PROCESS.md 16.8 KB
Newer Older
1
## GitLab core team & GitLab Inc. contribution process
2 3 4

---

5 6 7 8
<!-- START doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
<!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->
**Table of Contents**  *generated with [DocToc](https://github.com/thlorenz/doctoc)*

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
- [Purpose of describing the contributing process](#purpose-of-describing-the-contributing-process)
- [Common actions](#common-actions)
  - [Merge request coaching](#merge-request-coaching)
- [Assigning issues](#assigning-issues)
- [Be kind](#be-kind)
- [Feature freeze on the 7th for the release on the 22nd](#feature-freeze-on-the-7th-for-the-release-on-the-22nd)
  - [Between the 1st and the 7th](#between-the-1st-and-the-7th)
  - [On the 7th](#on-the-7th)
  - [After the 7th](#after-the-7th)
- [Release retrospective and kickoff](#release-retrospective-and-kickoff)
  - [Retrospective](#retrospective)
  - [Kickoff](#kickoff)
- [Copy & paste responses](#copy--paste-responses)
  - [Improperly formatted issue](#improperly-formatted-issue)
  - [Issue report for old version](#issue-report-for-old-version)
  - [Support requests and configuration questions](#support-requests-and-configuration-questions)
  - [Code format](#code-format)
  - [Issue fixed in newer version](#issue-fixed-in-newer-version)
  - [Improperly formatted merge request](#improperly-formatted-merge-request)
  - [Inactivity close of an issue](#inactivity-close-of-an-issue)
  - [Inactivity close of a merge request](#inactivity-close-of-a-merge-request)
  - [Accepting merge requests](#accepting-merge-requests)
  - [Only accepting merge requests with green tests](#only-accepting-merge-requests-with-green-tests)
  - [Closing down the issue tracker on GitHub](#closing-down-the-issue-tracker-on-github)
33 34 35

<!-- END doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->

36
---
37 38 39

## Purpose of describing the contributing process

40 41 42 43 44 45
Below we describe the contributing process to GitLab for two reasons:

1. Contributors know what to expect from maintainers (possible responses, friendly
  treatment, etc.)
1. Maintainers know what to expect from contributors (use the latest version,
  ensure that the issue is addressed, friendly treatment, etc.).
46

47 48
- [GitLab Inc engineers should refer to the engineering workflow document](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/)

49
## Common actions
50

51
### Merge request coaching
52

53
Several people from the [GitLab team][team] are helping community members to get
54
their contributions accepted by meeting our [Definition of done][done].
Mark Pundsack's avatar
Mark Pundsack committed
55

56 57
What you can expect from them is described at https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/merge-request-coach/.

58 59 60 61
## Assigning issues

If an issue is complex and needs the attention of a specific person, assignment is a good option but assigning issues might discourage other people from contributing to that issue. We need all the contributions we can get so this should never be discouraged. Also, an assigned person might not have time for a few weeks, so others should feel free to takeover.

62 63
## Be kind

64 65 66
Be kind to people trying to contribute. Be aware that people may be a non-native
English speaker, they might not understand things or they might be very
sensitive as to how you word things. Use Emoji to express your feelings (heart,
67 68 69 70
star, smile, etc.). Some good tips about code reviews can be found in our
[Code Review Guidelines].

[Code Review Guidelines]: https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/development/code_review.html
71

72
## Feature freeze on the 7th for the release on the 22nd
73

74
After the 7th (Pacific Standard Time Zone) of each month, RC1 of the upcoming release (to be shipped on the 22nd) is created and deployed to GitLab.com and the stable branch for this release is frozen, which means master is no longer merged into it.
75 76
Merge requests may still be merged into master during this period,
but they will go into the _next_ release, unless they are manually cherry-picked into the stable branch.
77
By freezing the stable branches 2 weeks prior to a release, we reduce the risk of a last minute merge request potentially breaking things.
78

79 80
### Between the 1st and the 7th

81
These types of merge requests for the upcoming release need special consideration:
82 83 84 85 86 87

* **Large features**: a large feature is one that is highlighted in the kick-off
  and the release blogpost; typically this will have its own channel in Slack
  and a dedicated team with front-end, back-end, and UX.
* **Small features**: any other feature request.

88 89
It is strongly recommended that **large features** be with a maintainer **by the
1st**. This means that:
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102

* There is a merge request (even if it's WIP).
* The person (or people, if it needs a frontend and backend maintainer) who will
  ultimately be responsible for merging this have been pinged on the MR.

It's OK if merge request isn't completely done, but this allows the maintainer
enough time to make the decision about whether this can make it in before the
freeze. If the maintainer doesn't think it will make it, they should inform the
developers working on it and the Product Manager responsible for the feature.

The maintainer can also choose to assign a reviewer to perform an initial
review, but this way the maintainer is unlikely to be surprised by receiving an
MR later in the cycle.
103

104 105
It is strongly recommended that **small features** be with a reviewer (not
necessarily a maintainer) **by the 3rd**.
106 107 108 109 110 111

Most merge requests from the community do not have a specific release
target. However, if one does and falls into either of the above categories, it's
the reviewer's responsibility to manage the above communication and assignment
on behalf of the community member.

