Participating in SIG Docs

• 1: Roles and responsibilities
• 2: Issue Wranglers
• 3: PR wranglers

1 - Roles and responsibilities

Anyone can contribute to Kubernetes. As your contributions to SIG Docs grow, you can apply for different levels of membership in the community. These roles allow you to take on more responsibility within the community. Each role requires more time and commitment. The roles are:

• Anyone: regular contributors to the Kubernetes documentation
• Members: can assign and triage issues and provide non-binding review on pull requests
• Reviewers: can lead reviews on documentation pull requests and can vouch for a change's quality
• Approvers: can lead reviews on documentation and merge changes

Anyone

Anyone with a GitHub account can contribute to Kubernetes. SIG Docs welcomes all new contributors!

Anyone can:

• Open an issue in any Kubernetes repository, including kubernetes/website
• Give non-binding feedback on a pull request
• Contribute to a localization
• Suggest improvements on Slack or the SIG docs mailing list.

After signing the CLA, anyone can also:

• Open a pull request to improve existing content, add new content, or write a blog post or case study
• Create diagrams, graphics assets, and embeddable screencasts and videos

For more information, see contributing new content.

Members

A member is someone who has submitted multiple pull requests to kubernetes/website. Members are a part of the Kubernetes GitHub organization.

Members can:

• Do everything listed under Anyone

• Use the /lgtm comment to add the LGTM (looks good to me) label to a pull request

  Note: Using /lgtm triggers automation. If you want to provide non-binding approval, commenting "LGTM" works too!

• Use the /hold comment to block merging for a pull request

• Use the /assign comment to assign a reviewer to a pull request

• Provide non-binding review on pull requests

• Use automation to triage and categorize issues

• Document new features

Becoming a member

After submitting at least 5 substantial pull requests and meeting the other requirements:

1. Find two reviewers or approvers to sponsor your membership.

   Ask for sponsorship in the #sig-docs channel on Slack or on the SIG Docs mailing list.

   Note: Don't send a direct email or Slack direct message to an individual SIG Docs member. You must request sponsorship before submitting your application.

2. Open a GitHub issue in the kubernetes/org repository. Use the Organization Membership Request issue template.

3. Let your sponsors know about the GitHub issue. You can either:

   • Mention their GitHub username in an issue (@<GitHub-username>)

   • Send them the issue link using Slack or email.

     Sponsors will approve your request with a +1 vote. Once your sponsors approve the request, a Kubernetes GitHub admin adds you as a member. Congratulations!

     If your membership request is not accepted you will receive feedback. After addressing the feedback, apply again.

4. Accept the invitation to the Kubernetes GitHub organization in your email account.

   Note: GitHub sends the invitation to the default email address in your account.

Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for reviewing open pull requests. Unlike member feedback, the PR author must address reviewer feedback. Reviewers are members of the @kubernetes/sig-docs-{language}-reviews GitHub team.

Reviewers can:

• Do everything listed under Anyone and Members

• Review pull requests and provide binding feedback

  Note: To provide non-binding feedback, prefix your comments with a phrase like "Optionally: ".

• Edit user-facing strings in code

• Improve code comments

You can be a SIG Docs reviewer, or a reviewer for docs in a specific subject area.

Assigning reviewers to pull requests

Automation assigns reviewers to all pull requests. You can request a review from a specific person by commenting: /assign [@_github_handle].

If the assigned reviewer has not commented on the PR, another reviewer can step in. You can also assign technical reviewers as needed.

Using /lgtm

LGTM stands for "Looks good to me" and indicates that a pull request is technically accurate and ready to merge. All PRs need a /lgtm comment from a reviewer and a /approve comment from an approver to merge.

A /lgtm comment from reviewer is binding and triggers automation that adds the lgtm label.

Becoming a reviewer

When you meet the requirements, you can become a SIG Docs reviewer. Reviewers in other SIGs must apply separately for reviewer status in SIG Docs.

To apply:

1. Open a pull request that adds your GitHub username to a section of the OWNERS_ALIASES file in the kubernetes/website repository.

   Note: If you aren't sure where to add yourself, add yourself to sig-docs-en-reviews.

