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Modifiable merge request author

Problem to solve

Merge Requests frequently get started by one user, but need to be taken over by another when the original goes on vacation. If the Merge Request is already being reviewed, closing and creating a new Merge Request for the same changes isn't an option since all the history would be lost. The Author field is intended for this purpose, but cannot be modified.

Target audience

Any role needing to identify the user currently responsible for the changes in the merge request.

Further details

During a normal review process, as described in the GitLab.org documentation, a Merge Request may need to be assigned back and forth between the user responsible for the changes and the the user eventually responsible for merging them (the code/module owner). This makes it necessary for the module owner to quickly and consistently identify the user responsible for the Merge Request at any given time. This is something they will be doing extremely frequently across a large number of possible users.

Furthermore, any role involved in examining or interacting with Merge Requests needs a known consistent way to identify the party currently responsible for the changes in the merge request, whether this is a Project Manager trying to follow up with the individual on the expected impact to down-stream users, a Security Analyst needing to question them about the design/analysis, a Sys Admin that needs more information or resolution on the Merge Request to address a GitLab maintenance issue, etc.

Proposal

Make the Author field of Merge Requests modifiable via the Web IDE. Whether this is thru slash commands only (like Estimate on Issues), or as a field on the sidebar (like Assignee).

What does success look like, and how can we measure

Self explanatory, described in the original problem.