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Do not add approvers as participants of each merge request

Problem to solve

Merge request approvers, added by approval rules or CODEOWNERS, are immediately treated as participants when a merge request is created. When subscribed to Participant notifications for a project, this means they receive notifications for every single merge request.

If I am mentioned, leave a comment, assign myself etc, or actually click approve, then sure make me a participant and send me notifications.

Further details

There are three levels of user notifications that are supported:

  • Watch - you receive every notification for activity

    If the user is watching the project, regardless of being a named eligible approver, they should receive notifications.

    ✅ Expected behavior to receive everything already

  • Participant - you will only receive notifications for threads you have participated in

    If the user has subscribed to participant notifications, and is an eligible approver, they currently receive notifications for that merge request.

    ❌ Users do not expect to be a participant simply through the creation of a merge request because they are an eligible approver.

  • On mention - you will receive notifications only for comments you are at-mentioned in

    Notifications should not be sent based on approval rules. When the are explicitly mentioned or assigned, they should be notified.

    ✅ These users should not be receiving notifications currently

Proposal

If a person has subscribed to Participant notifications for the project, being an listed eligible approver should not constitute participation.

Events that do constitute participation include:

  • leaving a comment
  • approving the merge request
  • being assigned to the merge request

the should not be treated as a participant

In summary: do not make approvers participants unless they actively participate on the merge request.

Customers

Links / references

Edited by Jamie Reid