Inside Rust: Announce sunsetting of the rustwasm GitHub Org

content/inside-rust/sunsetting-the-rustwasm-github-org.md

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+path = "inside-rust/2025/07/17/sunsetting-the-rustwasm-github-org"
+title = "Sunsetting the rustwasm GitHub org"
+authors = ["Alex Crichton"]
+aliases = []
++++
+
+In 2024 the Rust and WebAssembly Working Group was [officially
+archived][archive] in the Rust project after ~5 years of inactivity with an
+intent to shut down the [rustwasm] GitHub Organization soon after. Although a
+bit later than intended the purpose of this post is to give a concrete timeline
+for this process in which the [rustwasm] GitHub Organization will become fully
+archived.
+
+The [`wasm-bindgen`] repository is going to be transferred to a new
+[wasm-bindgen organization][wbgorg] with new additional maintainers. All
+other repositories in the [rustwasm] organization are going to be archived in
+place or transferred to their existing maintainers if they elect to do so.
+Transferring [`wasm-bindgen`] will occur in the weeks following this post and
+archiving the organization is going to happen September 2025.
+
+The [rustwasm] organization has historically been under the purview of the Rust
+and WebAssembly Working Group, and given the historical prominence of some
+projects it contained this post is serving as an announcement of upcoming plans
+for repositories in the organization.
+
+[archive]: https://github.com/rust-lang/team/pull/1489
+[wbgorg]: https://github.com/wasm-bindgen
+
+## History of the Rust and WebAssembly Working Group
+
+The Rust and WebAssembly Working Group was [created in 2018][create] as part of
+the initiative for the 2018 edition at the time. Through 2019 the
+working group was quite active and helped Rust's support for WebAssembly
+flourish. Tools such as [`wasm-bindgen`] and [`wasm-pack`] were created as part
+of this effort and continue to be used to this day. After 2019 though the
+organization saw a drastic reduction in activity and most projects have been in
+maintenance mode for nearly 5 years at this point.
+
+While the working group has been officially archived for over a year now the
+repositories in the [rustwasm] organization continued on and continued to see
+some use and minor maintenance. This has perpetuated a confusing situation for
+users and maintainers alike where it's not clear what the maintenance story for
+many of these repositories are and how to move forward with the repositories
+that are actively in use.
+
+## Sunsetting the `rustwasm` Organization
+
+In September of 2025 the [rustwasm] GitHub organization will be archived to
+cease all activity within the organization. This will help clarify that
+[rustwasm] is no longer a central hub for all things Rust-and-WebAssembly but
+instead is a historical archive of efforts.
+
+The [rustwasm] organization has a number of repositories within it, most of
+which haven't seen any activity in quite some time. The current plan at this
+time is to arrange for [`wasm-bindgen`] to be transferred to a new
+[project-specific organization][wbgorg] and additionally add new fresh
+maintainers to assist with project direction going forward. All other
+repositories in the [rustwasm] organization will be archived or transferred to
+their existing maintainers if needed.
+
+### Transferring `wasm-bindgen`
+
+The [`wasm-bindgen`] project is relied on in a number of contexts today and
+existing users have expressed interest in both maintaining and growing the
+repository over time. The [rustwasm] organization is no longer a great home for
+this work so the plan is to transfer it out to a new home in a neutral location
+not owned by any one person or company. This transfer will be coupled with
+inviting new maintainers to the repository for improved project maintenance in
+addition to evolving the project.
+
+While a critical mass of new maintainers has already been reached, if you are
+interested in helping out with maintenance [an issue has been
+created][wasm-bindgen-help] to coordinate efforts around maintenance with
+[`wasm-bindgen`]. Feel free to leave a comment there to help out with this
+transition.
+
+### Archiving other repositories
+
+The current plan at this time is to archive all other repositories in the
+[rustwasm] organization. This includes repositories such as:
+
+* https://github.com/rustwasm/wasm-pack
+* https://github.com/rustwasm/gloo
+* https://github.com/rustwasm/twiggy
+* https://github.com/rustwasm/walrus
+* https://github.com/rustwasm/weedle
+* (see https://github.com/orgs/rustwasm/repositories for the full list)
+
+If you are an preexisting maintainer of one of these repositories please reach
+out to have the repository transferred to you. Otherwise it's not clear at this
+time whether these repositories are still actively in use or how much they're
+relied on. The historically trusted nature of the [rustwasm] organization means
+it's not quite as simple as transferring these repositories to the first
+volunteer. Instead transferring repositories will require vetting new
+maintainers for trustworthiness and reliability and unfortunately the current
+admin of the [rustwasm] organization is not prepared to do this.
+
+If your use case critically relies on these repositories it is
+recommended to fork the repository. Where required it's possible to leave a
+message in the old README pointing to the fork. If a fork is not viable then
+understanding is appreciated in that the [rustwasm] organization has been
+inactive for over 5 years now and there are no known active maintainers to
+reach out to. Charting a path for each repository requires a significant amount
+of effort to understand current users and plan for future users and no one is
+available to perform this work. The goal of this effort is to do the best with
+maintainers/admins that still remain and while not a perfect answer it's
+predicted the best answer in many cases here is archiving the repository.
+
+As an absolute last resort you can reach out to [@alexcrichton] on Zulip to
+discuss alternatives.
+
+## Timeline for transfers/archives
+
+The [`wasm-bindgen`] repository will be transferred to a new [wasm-bindgen
+organization][wbgorg] in the weeks after this post. Some minor details still
+need to be sorted out maintainer-wise and that's all that's left to do.
+Afterwards a final grace period will be allowed until September at which point
+the [rustwasm] organization will become fully archived. Issues will be filed in
+various repositories giving a heads up to any interested folks indicating as
+such.
+
+[rustwasm]: https://github.com/rustwasm
+[create]: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2018/12/06/Rust-1.31-and-rust-2018/
+[`wasm-bindgen`]: https://github.com/rustwasm/wasm-bindgen
+[`wasm-pack`]: https://github.com/rustwasm/wasm-pack
+[@alexcrichton]: https://github.com/alexcrichton
+[wasm-bindgen-help]: TODO
+