nodejs/GOVERNANCE.md

# Node.js Project Governance

## Core Technical Committee

The Node.js project is governed by a Core Technical Committee (CTC) which is
responsible for high-level guidance of the project.

The CTC has final authority over this project including:

* Technical direction
* Project governance and process (including this policy)
* Contribution policy
* GitHub repository hosting
* Conduct guidelines
* Maintaining the list of additional Collaborators

For the current list of CTC members, see the project
[README.md](./README.md#current-project-team-members).

## Collaborators

The [nodejs/node](https://github.com/nodejs/node) GitHub repository is
maintained by the CTC and additional Collaborators who are added by the
CTC on an ongoing basis.

Individuals identified by the CTC as making significant and valuable
contributions are made Collaborators and given commit access to the project.

_Note:_ If you make a significant contribution and are not considered
for commit access, log an issue or contact a CTC member directly.

Modifications of the contents of the nodejs/node repository are made on
a collaborative basis. Anybody with a GitHub account may propose a
modification via pull request and it will be considered by the project
Collaborators. All pull requests must be reviewed and accepted by a
Collaborator with sufficient expertise who is able to take full
responsibility for the change. In the case of pull requests proposed
by an existing Collaborator, an additional Collaborator is required
for sign-off.

If one or more Collaborators oppose a proposed change, then the change can not
be accepted unless:

* Discussions and/or additional changes result in no Collaborators objecting to
  the change. Previously-objecting Collaborators do not necessarily have to
  sign-off on the change, but they should not be opposed to it.
* The change is escalated to the CTC and the CTC votes to approve the change.
  This should be used only after other options (especially discussion among
  the disagreeing Collaborators) have been exhausted.

Collaborators may opt to elevate significant or controversial modifications to
the CTC by assigning the `ctc-review` label to a pull request or issue. The
CTC should serve as the final arbiter where required.

For the current list of Collaborators, see the project
[README.md](./README.md#current-project-team-members).

A guide for Collaborators is maintained in
[COLLABORATOR_GUIDE.md](./COLLABORATOR_GUIDE.md).

### Collaborator Activities

Typical activities of a Collaborator include:

* helping users and novice contributors
* contributing code and documentation changes that improve the project
* reviewing and commenting on issues and pull requests
* participation in working groups
* merging pull requests

While the above are typical things done by Collaborators, there are no required
activities to retain Collaborator status. There is currently no process by which
inactive Collaborators are removed from the project.

## CTC Membership

CTC seats are not time-limited. There is no fixed size of the CTC. The CTC
should be of such a size as to ensure adequate coverage of important areas of
expertise balanced with the ability to make decisions efficiently.

There is no specific set of requirements or qualifications for CTC
membership beyond these rules.

The CTC may add additional members to the CTC by a standard CTC motion.

When a CTC member's participation in [CTC activities](#ctc-activities) has become
minimal for a sustained period of time, the CTC will request that the member
either indicate an intention to increase participation or voluntarily resign.

CTC members may only be removed by voluntary resignation or through a standard
CTC motion.

Changes to CTC membership should be posted in the agenda, and may be
suggested as any other agenda item (see [CTC Meetings](#ctc-meetings) below).

No more than 1/3 of the CTC members may be affiliated with the same
employer.  If removal or resignation of a CTC member, or a change of
employment by a CTC member, creates a situation where more than 1/3 of
the CTC membership shares an employer, then the situation must be
immediately remedied by the resignation or removal of one or more CTC
members affiliated with the over-represented employer(s).

### CTC Activities

Typical activities of a CTC member include:

* attending the weekly meeting
* commenting on the weekly CTC meeting issue and issues labeled `ctc-review`
* participating in CTC email threads
* volunteering for tasks that arise from CTC meetings and related discussions
* other activities (beyond those typical of Collaborators) that facilitate the
  smooth day-to-day operation of the Node.js project

Note that CTC members are also Collaborators and therefore typically perform
Collaborator activities as well.

### CTC Meetings

The CTC meets weekly in a voice conference call. The meeting is run by a
designated meeting chair approved by the CTC. Each meeting is streamed on
YouTube.

Items are added to the CTC agenda which are considered contentious or
are modifications of governance, contribution policy, CTC membership,
or release process.

The intention of the agenda is not to approve or review all patches.
That should happen continuously on GitHub and be handled by the larger
group of Collaborators.

Any community member or contributor can ask that something be reviewed
by the CTC by logging a GitHub issue. Any Collaborator, CTC member, or the
meeting chair can bring the issue to the CTC's attention by applying the
`ctc-review` label. If consensus-seeking among CTC members fails for a
particular issue, it may be added to the CTC meeting agenda by adding the
`ctc-agenda` label.

Prior to each CTC meeting, the meeting chair will share the agenda with
members of the CTC. CTC members can also add items to the agenda at the
beginning of each meeting. The meeting chair and the CTC cannot veto or remove
items.

The CTC may invite persons or representatives from certain projects to
participate in a non-voting capacity.

The meeting chair is responsible for summarizing the discussion of each agenda
item and sending it as a pull request after the meeting.

Due to the challenges of scheduling a global meeting with participants in
several timezones, the CTC will seek to resolve as many agenda items as possible
outside of meetings using
[the CTC issue tracker](https://github.com/nodejs/CTC/issues). The process in
the issue tracker is:

* A CTC member opens an issue explaining the proposal/issue and @-mentions
  @nodejs/ctc.
* After 72 hours, if there are two or more `LGTM`s from other CTC members and no
  explicit opposition from other CTC members, then the proposal is approved.
* If there are any CTC members objecting, then a conversation ensues until
  either the proposal is dropped or the objecting members are persuaded. If
  there is an extended impasse, a motion for a vote may be made.

## Consensus Seeking Process

The CTC follows a
[Consensus Seeking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus-seeking_decision-making)
decision making model.

When an agenda item has appeared to reach a consensus, the meeting chair will
ask "Does anyone object?" as a final call for dissent from the consensus.

If an agenda item cannot reach a consensus, a CTC member can call for either a
closing vote or a vote to table the issue to the next meeting. All votes
(including votes to close or table) pass if and only if more than 50% of the CTC
members (excluding individuals who explicitly abstain) vote in favor. For
example, if there are 20 CTC members, and 5 of those members indicate that they
abstain, then 8 votes in favor are required for a resolution to pass.