Formalizing code-owner's role

[darshanasbg]

Starting this discussion to formalize what should be the duty of the code owners. Please find the initial proposal below and share your feedback.

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Code Owners Policy for the Thunder Repo

Purpose

Ensure that each major area in the Thunder project has accountable maintainers responsible for quality, architecture, security, and velocity.

Who is a Code Owner?

A Code Owner is a maintainer with final review and approval rights for one or more defined areas (paths/modules) of the codebase. They carry responsibility beyond just reviewing — they steward the area’s architecture, operational readiness, contributor experience, and compliance.

Responsibilities of a Code Owner

• Review and approve PRs in the owned area promptly.
• Maintain code quality, tests, docs, and architectural integrity.
• Enforce security, dependency, and license compliance.
• Own production readiness: metrics, alerts, run-books, incident readiness of the owned area.
• Triage issues and PRs: label, assign, prioritize, and unblock contributors.
• Mentor newcomers, maintain good-first-issue backlog, and keep ADRs/roadmaps up to date.

Decision Rights

• API/Schema/Contract changes: Area Code Owner approves; other area owners consulted.
• Breaking changes/deprecations: Code Owner approves & mediates in case of conflict.
• Hotfixes/Incidents: Code Owner makes decisions; RCA afterward.

SLAs

• PR first response: ≤ 1 working day.
• PR closure (approve or request changes): ≤ 2 business days (assuming prompt author response).
• Issue triage (label/acknowledge): ≤ 2 business days.

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