This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement a source control strategy. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your organization uses GitHub for source control. You need to enforce that all pull requests require at least one approval and that branches must be up to date with the base branch before merging. Which branch protection rule settings should you enable?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Require branches to be up to date only
Why wrong: Missing the pull request requirement.
Require a pull request before merging only
Why wrong: Missing the up-to-date requirement.
Require status checks to pass before merging only
Why wrong: This doesn't enforce pull request or up-to-date requirements.
Require a pull request before merging and require branches to be up to date
Both settings enforce the required policies.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Require a pull request before merging and require branches to be up to date
Option D is correct because GitHub branch protection rules allow you to enforce both that pull requests require at least one approval and that branches are up to date with the base branch before merging. The 'Require a pull request before merging' setting ensures that changes cannot be pushed directly to the protected branch and must go through a PR with required approvals. The 'Require branches to be up to date' setting (under 'Require status checks to pass before merging') ensures that the branch is tested against the latest base branch code, preventing stale merges.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Require branches to be up to date only
Why it's wrong here
Missing the pull request requirement.
Require a pull request before merging only
Why it's wrong here
Missing the up-to-date requirement.
Require status checks to pass before merging only
Why it's wrong here
This doesn't enforce pull request or up-to-date requirements.
Require a pull request before merging and require branches to be up to date
Why this is correct
Both settings enforce the required policies.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often think 'Require status checks to pass before merging' alone covers both the approval and up-to-date requirements, but it does not enforce the pull request workflow or the branch freshness check unless those specific status checks are explicitly configured.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, GitHub's branch protection rules are enforced via Git hooks and server-side checks during merge operations. The 'Require branches to be up to date' setting works by checking that the head branch's commit is a direct descendant of the base branch's latest commit; if not, the merge is blocked until the branch is rebased or merged with the base. In a real-world scenario, this prevents a developer from merging a feature branch that was created days ago and has since diverged from main, which could introduce conflicts or untested code into production.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design and implement a source control strategy — This question tests Design and implement a source control strategy — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Require a pull request before merging and require branches to be up to date — Option D is correct because GitHub branch protection rules allow you to enforce both that pull requests require at least one approval and that branches are up to date with the base branch before merging. The 'Require a pull request before merging' setting ensures that changes cannot be pushed directly to the protected branch and must go through a PR with required approvals. The 'Require branches to be up to date' setting (under 'Require status checks to pass before merging') ensures that the branch is tested against the latest base branch code, preventing stale merges.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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