2. Assign the PR to one or more SIG-Docs approvers (usernames listed under sig-docs-{language}-owners).

If approved, a SIG Docs lead adds you to the appropriate GitHub team. Once added, K8s-ci-robot assigns and suggests you as a reviewer on new pull requests.

Approvers

Approvers review and approve pull requests for merging. Approvers are members of the @kubernetes/sig-docs-{language}-owners GitHub teams.

Approvers can do the following:

• Everything listed under Anyone, Members and Reviewers
• Publish contributor content by approving and merging pull requests using the /approve comment
• Propose improvements to the style guide
• Propose improvements to docs tests
• Propose improvements to the Kubernetes website or other tooling

If the PR already has a /lgtm, or if the approver also comments with /lgtm, the PR merges automatically. A SIG Docs approver should only leave a /lgtm on a change that doesn't need additional technical review.

Approving pull requests

Approvers and SIG Docs leads are the only ones who can merge pull requests into the website repository. This comes with certain responsibilities.

• Approvers can use the /approve command, which merges PRs into the repo.

  Warning: A careless merge can break the site, so be sure that when you merge something, you mean it.

• Make sure that proposed changes meet the documentation content guide.

  If you ever have a question, or you're not sure about something, feel free to call for additional review.

• Verify that Netlify tests pass before you /approve a PR.

  

• Visit the Netlify page preview for a PR to make sure things look good before approving.

• Participate in the PR Wrangler rotation schedule for weekly rotations. SIG Docs expects all approvers to participate in this rotation. See PR wranglers. for more details.

Becoming an approver

When you meet the requirements, you can become a SIG Docs approver. Approvers in other SIGs must apply separately for approver status in SIG Docs.

To apply:

1. Open a pull request adding yourself to a section of the OWNERS_ALIASES file in the kubernetes/website repository.

   Note: If you aren't sure where to add yourself, add yourself to sig-docs-en-owners.

2. Assign the PR to one or more current SIG Docs approvers.

If approved, a SIG Docs lead adds you to the appropriate GitHub team. Once added, @k8s-ci-robot assigns and suggests you as a reviewer on new pull requests.

What's next

• Read about PR wrangling, a role all approvers take on rotation.

2 - Issue Wranglers

Alongside the PR Wrangler, formal approvers, reviewers and members of SIG Docs take week-long shifts triaging and categorising issues for the repository.

Duties

Each day in a week-long shift the Issue Wrangler will be responsible for:

• Triaging and tagging incoming issues daily. See Triage and categorize issues for guidelines on how SIG Docs uses metadata.
• Keeping an eye on stale & rotten issues within the kubernetes/website repository.
• Maintenance of the Issues board.

Requirements

• Must be an active member of the Kubernetes organization.
• A minimum of 15 non-trivial contributions to Kubernetes (of which a certain amount should be directed towards kubernetes/website).
• Performing the role in an informal capacity already.

Helpful Prow commands for wranglers

Below are some commonly used commands for Issue Wranglers:

# reopen an issue
/reopen

# transfer issues that don't fit in k/website to another repository
/transfer[-issue]

# change the state of rotten issues
/remove-lifecycle rotten

# change the state of stale issues
/remove-lifecycle stale

# assign sig to an issue
/sig <sig_name>

# add specific area
/area <area_name>

# for beginner friendly issues
/good-first-issue

# issues that needs help
/help wanted

# tagging issue as support specific
/kind support

# to accept triaging for an issue
/triage accepted

# closing an issue we won't be working on and haven't fixed yet
/close not-planned

To find more Prow commands, refer to the Command Help documentation.

When to close Issues

For an open source project to succeed, good issue management is crucial. But it is also critical to resolve issues in order to maintain the repository and communicate clearly with contributors and users.

Close issues when:

• A similar issue is reported more than once. You will first need to tag it as /triage duplicate; link it to the main issue & then close it. It is also advisable to direct the users to the original issue.
• It is very difficult to understand and address the issue presented by the author with the information provided. However, encourage the user to provide more details or reopen the issue if they can reproduce it later.
• The same functionality is implemented elsewhere. One can close this issue and direct user to the appropriate place.
• The reported issue is not currently planned or aligned with the project's goals.
• If the issue appears to be spam and is clearly unrelated.
• If the issue is related to an external limitation or dependency and is beyond the control of the project.

