155 lines
6 KiB
Markdown
155 lines
6 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: reference
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---
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# Code Owners **(STARTER)**
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/6916)
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in [GitLab Starter](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.3.
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> - [Support for group namespaces](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/53182) added in GitLab Starter 12.1.
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> - Code Owners for Merge Request approvals was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/4418) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.9.
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## Introduction
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When contributing to a project, it can often be difficult
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to find out who should review or approve merge requests.
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Additionally, if you have a question over a specific file or
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code block, it may be difficult to know who to find the answer from.
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GitLab Code Owners is a feature to define who owns specific
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files or paths in a repository, allowing other users to understand
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who is responsible for each file or path.
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## Why is this useful?
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Code Owners allows for a version controlled single source of
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truth file outlining the exact GitLab users or groups that
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own certain files or paths in a repository. Code Owners can be
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utilized in the merge request approval process which can streamline
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the process of finding the right reviewers and approvers for a given
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merge request.
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In larger organizations or popular open source projects, Code Owners
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can also be useful to understand who to contact if you have
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a question that may not be related to code review or a merge request
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approval.
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## How to set up Code Owners
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You can use a `CODEOWNERS` file to specify users or
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[shared groups](members/share_project_with_groups.md)
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that are responsible for certain files in a repository.
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You can choose and add the `CODEOWNERS` file in three places:
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- To the root directory of the repository
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- Inside the `.gitlab/` directory
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- Inside the `docs/` directory
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The `CODEOWNERS` file is scoped to a branch, which means that with the
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introduction of new files, the person adding the new content can
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specify themselves as a code owner, all before the new changes
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get merged to the default branch.
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When a file matches multiple entries in the `CODEOWNERS` file,
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the users from last pattern matching the file are displayed on the
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blob page of the given file. For example, you have the following
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`CODEOWNERS` file:
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```plaintext
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README.md @user1
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# This line would also match the file README.md
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*.md @user2
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```
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The user that would show for `README.md` would be `@user2`.
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## Approvals by Code Owners
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Once you've set Code Owners to a project, you can configure it to
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be used for merge request approvals:
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- As [merge request eligible approvers](merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.md#code-owners-as-eligible-approvers).
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- As required approvers for [protected branches](protected_branches.md#protected-branches-approval-by-code-owners-premium). **(PREMIUM)**
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Once set, Code Owners are displayed in merge requests widgets:
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NOTE: **Note**:
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While the`CODEOWNERS` file can be used in addition to Merge Request [Approval Rules](merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.md#approval-rules) it can also be used as the sole driver of a Merge Request approval (without using [Approval Rules](merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.md#approval-rules)) by simply creating the file in one of the three locations specified above, configuring the Code Owners to be required approvers for [protected branches](protected_branches.md#protected-branches-approval-by-code-owners-premium) and then using [the syntax of Code Owners files](code_owners.md#the-syntax-of-code-owners-files) to specify the actual owners and granular permissions.
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## The syntax of Code Owners files
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Files can be specified using the same kind of patterns you would use
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in the `.gitignore` file followed by the `@username` or email of one
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or more users or by the `@name` of one or more groups that should
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be owners of the file. Groups must be added as [members of the project](members/index.md),
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or they will be ignored.
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The order in which the paths are defined is significant: the last
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pattern that matches a given path will be used to find the code
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owners.
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Starting a line with a `#` indicates a comment. This needs to be
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escaped using `\#` to address files for which the name starts with a
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`#`.
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Example `CODEOWNERS` file:
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```plaintext
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# This is an example of a code owners file
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# lines starting with a `#` will be ignored.
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# app/ @commented-rule
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# We can specify a default match using wildcards:
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* @default-codeowner
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# We can also specify "multiple tab or space" separated codeowners:
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* @multiple @code @owners
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# Rules defined later in the file take precedence over the rules
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# defined before.
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# This will match all files for which the file name ends in `.rb`
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*.rb @ruby-owner
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# Files with a `#` can still be accessed by escaping the pound sign
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\#file_with_pound.rb @owner-file-with-pound
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# Multiple codeowners can be specified, separated by spaces or tabs
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# In the following case the CODEOWNERS file from the root of the repo
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# has 3 code owners (@multiple @code @owners)
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CODEOWNERS @multiple @code @owners
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# Both usernames or email addresses can be used to match
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# users. Everything else will be ignored. For example this will
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# specify `@legal` and a user with email `janedoe@gitlab.com` as the
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# owner for the LICENSE file
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LICENSE @legal this_does_not_match janedoe@gitlab.com
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# Group names can be used to match groups and nested groups to specify
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# them as owners for a file
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README @group @group/with-nested/subgroup
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# Ending a path in a `/` will specify the code owners for every file
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# nested in that directory, on any level
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/docs/ @all-docs
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# Ending a path in `/*` will specify code owners for every file in
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# that directory, but not nested deeper. This will match
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# `docs/index.md` but not `docs/projects/index.md`
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/docs/* @root-docs
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# This will make a `lib` directory nested anywhere in the repository
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# match
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lib/ @lib-owner
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# This will only match a `config` directory in the root of the
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# repository
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/config/ @config-owner
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# If the path contains spaces, these need to be escaped like this:
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path\ with\ spaces/ @space-owner
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```
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