How to test GitHub merge conflicts locally

The happy path for a pull request is boring. The merge conflict is where the integration usually gets real. Most GitHub API demos stop too early. They show how to open the pull request, fetch it, maybe list reviews, and then call it done. That is useful for proving your auth works. It is not enough for proving your PR automation works. The harder branch is the one where the pull request exists, the metadata looks fine, and then the merge step hits a conflict. That is the path that decides whethe