Add tables describing check statuses and conclusions (#53881)

Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Kevin Heis <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Ben Ahmady <[email protected]>

Author: 4 people

content/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/collaborating-on-repositories-with-code-quality-features/about-status-checks.md

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ You can navigate between the checks summaries for various commits in a pull requ
 
 ![Screenshot of the "Checks" tab of a pull request. The "Checks" tab and the dropdown menu to select a commit are both outlined in dark orange.](/assets/images/help/pull_requests/checks-summary-for-various-commits.png)
 
-### Skipping and requesting checks for individual commits
+## Skipping and requesting checks for individual commits
 
 When a repository is set to automatically request checks for pushes, you can choose to skip checks for an individual commit you push. When a repository is _not_ set to automatically request checks for pushes, you can request checks for an individual commit you push. For more information on these settings, see [AUTOTITLE](/rest/checks/suites#update-repository-preferences-for-check-suites).
 
@@ -81,6 +81,33 @@ Alternatively, to skip or request _all_ checks for your commit, add one of the f
 
 {% data reusables.commits.about-commit-cleanup %}
 
-### Retention of checks
+## Check statuses and conclusions
+
+Checks can have many different statuses. Statuses describe the state of a check from when it is created to when it is completed. Some statuses cannot be set manually and are reserved for {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %}. When a check has a status of `completed`, it has a conclusion. The conclusion describes the result of the check. All possible check statuses and conclusions are listed below.
+
+| Status | Description | {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} only? |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `completed` | The check run completed and has a conclusion (see below). | No |
+| `expected` | The check run is waiting for a status to be reported. | Yes |
+| `failure` | The check run failed. | No |
+| `in_progress` | The check run is in progress. | No |
+| `pending` | The check run is at the front of the queue but the [group-based concurrency](/actions/writing-workflows/choosing-what-your-workflow-does/control-the-concurrency-of-workflows-and-jobs) limit has been reached. | Yes |
+| `queued` | The check run has been queued. | No |
+| `requested` | The check run has been created but has not been queued. | Yes |
+| `startup_failure` | The check suite failed during startup. This status is not applicable to check runs. | Yes |
+| `waiting` | The check run is waiting for a [deployment protection rule](/actions/managing-workflow-runs-and-deployments/managing-deployments/managing-environments-for-deployment#deployment-protection-rules) to be satisfied. | Yes |
+
+| Conclusion | Description |
+| --- | --- |
+| `action_required` | The check run provided required actions upon its completion.  For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/rest/guides/using-the-rest-api-to-interact-with-checks#check-runs-and-requested-actions). |
+| `cancelled` | The check run was cancelled before it completed. |
+| `failure` | The check run failed. |
+| `neutral` | The check run completed with a neutral result. This is treated as a success for dependent checks in {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %}. |
+| `skipped` | The check run was skipped. This is treated as a success for dependent checks in {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %}. |
+| `stale` | The check run was marked stale by {% data variables.product.github %} because it took too long. |
+| `success` | The check run completed successfully. |
+| `timed_out` | The check run timed out. |
+
+## Retention of checks
 
 {% data reusables.pull_requests.retention-checks-data %}

content/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/collaborating-on-repositories-with-code-quality-features/troubleshooting-required-status-checks.md

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ remote: error: Required status check "ci-build" is failing
 
 ## Required check needs to succeed against the latest commit SHA
 
-In order for a pull request to be merged, all required checks must pass against the latest commit SHA. This ensures that the most recent changes are validated and meet the required standards before merging. Checks that were triggered using a previous commit SHA will not be used as part of required checks.
+In order for a pull request to be merged, all required checks must pass against the latest commit SHA. This ensures that the most recent changes are validated and meet the required standards before merging. Checks that were triggered using a previous commit SHA will not be used as part of required checks. Successful check statuses are: `success`, `skipped`, and `neutral`. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/collaborating-on-repositories-with-code-quality-features/about-status-checks).
 
 ## Conflicts between head commit and test merge commit
 

content/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-protected-branches/about-protected-branches.md

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ For complex pull requests that require many reviews, requiring an approval from
 
 ### Require status checks before merging
 
-Required status checks ensure that all required CI tests are either passing or skipped before collaborators can make changes to a protected branch. Required status checks can be checks or statuses. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/collaborating-on-repositories-with-code-quality-features/about-status-checks).
+Required status checks must have a `successful`, `skipped`, or `neutral` status before collaborators can make changes to a protected branch. Required status checks can be checks or commit statuses. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/collaborating-on-repositories-with-code-quality-features/about-status-checks).
 
 You can use the commit status API to allow external services to mark commits with an appropriate status. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/rest/commits/statuses).