Introduce triage system

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md

@@ -6,16 +6,22 @@ labels: ["bug", "needs-triage"]
 
 ---
 
-_**Important Note:  NVIDIA AI Enterprise customers can get support from NVIDIA Enterprise support. Please open a case [here](https://enterprise-support.nvidia.com/s/create-case)**._
+<!-- _**Important Note:  NVIDIA AI Enterprise customers can get support from NVIDIA Enterprise support. Please open a case [here](https://enterprise-support.nvidia.com/s/create-case)**._ -->
+
+**Motivation**
+<!-- A clear and concise description of your motivation: is this a real issue you ran into while using the product? -->
+
+**Check here if you would like to work on this issue**
+- [ ]
 
 **Describe the bug**
-A clear and concise description of what the bug is.
+<!-- A clear and concise description of what the bug is. -->
 
 **To Reproduce**
-Detailed steps to reproduce the issue.
+<!-- Detailed steps to reproduce the issue. -->
 
 **Expected behavior**
-A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen.
+<!-- A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen. -->
 
 **Environment (please provide the following information):**
  - GPU Operator Version: [e.g. v25.3.0]
@@ -36,6 +42,7 @@ A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen.
  - [ ] containerd logs `journalctl -u containerd > containerd.log`
 
 
+<!--
 Collecting full debug bundle (optional):
 
 ```
@@ -46,3 +53,4 @@ chmod +x must-gather.sh
 **NOTE**: please refer to the [must-gather](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/gpu-operator/main/hack/must-gather.sh) script for debug data collected.
 
 This bundle can be submitted to us via email: **operator_feedback@nvidia.com**
+-->

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml

@@ -1 +1,8 @@
 blank_issues_enabled: false
+contact_links:
+  - name: Question / General Discussion
+    url: https://github.com/NVIDIA/gpu-operator/discussions
+    about: Ask a question or raise a discussion related to GPU Operator
+  - name: Community Slack (#gpu-operator)
+    url: https://inviter.co/dsx-ai-factory
+    about: Chat with the GPU Operator team and community

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md

@@ -2,7 +2,13 @@
 name: Feature request
 about: Submit a feature request
 title: "[Feature]: "
-labels: ["feature", "needs-triage", "lifecycle/frozen"]
+labels: ["feature", "needs-triage"]
 ---
+**Motivation**
+<!-- A clear and concise description of your motivation: e.g. would this feature greatly help your use-case, and why? -->
 
-<!-- A clear and concise description of the feature request. Please outline the motivation for the proposal. Is your feature request related to a specific problem? e.g., *"I'm working on X and would like Y to be possible"*. If this is related to another GitHub issue, please link it here too. -->
+**Check here if you would like to work on this issue**
+- [ ]
+
+**Describe the feature**
+<!-- A clear and concise description of the feature request. What alternatives did you consider? What impact will this have on users? If this is related to another GitHub issue, please link it here too. -->

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
+## Issue
+<!-- Link the `accepted` issue assigned to you. See CONTRIBUTING.md#contribution-workflow -->
+Fixes #
+
 ## Description
 
-<!-- Brief description of the change, including context or motivation -->
+<!-- Brief description of the change, including context -->
 
 ## Checklist
 

.github/workflows/assign.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# Copyright NVIDIA CORPORATION
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+name: Assign
+
+on:
+  issue_comment:
+    types: [created]
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  assign:
+    name: Assign issue from /assign comment
+    if: ${{ !github.event.issue.pull_request && startsWith(github.event.comment.body, '/assign') }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    permissions:
+      issues: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/github-script@3a2844b7e9c422d3c10d287c895573f7108da1b3 # v9
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
+            const { comment, issue } = context.payload;
+            const react = (content) =>
+              github.rest.reactions.createForIssueComment({ owner, repo, comment_id: comment.id, content });
+
+            const firstLine = comment.body.split(/\r?\n/, 1)[0].trim();
+            if (!/^\/assign(\s|$)/.test(firstLine)) {
+              return;
+            }
+
+            // Matches GitHub's own rule: assigning requires the triage role or higher.
+            const { data: perm } = await github.rest.repos.getCollaboratorPermissionLevel({
+              owner,
+              repo,
+              username: comment.user.login,
+            });
+            const canAssign = ['admin', 'maintain', 'write', 'triage'].includes(perm.role_name)
+              || ['admin', 'write'].includes(perm.permission);
+            if (!canAssign) {
+              return react('-1');
+            }
+
+            const match = firstLine.match(/^\/assign(?:\s+@?([A-Za-z0-9-]+))?$/);
+            if (!match || !issue.labels.some((label) => label.name === 'accepted')) {
+              return react('confused');
+            }
+
+            const assignee = match[1] ?? comment.user.login;
+            const { data: updated } = await github.rest.issues.addAssignees({
+              owner,
+              repo,
+              issue_number: issue.number,
+              assignees: [assignee],
+            });
+            // GitHub silently skips users it cannot assign, such as people who have not commented on the issue.
+            if (!updated.assignees.some((a) => a.login.toLowerCase() === assignee.toLowerCase())) {
+              return react('confused');
+            }
+
+            // The PR gatekeeper accepts any assignee, so a new claimant must replace the previous ones.
+            // Maintainers stay assigned because the gatekeeper does not apply to them.
+            const previousClaimants = [];
+            for (const { login } of updated.assignees) {
+              if (login.toLowerCase() === assignee.toLowerCase()) {
+                continue;
+              }
+              const { data: level } = await github.rest.repos.getCollaboratorPermissionLevel({
+                owner,
+                repo,
+                username: login,
+              });
+              if (!['admin', 'maintain', 'write'].includes(level.permission)) {
