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Node.js Project Governance

The Node.js project is governed by its Collaborators, including a Core Technical Committee (CTC) which is responsible for high-level guidance of the project.

Collaborators

The nodejs/node GitHub repository is maintained by Collaborators who are added by the CTC on an ongoing basis.

Individuals identified by the CTC as making significant and valuable contributions across any Node.js repository may be made Collaborators and given commit access to the project. Activities taken into consideration include (but are not limited to) the quality of:

  • code commits and pull requests
  • documentation commits and pull requests
  • comments on issues and pull requests
  • contributions to the Node.js website
  • assistance provided to end users and novice contributors
  • participation in Working Groups
  • other participation in the wider Node.js community

If individuals making valuable contributions do not believe they have been considered for commit access, they may log an issue or contact a CTC member directly.

Modifications of the contents of the nodejs/node repository are made on a collaborative basis. Anybody with a GitHub account may propose a modification via pull request and it will be considered by the project Collaborators. All pull requests must be reviewed and accepted by a Collaborator with sufficient expertise who is able to take full responsibility for the change. In the case of pull requests proposed by an existing Collaborator, an additional Collaborator is required for sign-off.

If one or more Collaborators oppose a proposed change, then the change can not be accepted unless:

  • Discussions and/or additional changes result in no Collaborators objecting to the change. Previously-objecting Collaborators do not necessarily have to sign-off on the change, but they should not be opposed to it.
  • The change is escalated to the CTC and the CTC votes to approve the change. This should only happen if disagreements between Collaborators cannot be resolved through discussion.

Collaborators may opt to elevate significant or controversial modifications to the CTC by assigning the ctc-review label to a pull request or issue. The CTC should serve as the final arbiter where required.

Collaborator Activities

Typical activities of a Collaborator include:

  • helping users and novice contributors
  • contributing code and documentation changes that improve the project
  • reviewing and commenting on issues and pull requests
  • participation in working groups
  • merging pull requests

The CTC periodically reviews the Collaborator list to identify inactive Collaborators. Past Collaborators are typically given Emeritus status. Emeriti may request that the CTC restore them to active status.

Core Technical Committee

The Core Technical Committee (CTC) has final authority over this project including:

  • Technical direction

  • Project governance and process (including this policy)

  • Contribution policy

  • GitHub repository hosting

  • Conduct guidelines

  • Maintaining the list of additional Collaborators

  • Current list of CTC members

CTC Membership

CTC seats are not time-limited. There is no fixed size of the CTC. The CTC should be of such a size as to ensure adequate coverage of important areas of expertise balanced with the ability to make decisions efficiently.

There is no specific set of requirements or qualifications for CTC membership beyond these rules.

The CTC may add additional members to the CTC by a standard CTC motion.

When a CTC member's participation in CTC activities has become minimal for a sustained period of time, the CTC will request that the member either indicate an intention to increase participation or voluntarily resign.

CTC members may only be removed by voluntary resignation or through a standard CTC motion.

Changes to CTC membership should be posted in the agenda, and may be suggested as any other agenda item (see CTC Meetings below).

No more than 1/3 of the CTC members may be affiliated with the same employer. If removal or resignation of a CTC member, or a change of employment by a CTC member, creates a situation where more than 1/3 of the CTC membership shares an employer, then the situation must be immediately remedied by the resignation or removal of one or more CTC members affiliated with the over-represented employer(s).

CTC Activities

Typical activities of a CTC member include:

  • attending the weekly meeting
  • commenting on the weekly CTC meeting issue and issues labeled ctc-review
  • participating in CTC email threads
  • volunteering for tasks that arise from CTC meetings and related discussions
  • other activities (beyond those typical of Collaborators) that facilitate the smooth day-to-day operation of the Node.js project

Note that CTC members are also Collaborators and therefore typically perform Collaborator activities as well.

CTC Meetings

The CTC meets weekly in a voice conference call. The meeting is run by a designated meeting chair approved by the CTC. Each meeting is streamed on YouTube.

Items are added to the CTC agenda which are considered contentious or are modifications of governance, contribution policy, CTC membership, or release process.

The intention of the agenda is not to approve or review all patches. That should happen continuously on GitHub and be handled by the larger group of Collaborators.

Any community member or contributor can ask that something be reviewed by the CTC by logging a GitHub issue. Any Collaborator, CTC member, or the meeting chair can bring the issue to the CTC's attention by applying the ctc-review label. If consensus-seeking among CTC members fails for a particular issue, it may be added to the CTC meeting agenda by adding the ctc-agenda label.

Prior to each CTC meeting, the meeting chair will share the agenda with members of the CTC. CTC members can also add items to the agenda at the beginning of each meeting. The meeting chair and the CTC cannot veto or remove items.

The CTC may invite persons or representatives from certain projects to participate in a non-voting capacity.

The meeting chair is responsible for ensuring that minutes are taken and that a pull request with the minutes is submitted after the meeting.

Due to the challenges of scheduling a global meeting with participants in several timezones, the CTC will seek to resolve as many agenda items as possible outside of meetings using the CTC issue tracker. The process in the issue tracker is:

  • A CTC member opens an issue explaining the proposal/issue and @-mentions @nodejs/ctc.
  • After 72 hours, if there are two or more LGTMs from other CTC members and no explicit opposition from other CTC members, then the proposal is approved.
  • If there are any CTC members objecting, then a conversation ensues until either the proposal is dropped or the objecting members are persuaded. If there is an extended impasse, a motion for a vote may be made.

Consensus Seeking Process

The CTC follows a Consensus Seeking decision making model.

When an agenda item has appeared to reach a consensus, the meeting chair will ask "Does anyone object?" as a final call for dissent from the consensus.

If an agenda item cannot reach a consensus, a CTC member can call for either a closing vote or a vote to table the issue to the next meeting. All votes (including votes to close or table) pass if and only if more than 50% of the CTC members (excluding individuals who explicitly abstain) vote in favor. For example, if there are 20 CTC members, and 5 of those members indicate that they abstain, then 8 votes in favor are required for a resolution to pass.