<!--IssueSummary start--> <details> <summary> Everyone can contribute. [Help move this issue forward](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/developer-relations/contributor-success/community-contributors-workflows/#contributor-links) while earning points, leveling up and collecting rewards. </summary> - [Close this issue](https://contributors.gitlab.com/manage-issue?action=close&projectId=278964&issueIid=411909) </details> <!--IssueSummary end--> ### Problem In the past [we extracted approval rules](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/16121) from the field `approvals_before_merge` in `merge_requests` table into a separate `approval_rules` table. For backward compatibility, we [added `DeprecatedApprovalsBeforeMerge` module](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/e7ab8513eb041046c55f980f14bcd1d766930b37/ee/app/models/concerns/deprecated_approvals_before_merge.rb#L4) that updates `ApprovalRules` for each update of `approvals_before_merge` field. It's time to remove this abstraction and delete the field from the merge_requests table. ### Proposal We still have some endpoints that directly update `approvals_before_merge` field. But we can adapt them to skip this step and update ApprovalRules instead. [See an example](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/119794/diffs). There are a few usages left: * In [`ProjectsHelpers`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/e7ab8513eb041046c55f980f14bcd1d766930b37/ee/lib/ee/api/helpers/projects_helpers.rb#L20) * In [`API::ProjectApprovals`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/e7ab8513eb041046c55f980f14bcd1d766930b37/ee/lib/api/project_approvals.rb#L52) * In [`API::MergeRequests`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/e7ab8513eb041046c55f980f14bcd1d766930b37/ee/lib/ee/api/merge_requests.rb#L11) * In [`MergeRequests::ApplicationController`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/e7ab8513eb041046c55f980f14bcd1d766930b37/ee/app/controllers/ee/projects/merge_requests/application_controller.rb#L59) Each of this steps can be a separate issue, because they are independent from one another. After replacing old `approvals_before_merge` code with ApprovalRules services calls, we can remove `DeprecatedApprovalsBeforeMerge` module and delete the `approvals_before_merge` field from the database.