Merge pull request #160 from softwareengineerprogrammer/pr-template_2026-05-30

PR checklist enforcement

Author: softwareengineerprogrammer

.github/pull_request_template.md

@@ -11,17 +11,20 @@ and any other relevant information.*
 
 ---
 
-**Change Checklist**:
+# Change Checklist
 
-Observe the following checklist items if your change includes a new version (see [versioning notes](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/blob/main/CHANGELOG.rst#versioning-notes) and [version management docs](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.rst#version-management)).
+Observe the following checklist items before and after merging, as applicable.
 
-Before merging:
-1. [ ] Add a CHANGELOG entry ([example](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/commit/15e10e5c3c08633a16645e41dfb7e8131805483f)). RST Template:
+**Before merging:**
+1. [ ] I certify that I am a human and I have manually verified the correctness of the changes in this PR.
+1. [ ] Add a CHANGELOG entry if your change includes a new version[^new-version-footnote] ([example](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/commit/15e10e5c3c08633a16645e41dfb7e8131805483f)). RST Template:
 ```restructuredtext
 M.m.P: `TITLE <https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/pull/PR-NUMBER>`__ | `release <https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/releases/tag/vM.m.P>`__
 ```
 
-After merging:
+[^new-version-footnote]: See [versioning notes](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/blob/main/CHANGELOG.rst#versioning-notes) and [version management docs](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.rst#version-management).
+
+**After merging:**
 1. [ ] Push tag(s) to GitHub: `git push origin refs/tags/vM.m.P`
 1. [ ] Post a change announcement to the [GEOPHIRES Change Announcements Discussion](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/discussions/428) ([example](https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/discussions/428#discussioncomment-14593405)). Markdown template:
 ```markdown

.github/workflows/enforce-pr-checklist.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+name: Enforce PR Checklist
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, edited, synchronize]
+
+jobs:
+  verify-pr-checklist:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Verify checklist items in the PR description
+        env:
+          PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
+        run: |
+          # Use grep to look for the checked box (handles lowercase 'x' or uppercase 'X')
+          if echo "$PR_BODY" | grep -Eq '\[[xX]\] I certify that I am a human'; then
+            echo "Required PR description checklist items verified. Passing."
+            exit 0
+          else
+            echo "::error::Merge blocked. Please review the applicable checklist items in your PR description. (If you have removed the checklist items from your description, please re-add them from the template: https://github.com/NREL/GEOPHIRES-X/blob/main/.github/pull_request_template.md#change-checklist)"
+            exit 1
+          fi