status-go/_docs/policies/introduce-policy.md

Purpose

Policy Zero establishes the foundational guidelines for creating, reviewing, and maintaining policies in the status-go Git repository. This policy aims to create a collaborative, inclusive, and transparent process for defining repository policies, specifically regarding how developers engage with and contribute to the status-go repository. For a more detailed description, please refer to the README.md.

Submitting a Policy Proposal

• Any individual MAY propose a new policy.
• Policy ideas SHOULD be discussed with contributors who wish to have a voice in how the repository operates, including Core Contributors (CCs) and external contributors.
• All policies MUST be submitted to the _docs/policies directory as a pull request (PR) within the status-go repository.
• All policies MUST be in Markdown format.
• Policy file names MUST follow File name conventions for ADRs, e.g. submitting-policy.md.
• A policy MUST include a brief justification, addressing the question: "Why has this policy been introduced?"

Review and Approval Process

• Policy PRs SHOULD be reviewed by as many contributors as possible who wish to engage in the process.
• Any CC MAY review, approve, and/or request changes to a policy proposal PR.
• For any policy PR to be eligible for merging, it:
  • MUST address all feedback provided during the review process.
  • MUST be approved by all team leads (of Status Desktop, Mobile and Waku Chat).
  • MUST be approved by all members of the @status-im/status-go-guild GitHub team.
  • MUST receive a minimum of six approvals, regardless of the number of team leads or members of the @status-im/status-go-guild GitHub team.

Policy Overrides

On rare occasions, circumstances may necessitate that an established policy is intentionally circumvented. This is considered an override and MUST follow the process outlined below to ensure transparency and collective agreement:

• Any override MUST be documented in a public and permanently referenceable form (such as a forum post, or GitHub comment or issue), and MUST include:
  • The specific policy being overridden,
  • The rationale for taking this action,
  • The potential risks and impacts of the override, AND
  • Steps taken to minimise those risks.
• Before executing the override of any policy, the override:
  • MUST be approved in writing by at least one team lead from the Status Desktop or Status Mobile teams, AND
  • MUST be approved in writing by at least one member of the @status-im/status-go-guild GitHub team.
• Policies MAY define additional rules for handling overrides, provided the above baseline requirements are also met.

Policy Amendments and Archival

• Amendments
  • Policies MAY be amended at any time.
  • Amendments MUST be submitted via a PR to the status-go repository.
• Archival
  • Policies MAY be archived if they are obsolete or replaced by newer policies.
  • Archival MUST be performed by submitting a PR that moves the policy to _docs/policies/archived.
• The PR MUST include a rationale for the proposed amendment or archival in the PR description.
• The PR MUST follow the Review and Approval Process.