microsoft / microsoft/WindowsAppSDK

Improve the transparency of triage, ownership, and public decision-making process in the WASDK and WinUI repos

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@RDMacLachlan is already working on this.

Since Aug 6, 2026.

documentation needs-triage
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C++
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Description

It would be helpful to more clearly document how issues, pull requests, and proposals are handled in the Windows App SDK and WinUI repositories.

## What's the issue

Currently, it can be difficult for contributors to understand:

* Whether the responsible team has seen an issue
* What `needs-triage` means after an area label is added
* Which team owns a particular area
* When and how to request additional attention
* Where review decisions are documented

## Proposal

Possible improvements could include:

* Documenting the current triage and ownership process
* Explaining the meaning and lifecycle of labels
* Listing GitHub teams or aliases for major areas instead of individual developers
* Adding a label such as `needs-area-owner-attention`
* Holding occasional public or recorded review meetings
* Posting meeting notes, review outcomes, and recording timestamps back to the related GitHub issues

The goal is to make GitHub a clearer source of truth and help contributors understand the status and next steps for their issues and pull requests.

## Additional context

The .NET repositories provide some useful examples, such as public area-owner documentation and streamed API reviews with outcomes posted back to GitHub.

- A documented `area-owners.md`: https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/blob/main/docs/area-owners.md
- An automated assign system by the .NET runtime team
- An open and transparent viewer for reviews: https://apireview.net/

CC @RDMacLachlan

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