Recently, I became a member of the new Python triage team on GitHub. The majority of the permissions have been set correctly, but I think there’s some that may be missing (based on the devguide section):
- Ability to modify PR titles
Currently, I am unable to modify PR titles. Frequently, PR authors (especially those who are first-time contributors) will have a title that does not succinctly cover what the PR is addressing. Improving the title can help core devs find PRs in their respective areas of expertise and interest.
My alternative for now is to recommend for the author to adjust the title in the comments, but it would definitely be easier if we could directly edit PR titles. Most authors will eventually follow the recommendation in my experience (from before I became a triager), but there’s frequently a significant delay.
- Ability to assign organization members to PRs (Assignees).
As far as I’m aware, this was not a permission that was directly discussed. As a result, I’m not certain if it’s something that we should try to utilize productively, or if it’s simply an extra feature included with GitHub’s “Triage” permissions. For clarification, this is a permission we currently have that I wasn’t aware of.
If it’s something we should try to use productively, how should it be utilized? My first guess would be to use it for assigning the appropriate experts to PRs when they are not automatically added as reviewers from CODEOWNERS. However, “Assignees” looks to be more along the lines of something that should be used only for issues, not PRs. Assigning experts to review PRs seems like it would be done through the “Reviewers” list (which we don’t have permission to do, as intended). I figured it would be worthwhile to ask before trying to use it in any way.
These are definitely not critical concerns, and from what I can tell so far, everything else seems to be working as intended. I’m not even certain that it’s possible through GitHub to allow those with the “Triage” permission to edit PR titles. If it’s not possible, the devguide section should be updated accordingly.
Thanks @Mariatta for the proposal and for setting up the team! I think this team will definitely have a positive impact on the workflow, and free up the core devs to spend more time on merges/final reviews.