To disconnect Blink from your GitHub repositories:
  1. Navigate to GitHub Settings → Applications → Installed GitHub Apps
  2. Locate “Blink” and select Configure
  3. Choose “Uninstall” to revoke all access permissions
Removing the GitHub App immediately terminates Blink’s repository access.

Need help troubleshooting?

Sometimes things don’t go as planned and permissions can be tricky. Check out our troubleshooting guide for help with common issues and questions.