+                previousClaimants.push(login);
+              }
+            }
+            if (previousClaimants.length > 0) {
+              await github.rest.issues.removeAssignees({
+                owner,
+                repo,
+                issue_number: issue.number,
+                assignees: previousClaimants,
+              });
+            }
+            return react('+1');

.github/workflows/issue-state-labels.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Copyright NVIDIA CORPORATION
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+name: Issue State Labels
+
+on:
+  issues:
+    types: [labeled]
+
+permissions: {}
+
+concurrency:
+  group: issue-state-${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+
+jobs:
+  single-state:
+    name: Keep one state label per issue
+    if: contains(fromJSON('["needs-triage","needs-more-info","accepted"]'), github.event.label.name)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    permissions:
+      issues: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/github-script@3a2844b7e9c422d3c10d287c895573f7108da1b3 # v9
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const stateLabels = ['needs-triage', 'needs-more-info', 'accepted'];
+            const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
+            const issue_number = context.payload.issue.number;
+            const added = context.payload.label.name;
+            if (!stateLabels.includes(added)) {
+              return;
+            }
+
+            const { data: labels } = await github.rest.issues.listLabelsOnIssue({ owner, repo, issue_number });
+            const current = labels.map((label) => label.name);
+            // Adding two state labels at once starts two runs; a later run must not undo an earlier one.
+            if (!current.includes(added)) {
+              return;
+            }
+
+            for (const name of current.filter((label) => stateLabels.includes(label) && label !== added)) {
+              try {
+                await github.rest.issues.removeLabel({ owner, repo, issue_number, name });
+                core.info(`Removed ${name}: ${added} replaces it.`);
+              } catch (error) {
+                if (error.status !== 404) {
+                  throw error;
+                }
+              }
+            }

.github/workflows/issue-triage.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Copyright NVIDIA CORPORATION
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+name: Issue Triage
+
+on:
+  issues:
+    types: [opened]
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  label:
+    name: Label new issues for triage
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    permissions:
+      issues: write
+    steps:
+      # Issue templates apply needs-triage, but issues created through the API skip templates.
+      - uses: actions/github-script@3a2844b7e9c422d3c10d287c895573f7108da1b3 # v9
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const stateLabels = ['needs-triage', 'needs-more-info', 'accepted'];
+            const labels = context.payload.issue.labels.map((label) => label.name);
+            if (labels.some((label) => stateLabels.includes(label))) {
+              return;
+            }
+            await github.rest.issues.addLabels({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              issue_number: context.payload.issue.number,
+              labels: ['needs-triage'],
+            });

.github/workflows/stale.yaml

@@ -20,9 +20,24 @@ jobs:
         with:
           stale-issue-message: 'This issue is stale because it has been open 90 days with no activity. This issue will be closed in 30 days unless new comments are made or the stale label is removed. To skip these checks, apply the "lifecycle/frozen" label.'
           stale-issue-label: 'lifecycle/stale'
-          exempt-issue-labels: 'lifecycle/frozen,feature,enhancement'
+          exempt-issue-labels: 'lifecycle/frozen,feature,enhancement,accepted'
           days-before-stale: 90
           close-issue-message: 'This issue was automatically closed due to inactivity.'
           days-before-issue-close: 30
           remove-stale-when-updated: true
           operations-per-run: 1000
+      - uses: actions/stale@4391f3da665fdf50b6810c1a66712fb9ba21aa93 # v11
+        with:
+          only-issue-labels: 'needs-more-info'
+          # Triage policy start date.
+          start-date: '2026-10-27T00:00:00Z'
+          stale-issue-message: 'This issue has been waiting for more information for 23 days with no activity. It will be closed in 7 days unless the requested information is provided.'
+          stale-issue-label: 'lifecycle/stale'
+          exempt-issue-labels: 'lifecycle/frozen'
+          days-before-issue-stale: 23
+          close-issue-message: 'This issue was automatically closed because the requested information was not provided within 30 days.'
+          days-before-issue-close: 7
+          days-before-pr-stale: -1
+          days-before-pr-close: -1
+          remove-stale-when-updated: true
+          operations-per-run: 1000

AGENTS.md

@@ -88,14 +88,15 @@ the CRDs in the helm chart and OLM bundle are in-sync.
 
 ## Contribution process (see `CONTRIBUTING.md`)
 
-- For any significant change (architectural change, new feature, breaking change, non-trivial
-  bug fix), an issue should exist describing the problem/proposal before implementation begins —
-  check for or ask about a linked issue rather than assuming a PR alone is sufficient.
+- For any change, an issue should exist describing the problem/proposal before implementation begins. Additionally, the contributor should be approved to work on said issue — ensure the PR is linked to an issue the contributor has been assigned to.
+- Keep PR titles short and imperative.
+- Issue or PR descriptions drafted with AI must be thoroughly reviewed and verified by the user before they are submitted.
+- Replies to maintainers in review comments or issue discussions may not be AI generated.
 - All commits must be signed off (DCO): `git commit -s`, producing a trailing
   `Signed-off-by: Name <email>` line. Do not fabricate a sign-off identity — use the configured
   git user's identity.
 - Do not open, push to, or comment on GitHub issues/PRs without explicit user confirmation.
-- Keep PR titles short and imperative; the body should explain motivation ("why"), not just restate the diff.
+- Keep all changes as minimal as possible.
 
 ## Things to avoid