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Inform users of pending deployment approval MVC

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Release notes

With the GitLab XX.X release, users can now use To-Dos to stay on top of deployment approval requests. This makes it easier for users who want to stay on top of the tasks that are triggered when a approval is requested for protected environments.

Problem to solve

As a release manager or team lead, I want to be notified when an approval is awaiting my action so that I can stay on top of what's being deployed to a protected environment and can approve or reject a manual job.

Intended users

User experience goal

Users involved in the Deployment approval flow should have a to-do item is added to their To-Do List when an action is needed. They should be able to navigate to the Environments overview page and from there review a manual deployment.

Proposal

  • When a new deployment job that needs approval to run is created, a to-do item should be created to the user(s) added to the approval flow.
  • The badge counter on the top bar should be updated the reflect the number of items added to the to-do list.
  • In the To-Do page, each to-do item for a deployment approval should display:
    • User avatar and link, user name and link, deployment number and link, environment name and link, group/project name and link, time stamp, top commit.
      • First line: (AVATAR) <user name> requested your approval on protected environment <environment number> for <environment name> at <group/project> • <timestamp>
      • Second line: Top Commit: <commit message for top commit of that deployment>
  • Clicking the environment number takes the user to the environments overview page.
  • In the To-Do page, the user should have the option to make the to-do item as done by clicking the Done button. Follow the current To-Do flow and actions.
  • Resolving the pending deployment approval by approving/rejecting it should mark the to-do item as complete.
  • To-do items aren’t affected by GitLab notification email settings.
  • To-do items for deployment approvals should Work by default.
  • If the deployment already has enough approvals, or it was rejected, then all related TODO's should be marked as done.

Out of scope

  • Settings for this functionality. Because to-dos aren't affected by email notifications, we won't give users the option to disable the to-do creation. However, we understand that projects/groups that have a high number of pending approvals for protected environments might receive a high volume of to-do items.
  • Filter for deployment approval in the to-do list #357288
  • We're simply sending users from to-dos to the environments overview page. They won't be able to see exactly which environment needs an approval. This will be solved once we introduce the approval capability in the environments detail page #357026, and link the todos to that view #342440 (closed).
  • In the future, users should also be able to set up notifications via emails #354783

Permissions and Security

We should follow the same security model in place for other to-do items. GitLab deletes to-do items when a user no longer has access to a related resource. See docs.

  • Add expected impact to members with no access (0)
  • Add expected impact to Guest (10) members
  • Add expected impact to Reporter (20) members
  • Add expected impact to Developer (30) members
  • Add expected impact to Maintainer (40) members
  • Add expected impact to Owner (50) members

Documentation

We will need to update the Environments, as well as the To-Dos docs:

Availability & Testing

Available Tier

GitLab Premium

What does success look like, and how can we measure that?

Users rely on these notifications to be alerted to when deployments require their attention for approval. They are able to navigate to the relevant environment detail page and complete the pending approval.

Metrics:

  • Click-through rate for the environment detail link in the To-do.
  • Approval/Rejections completed after clicking through to the environment detail page.

What is the type of buyer?

Is this a cross-stage feature?

Yes, with devopsplan groupproject management (see handbook)

Links / references

This page may contain information related to upcoming products, features and functionality. It is important to note that the information presented is for informational purposes only, so please do not rely on the information for purchasing or planning purposes. Just like with all projects, the items mentioned on the page are subject to change or delay, and the development, release, and timing of any products, features, or functionality remain at the sole discretion of GitLab Inc.

Edited by 🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