How To Maintain a Repository#

Note

Maintaining a repository requires more than just doing the tasks outlined here. This page outlines the things that are easy to write down and follow. It does not include advice on other important aspects of being a good maintainer, such as being a good steward of the codebase, and being a supportive leader in the community. This and many other activities that a maintainer is expected to do involve critical thinking and an understanding of the specifics of the codebase you maintain.

Congratulations on becoming the maintainer of a repository in the Open edX Platform! As outlined in OEP-55 this is a big responsibility and we’re excited to help you fulfill it.

Your repository may be brand new or it may have been around for a while. In either case, this document will help you review the repository and help you make the changes needed to meet the current standards of the platform.

GitHub Issues is Enabled#

GitHub Issues should be enabled on your repository. This is how issues will be reported against your repository.

Test

Go to your repository on GitHub. If you see an issues tab, you don’t need to do anything else. If you don’t see an issues tab then see the Fix Section for what to do.

Fix

Go to the Settings Tab for the repository you maintain and check the “Issues” box in the general settings.

A catalog-info.yaml File Exists#

We use backstage to help developers get a quick overview of all the things they own and their status.

Test

  • Check to see if there is a catalog-info.yaml file at the root of your repository.

  • Ensure that the file is up-to-date. Especially the name of the maintainer.

Fix

If the file exists, check to make sure the data is up-to-date and correct. If you don’t have a catalog-info.yaml file, see How To Add a Catalog File

Dependency Update Automation is Enabled#

Test

The .github/workflows/upgrade-python-requirements.yml should exist and be a copy of the upgrade workflow template. You should also see successful runs of the Upgrade Python Requirements workflow in the Actions tab of your repo.

Fix

If the file doesn’t exist, or the workflow runs are failing, go through How To Enable Python Upgrade Automation.

A Well-Formed README Exists#

Test

Check that your README.rst exists and has all the sections defined in the README specification.

Fix

Update your readme until it meets the above specification.