Sandbox and Meta Release

[FabrizioMoggio]

Considering the Traffic Influence API that has now its own Sandbox repository even if still part of the Edge Cloud WG, I'm wondering if it can be part of a Meta Release. In the TI Sandbox I don't currently have other maintainers or code owners, I can currently make PRs and approve them myself. So, to this very moment, the TI was developed by a group of people under the EC WG with all the constraints that I'm sure make it eligible for a Meta Release. I'm wondering if the new Sandbox status for the API and the current repository rules still make the API eligible to be part of a Meta Release. Are there requirements on repository management for an API to be part of a Meta Release?

[FabrizioMoggio]

This question also applies to any Sandbox repository actually. In the EFN Notification repo we have the same exact situation. So a more generic question is: are there any requirements for a "Sandbox API" to be part of a meta release in terms of repository management and rules, e.g. number of maintainers or codeowners ore PR approval policies and so on.

[hdamker]

Hi @FabrizioMoggio, thanks for bringing up the question.

By intention we have very low barriers for Sandbox repositories. They can be started with one Codeowner and we have currently no rules which exclude Sandbox API repositories with only one Codeowner from meta-releases within the Governance. Here are a few statements from ProjectStructureAndRoles.md:

• "A Codeowner is responsible for the overall quality and stewardship of the Repository." - if there is only one codeowner this burden is on a single person, including adhering to the milestones in the meta-release cycle. Therefore it is recommended to find one or two additional codeowners
• "A Sandbox API Repository must have at least one Codeowner. If the Sandbox API Repository has two or more Codeowners the activation of branch protection rules is recommended." - it is a recommendation, as two codeowners who want to stand-in for each other in absences might still need to be able to merge their own pull requests. At latest with three codeowners we might need to be more strict in the ruling.
• "A Sandbox API Repository is meant for the rapid development of a new API proposal through one or multiple initial API versions (0.x.y) until the first public release of an initial or stable API Version within the context of a CAMARA Meta-release." - here we might need to get more strict for the release of stable API versions (which means that there is already a previous version in production).

In all cases - also if there is only a single codeowner - the release management reviews are helping to ensure that the work in the Sandbox API Repository is aligned with the guidelines of CAMARA for APIs which are part of a meta-release.

BTW: A Sandbox repository with a single codeowner can get never into the "Incubating" state, as there are three codeowners from at least two companies required for this step.