112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134
#### What happens if these deadlines are missed?

If a small or large feature is _not_ with a maintainer or reviewer by the
recommended date, this does _not_ mean that maintainers or reviewers will refuse
to review or merge it, or that the feature will definitely not make it in before
the feature freeze.

However, with every day that passes without review, it will become more likely
that the feature will slip, because maintainers and reviewers may not have
enough time to do a thorough review, and developers may not have enough time to
adequately address any feedback that may come back.

A maintainer or reviewer may also determine that it will not be possible to
finish the current scope of the feature in time, but that it is possible to
reduce the scope so that something can still ship this month, with the remaining
scope moving to the next release. The sooner this decision is made, in
conversation with the Product Manager and developer, the more time there is to
extract that which is now out of scope, and to finish that which remains in scope.

For these reasons, it is strongly recommended to follow the guidelines above,
to maximize the chances of your feature making it in before the feature freeze,
and to prevent any last minute surprises.

135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145
### On the 7th

Merge requests should still be complete, following the
[definition of done][done]. The single exception is documentation, and this can
only be left until after the freeze if:

* There is a follow-up issue to add documentation.
* It is assigned to the person writing documentation for this feature, and they
  are aware of it.
* It is in the correct milestone, with the ~Deliverable label.

146 147 148 149 150 151
If a merge request is not ready, but the developers and Product Manager
responsible for the feature think it is essential that it is in the release,
they can [ask for an exception](#asking-for-an-exception) in advance. This is
preferable to merging something that we are not confident in, but should still
be a rare case: most features can be allowed to slip a release.

152 153 154 155 156
All Community Edition merge requests from GitLab team members merged on the
freeze date (the 7th) should have a corresponding Enterprise Edition merge
request, even if there are no conflicts. This is to reduce the size of the
subsequent EE merge, as we often merge a lot to CE on the release date. For more
information, see
157
[Automatic CE->EE merge][automatic_ce_ee_merge] and
158
[Guidelines for implementing Enterprise Edition features][ee_features].
159

160
### After the 7th
161

162 163 164 165 166 167 168
Once the stable branch is frozen, the only MRs that can be cherry-picked into
the stable branch are:

* Fixes for [regressions](#regressions)
* Fixes for security issues
* New or updated translations (as long as they do not touch application code)

169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191
During the feature freeze all merge requests that are meant to go into the
upcoming release should have the correct milestone assigned _and_ the
`Pick into X.Y` label where `X.Y` is equal to the milestone, so that release
managers can find and pick them.
Merge requests without this label will not be picked into the stable release.

For example, if the upcoming release is `10.2.0` you will need to set the
`Pick into 10.2` label.

Fixes marked like this will be shipped in the next RC (before the 22nd), or the
next patch release.

If a merge request is to be picked into more than one release it will need one
`Pick into X.Y` label per release where the merge request should be back-ported
to.

For example, if the current patch release is `10.1.1` and a regression fix needs
to be backported down to the `9.5` release, you will need to assign it the
`10.1` milestone and the following labels:

- `Pick into 10.1`
- `Pick into 10.0`
- `Pick into 9.5`
192

193 194
### Asking for an exception

195
If you think a merge request should go into an RC or patch even though it does not meet these requirements,
196 197 198 199 200 201 202
you can ask for an exception to be made. Exceptions require sign-off from 3 people besides the developer:

1. a Release Manager
2. an Engineering Lead
3. an Engineering Director, the VP of Engineering, or the CTO

You can find who is who on the [team page](https://about.gitlab.com/team/).
203

Douwe Maan's avatar
Douwe Maan committed
204 205 206 207
Whether an exception is made is determined by weighing the benefit and urgency of the change
(how important it is to the company that this is released _right now_ instead of in a month)
against the potential negative impact
(things breaking without enough time to comfortably find and fix them before the release on the 22nd).
208 209
When in doubt, we err on the side of _not_ cherry-picking.

Victor Wu's avatar
Victor Wu committed
210
For example, it is likely that an exception will be made for a trivial 1-5 line performance improvement
Douwe Maan's avatar
Douwe Maan committed
211
(e.g. adding a database index or adding `includes` to a query), but not for a new feature, no matter how relatively small or thoroughly tested.
212

213
All MRs which have had exceptions granted must be merged by the 15th.
214

215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232
### Regressions

A regression for a particular monthly release is a bug that exists in that
release, but wasn't present in the release before. This includes bugs in
features that were only added in that monthly release. Every regression **must**
have the milestone of the release it was introduced in - if a regression doesn't
have a milestone, it might be 'just' a bug!

For instance, if 10.5.0 adds a feature, and that feature doesn't work correctly,
then this is a regression in 10.5. If 10.5.1 then fixes that, but 10.5.3 somehow
reintroduces the bug, then this bug is still a regression in 10.5.

