# Project Governance This document outlines the governance model for the paperless-gpt project. It describes how decisions are made and how community members can participate in project development. ## Project Roles ### Users - People who use paperless-gpt - Can submit bug reports and feature requests - Can contribute to discussions - Can help other users ### Contributors - Users who contribute to the project - Submit pull requests - Improve documentation - Help with testing - Participate in issue discussions ### Maintainers - Review and merge pull requests - Manage issues and project boards - Guide technical direction - Ensure code quality - Help onboard new contributors - Responsibilities: - Respond to issues and PRs - Review code changes - Maintain documentation - Ensure tests pass - Release new versions - Uphold code of conduct ### Project Lead - Final decision maker for project direction - Sets technical standards - Manages maintainer team - Oversees releases - Current lead: [@icereed](https://github.com/icereed) ## Decision Making ### Technical Decisions 1. **Discussion Phase** - Open an issue for discussion - Gather community feedback - Consider alternatives - Document trade-offs 2. **Implementation Phase** - Create detailed proposal - Submit pull request - Address review feedback - Update documentation 3. **Review Process** - At least one maintainer review - Automated tests must pass - Documentation must be updated - Breaking changes require extra scrutiny ### Project Direction 1. **Long-term Planning** - Quarterly roadmap updates - Community feedback periods - Clear communication of goals - Published milestones 2. **Feature Acceptance** - Must align with project goals - Consider maintenance burden - Evaluate user benefit - Check implementation feasibility ### Release Process 1. **Version Planning** - Follow semantic versioning - Document all changes - Update dependencies - Security review 2. **Release Preparation** - Create release branch - Run test suite - Update changelog - Draft release notes 3. **Release Publication** - Tag version in repository - Publish to registries - Announce to community - Monitor for issues ## Communication ### Channels - GitHub Issues: Bug reports, feature requests - GitHub Discussions: General discussion - Pull Requests: Code changes - Discord: Community chat - Email: Security issues ### Guidelines - Be respectful and professional - Stay on topic - English is the working language - Document decisions and rationale - Keep security issues private ## Contributing ### Process 1. **Getting Started** - Read contribution guidelines - Set up development environment - Understand code structure - Pick starter issues 2. **Making Changes** - Create feature branch - Follow code style - Write tests - Update docs 3. **Submitting Changes** - Create pull request - Fill out template - Respond to reviews - Keep changes focused ### Standards - Follow code style guide - Include tests - Update documentation - Sign commits - One feature per PR ## Code Review ### Requirements - At least one maintainer approval - All tests passing - Documentation updated - Code style compliance - No security issues ### Process 1. **Automated Checks** - Linting - Tests - Coverage - Dependencies 2. **Manual Review** - Code quality - Architecture - Security - Performance 3. **Final Checks** - Merge conflicts - Documentation - Breaking changes - Version updates ## Issue Management ### Categories - Bug: Software defects - Feature: New functionality - Enhancement: Improvements - Documentation: Doc changes - Question: User queries ### Priority Levels 1. **Critical** - Security issues - Major bugs - Blocking issues 2. **High** - Important features - User experience issues - Performance problems 3. **Normal** - Regular enhancements - Minor bugs - Documentation updates 4. **Low** - Nice-to-have features - Style improvements - Non-critical fixes ## Project Changes ### Governance Changes - Open for community discussion - Two week comment period - Maintainer consensus required - Project lead approval needed ### Role Changes - Based on consistent contributions - Maintainer nomination - Community feedback - Project lead approval ## Success Metrics ### Project Health - Issue resolution time - PR merge time - Test coverage - Documentation quality - Community engagement ### Code Quality - Automated metrics - Review thoroughness - Test coverage - Documentation completeness - Security standards This governance model is a living document and may be updated as the project evolves. Changes will be proposed and discussed with the community before implementation.