Core Team

Becoming a Core Team member

A new member can be added to the Core Team at any time through the following steps:

Any Core Team member or GitLab Team member can nominate a new member from the wider community at any time using a confidential issue in the Core Team group to limit any possible negative feedback in the smallest setting possible.
The nominee will be added to the Core Team if they have received positive votes from two-thirds (2/3) of all current core team members within a four-week period and accept the nomination.
Once a new member has been added, start the onboarding process by following the steps outlined in the Core Team member orientation section below.

Monthly Core Team meetings

Due to time differences, and other commitments, the Core Team meets asynchronously on the third Tuesday of each month. Call logistics/agenda/notes for the meeting are available on the Core Team issue tracker. All meeting recordings are available at the Core Team meeting Playlist.

Contacting Core Team members

Core Team members can be reached by mentioning @gitlab-org/gitlab-core-team in issues or merge requests.

While GitLab is the primary means of contact, the Core Team can also be contacted on the #core Slack channel.

Anyone can open an issue in the Core Team issue tracker.

Offboarding and stepping down gracefully

If you are no longer able to or interested in serving in the Core Team, you should make an announcement on the #core Slack channel. When you step down, you will become a Core Team Alumni. Once a Core Team member steps down, another Core team member will create an issue using the offboarding template and follow the steps outlined.

Core Team Member Orientation

Email the nominated member to confirm they are interested before beginning the orientation process.
Create an issue in the Core Team Project using the Core Team Member Onboarding Issue Template and follow the steps outlined.
- Core team members must sign an NDA before granting them any access.

Core Team Group

All Core Team members are part of the gitlab-org/gitlab-core-team group on GitLab.com. This group has a particular structure for specific automation purposes:

graph TD
    A("gitlab-core-team (group)<br>-Has both GitLab team and wider community Core Team members-") --> B("community-members (group)<br>-Has only wider community Core Team members-")
    A --> C["general (project)"]

The community-members group exists to:

Core Team member benefits

As part of the trust, value and recognition that joining the Core Team implies, each member is granted a number of benefits to support them in their contributions.

Slack access

Core Team members are granted access to the GitLab team’s Slack instance as part of their Core Team Member Orientation.

A list of the up-to-date channels the Core should/have access to can be found in the Core Team and Slack Google Sheets and in the list below:

Requesting Core Team access to Slack channels

Please submit an access request with the new channel(s) requested.
Assign the issue to a member of Contributor Success who will complete the next steps.
Contributor Success to: Identify the channel(s) owner and invite them to review the request by leaving a comment on whether they agree on having Core Team members in their channel(s).
After successful review, issue is handed/assigned to Slack Admins, for inviting Core Team members to the channels and the list above is updated.

All the channels Core Team members have access to, should follow the SAFE guidelines when posting in the channel. Even though the Core Team Members have signed an NDA, they are not considered GitLab team members.

Developer permissions for GitLab projects

To improve their development experience, Core Team members are granted Developer permissions on the gitlab-org group, where the vast majority of projects for GitLab (the product) reside. For any project under that group, and among other abilities, this enables them to:

Create branches on the source project instead of forks
Assign merge requests
Assign issues
Manage and assign labels

At this time, Core Team members are not added to the gitlab-com group, which is used for projects and processes associated to the GitLab company.

Contributor Success will generally take the action to grant this permission as part of the new Core Team member’s orientation issue.

Team page listing

To emphasize their affiliation and closeness to the GitLab team, and to raise visibility on their profile, Core Team members can add themselves to the GitLab team page and ask a review from any member of Contributor Success.

This will list their profile on the Core Team page as well.

GitLab top tier license

To enable contributions and to gain insight on GitLab capabilities, Core Team members can request a free top tier license for development purposes.

GitLab top tier licenses in SaaS or self-managed instances are granted to Core Team members for 1 year and can be renewed for another year during the Core Team member term. If a member decides to step down but still wishes to contribute to GitLab occasionally, they will still be eligible for a GitLab license, but the renewal period will be the standard 3 months given to other GitLab community members.

There is no specific limit on the number of seats that Core Team members can request. We trust Core Team members to use their own judgement to estimate the number of users they will need for development purposes, and not to use the license for for-profit purposes.

JetBrains license

To support their code contributions to GitLab, Core Team members can request a JetBrains license for development purposes.

Disclaimer: Due to applicable trade control law, reimbursement cannot be provided to the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. This list is subject to change without notice.

Process

Raise a request in the #core team slack channel.
Once approved, purchase the relevant license.
Email ap@gitlab.com cc nveenhof@gitlab.com and rnalen@gitlab.com including:
- A copy of your receipt.
- Your international bank details for reimbursement.
- @nick_vh and @rnalen should reply with their approval.
- AP will proceed with the reimbursement process.

Personalized merchandise

On occasion, the GitLab team might offer personalized merchandise exclusive to Core Team members to contribute in style!

Last modified September 9, 2024: Update Core team offboarding process (498bfa39)

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