1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193# Project Governance
## Project Overview
This project is maintained by a small, dedicated team of [3-5] maintainers working together to build and evolve [project description]. We operate on consensus-based decision making with clear processes for contribution and growth.
## Team Structure
### Core Maintainers
**Lead Maintainer**: [Name] (@username)
- **Responsibilities**: Final decision tiebreaker, release coordination, community leadership
- **Focus Area**: [e.g., Overall architecture, project direction]
- **Contact**: email@domain.com
**Technical Maintainer**: [Name] (@username)
- **Responsibilities**: Code architecture, technical standards, performance
- **Focus Area**: [e.g., Backend systems, core algorithms]
- **Contact**: email@domain.com
**Community Maintainer**: [Name] (@username)
- **Responsibilities**: Issue triage, documentation, contributor onboarding
- **Focus Area**: [e.g., Developer experience, documentation]
- **Contact**: email@domain.com
**[Additional Maintainer]**: [Name] (@username)
- **Responsibilities**: [Specific area]
- **Focus Area**: [e.g., Frontend, security, integrations]
- **Contact**: email@domain.com
### Maintainer Responsibilities
All maintainers share:
- Code review duties (2 approvals required for major changes)
- Issue triage and community support
- Release testing and validation
- Project roadmap planning
- New contributor mentoring
## Decision Making Process
### Consensus Decisions (All maintainers must agree)
- Major architectural changes
- Breaking API changes
- Adding new maintainers
- Changing governance structure
- License changes
- Major dependency updates
### Majority Decisions (3+ maintainers agree)
- New feature additions
- Release timing and content
- Contribution guideline changes
- Infrastructure changes
- Community policy updates
### Individual Authority
Any maintainer can:
- Merge bug fixes and minor improvements
- Respond to issues and questions
- Create documentation updates
- Perform routine maintenance tasks
### Decision Timeline
- **Standard Decisions**: 1 week discussion period
- **Major Changes**: 2 week discussion + RFC if complex
- **Emergency Fixes**: 24-48 hours with post-hoc review
## Communication Channels
### Internal Team
- **Weekly Sync**: Tuesdays 2PM UTC (30 minutes)
- **Monthly Planning**: First Monday of each month (1 hour)
- **Quarterly Roadmap**: End of each quarter (2 hours)
- **Chat**: #maintainers channel on [platform]
- **Emergency**: [contact method]
### Community
- **Issues**: Bug reports, feature requests, general questions
- **Discussions**: RFC discussions, project feedback, community chat
- **PR Reviews**: Code contribution discussions
- **Email**: maintainers@project.org for private matters
## Contribution Process
### New Contributors
1. **First Contribution**: Single maintainer approval for small fixes
2. **Regular Contributors**: After 3+ quality contributions, eligible for expanded review privileges
3. **Contributor Recognition**: Public acknowledgment and contributor badge
### Becoming a Maintainer
Requirements:
- 6+ months of consistent, quality contributions
- Deep understanding of project architecture and goals
- Positive community interactions and mentoring
- Availability for ongoing responsibilities (4+ hours/week)
- Unanimous approval from existing maintainers
Process:
1. **Nomination**: Any maintainer can nominate a contributor
2. **Discussion**: 2-week private maintainer discussion
3. **Vote**: Unanimous approval required
4. **Invitation**: Private invitation with role explanation
5. **Onboarding**: 1-month mentorship period
## Meeting Structure
### Weekly Maintainer Sync
- Current sprint progress
- Issue triage and prioritization
- Blocker identification and resolution
- Quick community updates
### Monthly Planning
- Roadmap review and updates
- Resource allocation
- Community health metrics
- Process improvements
### Quarterly Reviews
- Project goals assessment
- Governance effectiveness review
- Team health and satisfaction
- Strategic planning
## Conflict Resolution
### Minor Disagreements
1. **Discussion**: Extended conversation to understand viewpoints
2. **Research**: Gather additional data or community input
3. **Compromise**: Find mutually acceptable solution
### Major Conflicts
1. **Mediation**: Lead maintainer facilitates discussion
2. **Cooling Off**: 24-48 hour break if emotions run high
3. **Community Input**: Seek feedback from trusted contributors
4. **Vote**: Formal majority vote if consensus impossible
5. **Appeal**: Option to revisit decision after 3 months
## Release Process
### Release Types
- **Patch**: Bug fixes, minor improvements (any maintainer)
- **Minor**: New features, non-breaking changes (2+ maintainer approval)
- **Major**: Breaking changes, major features (all maintainer approval)
### Release Schedule
- **Patch Releases**: As needed
- **Minor Releases**: Monthly or when feature-complete
- **Major Releases**: Quarterly or when major milestones reached
### Release Checklist
1. Feature freeze and testing period
2. Documentation updates
3. Migration guides for breaking changes
4. Community announcement
5. Post-release monitoring
## Code Quality Standards
- **Test Coverage**: Minimum 80% for new code
- **Code Review**: 2 maintainer approvals for significant changes
- **Documentation**: All public APIs must be documented
- **Security**: Security review for authentication/authorization changes
## Code of Conduct
This project follows the [Contributor Covenant](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/). All maintainers are responsible for enforcement.
### Enforcement Process
1. **Warning**: Private message for minor violations
2. **Temporary Ban**: 1-7 days for repeated violations
3. **Permanent Ban**: For severe violations or repeated offenses
4. **Appeal Process**: Contact maintainers@project.org
## Emergency Procedures
### Security Issues
1. **Immediate Response**: Within 2 hours during business hours
2. **Assessment**: Lead + technical maintainer evaluate severity
3. **Fix Development**: Immediate patch development if critical
4. **Disclosure**: Follow responsible disclosure timeline
5. **Post-Mortem**: Review and improve security processes
### Critical Bugs
1. **Immediate Triage**: Within 4 hours
2. **Hotfix Development**: Rush critical fixes to production
3. **Communication**: Transparent updates to community
4. **Post-Release**: Monitor for additional issues
## Contact Information
- **General Inquiries**: maintainers@project.org
- **Security Issues**: security@project.org
- **Code of Conduct**: conduct@project.org
- **Private Matters**: [lead-maintainer-email]
---
*This governance structure is designed for our current team size and will be reviewed quarterly for effectiveness and necessary adjustments.*