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Remove graphql fields merge_trains_index and count from merge requests

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For guidance on the overall deprecations, removals and breaking changes workflow, please visit Breaking changes, deprecations, and removing features

Deprecation Summary

The field :merge_train_index is being removed from MergeRequestType and has been added to MergeTrainCar. This is a more appropriate and relevant place for this field as it is a direct attribute of MergeTrainCars and represents the merge train car's position on the merge train. If no merge train car exists the value is null.

The field :merge_train_index is being removed from MergeRequestType. Use the count off MergeTrains::CarType.connection_type instead. The :cars field is available on MergeTrain and more accurately represents a count of cars currently on a MergeTrain. By default it returns active cars but may also be filtered on completed cars (completed once the associated merge request is merged)

Breaking Change

Affected Customers

Who is affected by this deprecation: GitLab.com users, Self-managed users, or Dedicated users? (choose all that apply)

  • GitLab.com
  • Self-managed
  • Dedicated

What pricing tiers are impacted?

  • GitLab Free
  • GitLab Premium
  • GitLab Ultimate

Merge trains are currently only available as an EE feature.

Deprecation Milestone

In which milestone will this deprecation be announced ?

17.4

Planned Removal Milestone

In which milestone will the feature or functionality be removed and announced?

18.0

Checklists

Timeline

Rollout Plan

  • DRI Engineers: @engineer(s)
  • Describe rollout plans on GitLab.com
    • _Link to _a feature flag rollout issue that covers:
      • Expected release date on GitLab.com and GitLab version
      • Rollout timelines, such as a percentage rollout on GitLab.com
      • Creation of any clean-up issues, such as code removal
  • Determine how to migrate users still using the existing functionality
  • Document ways to migrate with the tooling available
  • Automate any users who have not yet migrated, but ensure it's a two-way door decision

Communication Plan

An internal slack post and a release post are not sufficient notification for our customers or internal stakeholders. Plan to communicate proactively and directly with affected customers and the internal stakeholders supporting them.

Internal Communication Plan

  • Create an internal note in the comment thread of this issue with a comprehensive narrative of customer impacts, with the intended audience of internal stakeholders who directly interact with customers.
    • Consider: what will the CSM / AE / SA teams need to tell their customers? What will they want to know about customer sentiment and impact?
    • If customers must take an action, include in this internal note the following information: what action is needed, the steps they can take to complete it, the due date for that action, and the consequences of not completing the action in time.
  • Internal announcement plan (timeline for notifications, audience, channels, etc)
  • Support and enablement plan
    • Support readiness: Document how the support team should handle tickets related to this deprecation / breaking change.
    • Customer Success readiness: Ensure the CS team knows how to bring questions or concerns from clients to the right internal team members.

External Communication Plan

  • Customer announcement plan (timeline for notifications, audience, channels, etc)
  • Ensure you have approvals from legal and corp comms for any communication being sent directly to customers.
  • As soon as possible, but no later than the third milestone preceding the major release, ensure that the following are complete (for example, given the following release schedule: 17.8, 17.9, 17.10, 17.11, 18.0 – 17.9 is the third milestone preceding the major release).
  • On the major milestone:
    • The deprecated item has been removed. Add link to the relevant merge request.
    • If the removal of the deprecated item is a breaking change, the merge request is labeled breaking change.
    • Document the migration plan for users, clearly outlining the actions they need to take to mitigate the impact of the breaking change.
      • Add link

Development

  • DRI Engineers: @engineer(s)
  • Measure usage of the impacted product feature
    • Evaluate metrics across GitLab.com, Self-Managed, Dedicated
    • add issue link
    • list any metrics and/or dashboards
  • Create tooling for customers to manually migrate their data or workflows
    • add issue link
  • Build mechanism for users to manually enable the breaking change ahead of time
    • add issue link
  • Automate the migration for those who do not take any manual steps (ensure the automation can be reverted)
    • add issue link
  • Develop rollout plan of breaking change on GitLab.com
    • add feature flag rollout issue
  • Dogfood the changes on GitLab.com or a Self-Managed test instance
    • add issue link
  • (Optional) Create UI controls for instance admins to disable the breaking change, providing flexibility to Self-Managed / Dedicated customers. Optional as this depends on the breaking change.
    • add issue link

Mentions

  • Your stage's stable counterparts have been @mentioned on this issue. For example, Customer Support, Customer Success (Technical Account Manager), Product Marketing Manager.
    • To see who the stable counterparts are for a product team visit product categories
      • If there is no stable counterpart listed for Sales/CS please mention @timtams
      • If there is no stable counterpart listed for Support please mention @gitlab-com/support/managers
      • If there is no stable counterpart listed for Marketing please mention @cfoster3
  • Your GPM has been @mentioned so that they are aware of planned deprecations. The goal is to have reviews happen at least two releases before the final removal of the feature or introduction of a breaking change.

Links

Edited by 🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