The CNCF Code of Conduct Working Group (“CoC-WG” or “Working Group”) is a working group whose intended output is an updated CoC incident resolution structure and updated set of policy documents including:
- Updated CNCF Code of Conduct: This document will contain improvements to the existing CNCF Code of Conduct and will eventually replace the existing CNCF Code of Conduct.
- CNCF Code of Conduct Committee Charter: This document will describe the size, composition, eligibility requirements, term lengths, procedures for electing or appointing the committee members, and decision-making processes.
- Incident Resolution Procedures: This document will explain how to submit a report, policies regarding information sharing and confidentiality, how conflicts of interest are dealt with, and other procedures related to review, investigation, and resolution of an incident.
- Jurisdiction Policy: This document will explain how to determine whether an incident falls under the jurisdiction of LF Events, the CNCF CoC Committee, or a project-level CoC Committee.
The Working Group will not review or resolve Code of Conduct complaints. Resolution of Code of Conduct incidents will continue to be handled by the Interim CNCF Code of Conduct Committee until a more permanent committee structure results from the output of the Working Group.
The Working Group intends to complete its intended deliverables in the following order:
- Incident Resolution Procedures
- Updated CNCF Code of Conduct
- Jurisdiction Policy
- CNCF Code of Conduct Committee Charter
| Deliverable | 1. Submit New Proposals By | 2. Comment on Existing Proposals By | 3. Co-Chairs Consider Comments and Make Modifications On | 4. Comment on Co-Chair Modifications By | 5. Co-Chairs Meet to Finalize & Approve On |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incident Resolution Procedures | NA - The Interim Code of Conduct Committee contributed a proposal in October 2022 | January 11, 2023 | January 12, 2023 | January 25, 2023 | January 26, 2022 |
| Updates to CNCF Code of Conduct | February 8, 2023 | February 22, 2023 | February 23, 2023 | March 8, 2023 | March 9, 2023 |
| Jurisdiction Policy | February 8, 2023 | February 22, 2023 | February 23, 2023 | March 8, 2023 | March 9, 2023 |
| CoC Committee Charter *Composition *Eligibility criteria *Election/appointment procedures *Term lengths / limits / election cycle |
March 8, 2023 | April 5, 2023 | April 6, 2023 | May 3, 2023 | May 4, 2023 |
| Final Call for Comments on All Documents | NA | May 19, 2023 | May 20, 2023 | May 31, 2023 | June 1, 2023 |
The final call for comments on all 4 documents is intended for refinement (e.g., ensuring all 4 documents are aligned and consistent, updating cross-references, addressing gaps), not for major changes. Any comments that were submitted after the original comment deadline in the table above for a particular document will be considered during the final comment period.
The numbered steps below correspond to the numbered columnn headers in the Deliverables Timeline table above.
1. New proposals are submitted
2. Two-week comment period on proposals submitted
3. Co-Chairs meet to review comments and make modifications to address comments
4. Two-week comment period on Co-Chair modifications
5. Co-Chairs meet to finalize and approve
If consensus is not reached on a particular issue by the target completion/final approval date, the Co-Chairs may:
(a) escalate the issue to the Governing Board or Technical Oversight Committee for resolution, and/or
(b) try to resolve the issue through another set of modifications and another comment period, and/or
(c) call a working group meeting to discuss, brainstorm solutions, and try to reach consensus.
Any CNCF community member may submit a proposal or suggest changes to an existing proposal by opening a pull request, opening an issue, or posting comments.
If you prefer to submit proposals or feedback anonymously, you may do so via this feedback submission form. You are also welcome to share your feedback and suggestions directly with any of the Working Group Co-Chairs/Approvers or Reviewers.
You can also join the CNCF slack channel #cncf-coc-wg.
To sign up for the Working Group mailing list, please click the “Apply For Membership In This Group” button.
The Working Group has 3 Co-Chairs and primary Approvers: one from the Governing Board, one from the TOC, and one who is elected by the Maintainer community. The Governing Board, TOC, and Maintainer community each also have a designated alternate Approver.
| Primary | Alternate | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing Board | Arun Gupta | Alena Prokharchyk |
| Technical Oversight Committee | Emily Fox | Matt Farina |
| Elected | Christoph Blecker | Andres Vega |
The following individuals are Reviewers:
- Alolita Sharma
- Amye Scavarda Perrin
- Brandon Lum
- Carla Gaggini
- Carolyn Van Slyck
- Chris Aniszczyk
- Danielle Lancashire
- Dave Zolotusky
- Emily Fox
- Erin Boyd
- Jeffrey Sica
- Joanna Lee
- Ricardo Aravena
- Tasha Drew
You can become a Reviewer if you qualify under the eligibility criteria described in this post or all 3 Co-Chairs approve adding you as a Reviewer. If you would like to become a Reviewer, please open a pull request to add yourself to the Reviewer list above.
The review and approval process is structured to ensure that the Working Group is making decisions based on consensus and that there is broad buy-in on any proposal that gets merged.
Initially, at least 3 Reviewers or Approvers must review and support a PR for it to advance to the Co-Chairs for approval, and all 3 Co-Chairs (1 from the Governing Board, 1 from the Technical Oversight Committee, and 1 Approver who has been elected by the community) must approve in order for the pull request to be merged.
Additionally, updates to the Code of Conduct itself must be approved by the CNCF Technical Oversight Committee (CNCF Charter §13), and creation of the new CoC Committee must be approved by the CNCF Governing Board (CNCF Charter §5(d)(vii)).
In the event consensus is not reached on any particular issue in order to move forward in accordance with the review and approval procedures described above, the issue will be escalated to CNCF Governing Board if it concerns matters related to the structure, policies, or procedures of the Code of Conduct Committee; and the issue will be escalated to the Technical Oversight Committee if it concerns the language of the Code of Conduct itself.
For any major new proposal, the Approvers/Co-Chairs will allow a comment period of at least two weeks before approving or merging it.
This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.