### Problem to solve Some projects can be too large for everyone to know everything. In these projects, people usually end up focusing on smaller parts of the repo. ### Further details The Linux kernel has come up with a pretty good way of tracking this, using [a file](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/MAINTAINERS) containing groups of (among other things) `(files, people)` pairs. It also uses [a script](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/scripts/get_maintainer.pl) that will automatically `Cc:` these people on patches emailed to the community. ### Proposal It would be great if GitLab gained the ability to understand this format, so that larger projects could automatically Cc: members to MRs. - When creating an MR, GitLab should parse a given file (filename should be set in the project settings as it is sometimes called `MAINTAINERS` and sometimes `REVIEWERS`), and find groups containing `F:` globs matching the files modified in this MR. - For each of those matching groups, there's a list of `M:` maintainers and/or `R:` reviewers which should be attached to the MR. These will usually be in the form `Firstname Lastname <email@domain.tld>` or just `email@domain.tld`. - For each of those names and/or emails, a match *(by email, then by name if the email isn't the same one as registered on the account)* should be attempted with accounts on the instance. Optionally, support for [git's `.mailmap`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-mailmap#_mapping_authors) should be added as well for better matching. ### What does success look like, and how can we measure that? - If a matching account is found, it should be added to the MR as if it had been `@username` tagged. ### Links / references - https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/MAINTAINERS - https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/scripts/get_maintainer.pl - https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-mailmap#_mapping_authors - https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/mailmap.txt