Roles and responsibilities

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:

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

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.
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:

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.
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.