[APIView] @mention permission groups

[ronniegeraghty]

Feature Request: Group Mentions in APIView

Summary

Add support for group mentions in APIView to allow architects and service teams to efficiently notify relevant reviewers. This includes:

• A global @archboard mention that notifies all Azure SDK architects.
• Language-scoped group mentions (for example @dotnet-archboard) that notify all architects and deputies for a specific language.

Problem

Today, APIView comments only support individual mentions. When broader input is needed:

• Architects must manually mention multiple people to get cross-language feedback.
• There is no consistent or scalable way to involve the full Architecture Board.
• Service teams have no clear way to notify all reviewers for a specific language without guessing who to mention.

This leads to missed context, slower reviews, and inconsistent collaboration patterns.

Goals

• Enable a single mention to notify all relevant reviewers.
• Improve cross-architect collaboration and visibility.
• Reduce manual effort and errors when involving multiple reviewers.

Non-Goals

• Not intended to allow service teams to broadly notify all architects across languages.
• Not a replacement for ownership or assignment models.

Proposed Features

1. @archboard Global Mention

Description

• Introduce a special mention @archboard.
• Notifies all Azure SDK architects.

Intended Use Case

• An architect requests input from the full Architecture Board on a specific APIView comment or design concern.

Permissions

• Only usable by:
  • Architects
  • Architecture Board deputies

Rationale

• Prevents service teams from broadly paging all architects.
• Keeps cross-board escalation as an architect-driven decision.

2. Language-Scoped Group Mentions (e.g., @dotnet-archboard)

Description

• Introduce group mentions per language that include:
  • All architects for that language
  • All deputies for that language

Example Mentions

• @dotnet-archboard
• @java-archboard
• @python-archboard

Intended Use Cases

• Architects requesting broader input within their language group.
• Service teams notifying the full language review group that updates are ready for review or discussion.

Permissions

• Usable by:
  • Architects
  • Deputies
  • Service team contributors

Rationale

• Enables inclusive discussion within a language group.
• Avoids cross-language noise while still improving reviewer awareness.

User Scenarios

Scenario 1: Cross-Language Architect Review

An architect reviewing a .NET API identifies a design concern that may have cross-language implications. They comment and use @archboard to request feedback from other architects.

Scenario 2: Language Group Sync

A service team updates their Java API based on prior feedback and comments with @java-archboard to notify all Java architects and deputies that changes are ready for review.

Requirements

• Group mentions must trigger notifications for all members.
• Membership should be derived from existing Architecture Board and language ownership data.
• Mentions should be discoverable and validated (autocomplete or validation on submit).
• Permissions must be enforced at mention time.

Open Questions

• How are group memberships sourced and kept up to date?
• Should group mentions expand visually (for example showing member count) or remain abstract?
• Should misuse be rate-limited or audited?

Success Criteria

• Reduced manual multi-mentioning in APIView comments.
• Faster engagement from relevant reviewers.
• Clear and predictable notification behavior for architects and service teams.

[ronniegeraghty]

Just writing down thoughts
I wonder if this can be done using GitHub teams?
Since API View already uses GH for login maybe tapping into GH teams could help facilitate this?

[tjprescott]

Due to changes in priorities we are not planning to do this item.