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Participating in SIG Docs

SIG Docs is one of the special interest groups within the Kubernetes project, focused on writing, updating, and maintaining the documentation for Kubernetes as a whole. See SIG Docs from the community github repo for more information about the SIG.

SIG Docs welcomes content and reviews from all contributors. Anyone can open a pull request (PR), and anyone is welcome to file issues about content or comment on pull requests in progress.

You can also become a member, reviewer, or approver. These roles require greater access and entail certain responsibilities for approving and committing changes. See community-membership for more information on how membership works within the Kubernetes community.

The rest of this document outlines some unique ways these roles function within SIG Docs, which is responsible for maintaining one of the most public-facing aspects of Kubernetes -- the Kubernetes website and documentation.

SIG Docs chairperson

Each SIG, including SIG Docs, selects one or more SIG members to act as chairpersons. These are points of contact between SIG Docs and other parts of the Kubernetes organization. They require extensive knowledge of the structure of the Kubernetes project as a whole and how SIG Docs works within it. See Leadership for the current list of chairpersons.

SIG Docs teams and automation

Automation in SIG Docs relies on two different mechanisms: GitHub teams and OWNERS files.

GitHub teams

There are two categories of SIG Docs teams on GitHub:

  • @sig-docs-{language}-owners are approvers and leads
  • @sig-docs-{language}-reviewers are reviewers

Each can be referenced with their @name in GitHub comments to communicate with everyone in that group.

Sometimes Prow and GitHub teams overlap without matching exactly. For assignment of issues, pull requests, and to support PR approvals, the automation uses information from OWNERS files.

OWNERS files and front-matter

The Kubernetes project uses an automation tool called prow for automation related to GitHub issues and pull requests. The Kubernetes website repository uses two prow plugins:

  • blunderbuss
  • approve

These two plugins use the OWNERS and OWNERS_ALIASES files in the top level of the kubernetes/website GitHub repository to control how prow works within the repository.

An OWNERS file contains a list of people who are SIG Docs reviewers and approvers. OWNERS files can also exist in subdirectories, and can override who can act as a reviewer or approver of files in that subdirectory and its descendants. For more information about OWNERS files in general, see OWNERS.

In addition, an individual Markdown file can list reviewers and approvers in its front-matter, either by listing individual GitHub usernames or GitHub groups.

The combination of OWNERS files and front-matter in Markdown files determines the advice PR owners get from automated systems about who to ask for technical and editorial review of their PR.

How merging works

When a pull request is merged to the branch used to publish content, that content is published to http://kubernetes.io. To ensure that the quality of our published content is high, we limit merging pull requests to SIG Docs approvers. Here's how it works.

  • When a pull request has both the lgtm and approve labels, has no hold labels, and all tests are passing, the pull request merges automatically.
  • Kubernetes organization members and SIG Docs approvers can add comments to prevent automatic merging of a given pull request (by adding a /hold comment or withholding a /lgtm comment).
  • Any Kubernetes member can add the lgtm label by adding a /lgtm comment.
  • Only SIG Docs approvers can merge a pull request by adding an /approve comment. Some approvers also perform additional specific roles, such as PR Wrangler or SIG Docs chairperson.

What's next

For more information about contributing to the Kubernetes documentation, see:

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:

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, you 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 user name 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 (user names 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 contribution guidelines.

    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.

    Netlify tests must pass before approving

  • 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 - 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:

  • Triage and tag incoming issues daily. See Triage and categorize issues for guidelines on how SIG Docs uses metadata.
  • 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.
  • 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. Open a new issue with the label good first issue to address style concerns.

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.

Note: The fejta-bot bot marks issues as stale after 90 days of inactivity. After 30 more days it marks issues as rotten and closes them. PR wranglers should close issues after 14-30 days of inactivity.