Because GitLab.com runs release candidates of new releases, a regression can be
reported in a release before its 'official' release date on the 22nd of the
month. When we say 'the most recent monthly release', this can refer to either
the version currently running on GitLab.com, or the most recent version
available in the package repositories.

Victor Wu's avatar
Victor Wu committed
233 234 235 236 237
A regression issue should be labeled with the appropriate [subject label](../CONTRIBUTING.md#subject-labels-wiki-container-registry-ldap-api-etc)
and [team label](../CONTRIBUTING.md#team-labels-ci-discussion-edge-platform-etc),
just like any other issue, to help GitLab team members focus on issues that are
relevant to [their area of responsibility](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/#choosing-something-to-work-on).

238 239
## Release retrospective and kickoff

Victor Wu's avatar
Victor Wu committed
240 241
- [Retrospective](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/#retrospective)
- [Kickoff](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/#kickoff)
242

243 244 245 246
## Copy & paste responses

### Improperly formatted issue

David's avatar
David committed
247
Thanks for the issue report. Please reformat your issue to conform to the [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#issue-tracker-guidelines).
248 249 250

### Issue report for old version

David's avatar
David committed
251
Thanks for the issue report but we only support issues for the latest stable version of GitLab. I'm closing this issue but if you still experience this problem in the latest stable version, please open a new issue (but also reference the old issue(s)). Make sure to also include the necessary debugging information conforming to the issue tracker guidelines found in our [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#issue-tracker-guidelines).
252 253 254

### Support requests and configuration questions

255 256
Thanks for your interest in GitLab. We don't use the issue tracker for support
requests and configuration questions. Please check our
David's avatar
David committed
257 258
[getting help](https://about.gitlab.com/getting-help/) page to see all of the available
support options. Also, have a look at the [contribution guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
259
for more information.
260 261 262

### Code format

David's avatar
David committed
263
Please use \`\`\` to format console output, logs, and code as it's very hard to read otherwise.
264 265 266

### Issue fixed in newer version

David's avatar
David committed
267
Thanks for the issue report. This issue has already been fixed in newer versions of GitLab. Due to the size of this project and our limited resources we are only able to support the latest stable release as outlined in our [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#issue-tracker). In order to get this bug fix and enjoy many new features please [upgrade](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/tree/master/doc/update). If you still experience issues at that time please open a new issue following our issue tracker guidelines found in the [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#issue-tracker-guidelines).
268

269
### Improperly formatted merge request
270

David's avatar
David committed
271
Thanks for your interest in improving the GitLab codebase! Please update your merge request according to the [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#pull-request-guidelines).
272 273 274

### Inactivity close of an issue

David's avatar
David committed
275
It's been at least 2 weeks (and a new release) since we heard from you. I'm closing this issue but if you still experience this problem, please open a new issue (but also reference the old issue(s)). Make sure to also include the necessary debugging information conforming to the issue tracker guidelines found in our [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#issue-tracker-guidelines).
276

277
### Inactivity close of a merge request
278

David's avatar
David committed
279
This merge request has been closed because a request for more information has not been reacted to for more than 2 weeks. If you respond and conform to the merge request guidelines in our [contributing guidelines](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#pull-requests) we will reopen this merge request.
280

281 282
### Accepting merge requests

283
Is there an issue on the
David's avatar
David committed
284
[issue tracker](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues) that is
285
similar to this? Could you please link it here?
286
Please be aware that new functionality that is not marked
David's avatar
David committed
287
[accepting merge requests](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues?milestone_id=&scope=all&sort=created_desc&state=opened&utf8=%E2%9C%93&assignee_id=&author_id=&milestone_title=&label_name=Accepting+Merge+Requests)
288
might not make it into GitLab.
289 290 291

### Only accepting merge requests with green tests

Jeroen van Baarsen's avatar
Jeroen van Baarsen committed
292 293 294 295
We can only accept a merge request if all the tests are green. I've just
restarted the build. When the tests are still not passing after this restart and
you're sure that is does not have anything to do with your code changes, please
rebase with master to see if that solves the issue.
296 297 298 299

### Closing down the issue tracker on GitHub

We are currently in the process of closing down the issue tracker on GitHub, to
300
prevent duplication with the GitLab.com issue tracker.
301
Since this is an older issue I'll be closing this for now. If you think this is
David's avatar
David committed
302
still an issue I encourage you to open it on the [GitLab.com issue tracker](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues).
303 304 305

[team]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/
[contribution acceptance criteria]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#contribution-acceptance-criteria
306
["Implement design & UI elements" guidelines]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#implement-design-ui-elements
307
[Thoughtbot code review guide]: https://github.com/thoughtbot/guides/tree/master/code-review
308
[done]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#definition-of-done
309 310
[automatic_ce_ee_merge]: https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/development/automatic_ce_ee_merge.html
[ee_features]: https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/development/ee_features.html