backstage / backstage/community-plugins
🔧 Repository: process for offboarding inactive codeowners
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
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- 422
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- 697
- Avg merge
- 2d 6h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 286
Description
### 📜 Description
Some CODEOWNERS have become inactive over time, which can unintentionally create blockers in reviews and workflows. While we’re very grateful for everyone’s past contributions and continued support, we need a clear and respectful process for managing inactivity and offboarding inactive codeowners.
The [Plugin Maintainers Guide](https://github.com/backstage/community-plugins/blob/main/docs/plugin-maintainers-guide.md#stepping-down-as-a-plugin-owner) already outlines a respectful process for stepping down as a plugin owner, and we should align with that.
Building on that, the agreed [Backstage Governance](https://github.com/backstage/community/blob/main/GOVERNANCE.md#inactivity) provides additional guidance on inactivity:
> Inactivity is measured by periods of no contributions without explanation, for
> longer than:
>
> - Core Maintainer: 2 months
> - Project Area Maintainer: 4 months
> - Plugin Maintainer: 6 months
> - Organization Member: 12 months
>
> Consequences of being inactive include:
>
> - Involuntary removal or demotion
> - Being asked to move to Emeritus status
Since the Backstage GOVERNANCE already defines the six-month threshold, I think any deviation from that should be a separate discussion.
While some guidance exists, I believe we need a process to start identifying inactive contributors and reaching out to ask whether they’d like to consider moving to emeritus status. I do have some scripts on a branch that can help check activity levels we could build on.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start with the Plugin Maintainers Guide’s stepping-down section and the inactivity section of GOVERNANCE.md, then review the existing activity-checking scripts mentioned in the issue. Done means documenting a respectful offboarding and emeritus process for inactive CODEOWNERS that aligns with the existing six-month threshold.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100