To close an issue, leave a /close comment on the issue.

3 - PR wranglers

SIG Docs approvers take week-long shifts managing pull requests for the repository.

This section covers the duties of a PR wrangler. For more information on giving good reviews, see Reviewing changes.

Duties

Each day in a week-long shift as PR Wrangler:

• Review open pull requests for quality and adherence to the Style and Content guides.
  • Start with the smallest PRs (size/XS) first, and end with the largest (size/XXL). Review as many PRs as you can.
• Make sure PR contributors sign the CLA.
  • Use this script to remind contributors that haven't signed the CLA to do so.
• Provide feedback on changes and ask for technical reviews from members of other SIGs.
  • Provide inline suggestions on the PR for the proposed content changes.
  • If you need to verify content, comment on the PR and request more details.
  • Assign relevant sig/ label(s).
  • If needed, assign reviewers from the reviewers: block in the file's front matter.
  • You can also tag a SIG for a review by commenting @kubernetes/<sig>-pr-reviews on the PR.
• Use the /approve comment to approve a PR for merging. Merge the PR when ready.
  • PRs should have a /lgtm comment from another member before merging.
  • Consider accepting technically accurate content that doesn't meet the style guidelines. As you approve the change, open a new issue to address the style concern. You can usually write these style fix issues as good first issues.
  • Using style fixups as good first issues is a good way to ensure a supply of easier tasks to help onboard new contributors.
• Also check for pull requests against the reference docs generator code, and review those (or bring in help).
• Support the issue wrangler to triage and tag incoming issues daily. See Triage and categorize issues for guidelines on how SIG Docs uses metadata.

Helpful GitHub queries for wranglers

The following queries are helpful when wrangling. After working through these queries, the remaining list of PRs to review is usually small. These queries exclude localization PRs. All queries are against the main branch except the last one.

• No CLA, not eligible to merge: Remind the contributor to sign the CLA. If both the bot and a human have reminded them, close the PR and remind them that they can open it after signing the CLA. Do not review PRs whose authors have not signed the CLA!
• Needs LGTM: Lists PRs that need an LGTM from a member. If the PR needs technical review, loop in one of the reviewers suggested by the bot. If the content needs work, add suggestions and feedback in-line.
• Has LGTM, needs docs approval: Lists PRs that need an /approve comment to merge.
• Quick Wins: Lists PRs against the main branch with no clear blockers. (change "XS" in the size label as you work through the PRs [XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL]).
• Not against the primary branch: If the PR is against a dev- branch, it's for an upcoming release. Assign the docs release manager using: /assign @<manager's_github-username>. If the PR is against an old branch, help the author figure out whether it's targeted against the best branch.

Helpful Prow commands for wranglers

# add English label
/language en

# add squash label to PR if more than one commit
/label tide/merge-method-squash

# retitle a PR via Prow (such as a work-in-progress [WIP] or better detail of PR)
/retitle [WIP] <TITLE>

When to close Pull Requests

Reviews and approvals are one tool to keep our PR queue short and current. Another tool is closure.

Close PRs where:

• The author hasn't signed the CLA for two weeks.

  Authors can reopen the PR after signing the CLA. This is a low-risk way to make sure nothing gets merged without a signed CLA.

• The author has not responded to comments or feedback in 2 or more weeks.

Don't be afraid to close pull requests. Contributors can easily reopen and resume works in progress. Often a closure notice is what spurs an author to resume and finish their contribution.

To close a pull request, leave a /close comment on the PR.

PR Wrangler shadow program

In late 2021, SIG Docs introduced the PR Wrangler Shadow Program. The program was introduced to help new contributors understand the PR wrangling process.

Become a shadow

• If you are interested in shadowing as a PR wrangler, please visit the PR Wranglers Wiki page to see the PR wrangling schedule for this year and sign up.

• Kubernetes org members can edit the PR Wranglers Wiki page and sign up to shadow an existing PR Wrangler for a week.

• Others can reach out on the #sig-docs Slack channel for requesting to shadow an assigned PR Wrangler for a specific week. Feel free to reach out to Brad Topol (@bradtopol) or one of the SIG Docs co-chairs/leads.

• Once you've signed up to shadow a PR Wrangler, introduce yourself to the PR Wrangler on the Kubernetes Slack.