Automated backlog grooming

[BillWagner]

The dotnet/docs repo has more than 1500 open issues in our backlog. That's not manageable for us to track work. We're building a plan to bulk close stale issues based on five variables. That will trim the active backlog to a set of issues that we intend to address.

This plan is not intended to avoid the tasks identified in the issues being closed. Rather, it is to organize our backlog so we can effectively manage it. Many of the issues are stale. Many reflect plans that have changed. Others reflect work that has become unnecessary because of other completed tasks. Our intent is to run this process once, with a commitment to stay current on our backlog grooming.

Process

We are building a query script to do the following:

• Find all issues matching any of the criteria listed below.
• Add a "won't fix" label to each of those issues. That will help us find any of these later to understand why they were closed.
• Add a comment that points to this issue clarifying that the issue author may re-open the issue if they feel it should not have been closed.
• Close the issue.

Variables

There are five variables we will use to close issues:

• "P?" priority labels (P0, P1, P2, P3): These have been added by people examining the issue in the past. When none have been set, the script will behave as though "P2" was set.
• "Pri?" Automated labels (Pri1, Pri2, Pri3) set by our label bot: These are added based on the traffic to an article. When none have been set, the script will behave as though "Pri2" was set for any article that has the "document details" codeblock. (Any issue without that codeblock should have "Pri3" assigned, unless assigned a different priority manually):
• Author: We create different criteria for those issues opened by our team and partners, and customers.
• Age: Different criteria are applied to issues based on when it was opened.

Criteria

The following table has our first pass at the criteria. Headers are:

• P: "P?" priority label
• Pri: "Pri?" priority label
• CodeBlock: The presence or absence of a "Document details" block. Its presence indicates an issue filed from the live article.
• Author: Indicates if the author is a team member, or a partner.
• Age: This column indicates how old an issue must be for it to be automatically closed.

The rows with a strikethrough should never occur. The labeling bot should always assign "Pri3" to any issue that does not contain the document details block when no other priority label has been set. The script will process any rows that do occur.

The ? in the priority column indicates an issue where no priority label has been applied.

To make suggested changes to the criteria, copy the table below, and make a comment changing the values in the Age column. Add Bold to any you change to help us spot your edits.

P	Pri	Author	CodeBlock	Age
0	1	External	Yes	No
0	1	External	No	No
0	1	Internal	Yes	No
0	1	Internal	No	No
0	2	External	Yes	No
0	2	External	No	No
0	2	Internal	Yes	No
0	2	Internal	No	No
0	3	External	Yes	No
0	3	External	No	No
0	3	Internal	Yes	No
0	3	Internal	No	No
0	?	External	Yes	No
0	?	External	No	No
0	?	Internal	Yes	No
0	?	Internal	No	No
1	1	External	Yes	24m
1	1	External	No	No
1	1	Internal	Yes	No
1	1	Internal	No	24m
1	2	External	Yes	18m
1	2	External	No	12m
1	2	Internal	Yes	12m
1	2	Internal	No	18m
1	3	External	Yes	12m
1	3	External	No	12m
1	3	Internal	Yes	12m
1	3	Internal	No	12m
1	?	External	Yes	18m
1	?	External	No	12m
1	?	Internal	Yes	12m
1	?	Internal	No	18m
2	1	External	Yes	18m
2	1	External	No	12m
2	1	Internal	Yes	12m
2	1	Internal	No	18m
2	2	External	Yes	12m
2	2	External	No	9m
2	2	Internal	Yes	9m
2	2	Internal	No	12m
2	3	External	Yes	9m
2	3	External	No	9m
2	3	Internal	Yes	9m
2	3	Internal	No	9m
2	?	External	Yes	12m
2	?	External	No	9m
2	?	Internal	Yes	9m
2	?	Internal	No	12m
3	1	External	Yes	9m
3	1	External	No	9m
3	1	Internal	Yes	9m
3	1	Internal	No	12m
3	2	External	Yes	9m
3	2	External	No	6m
3	2	Internal	Yes	6m
3	2	Internal	No	9m
3	3	External	Yes	6m
3	3	External	No	6m
3	3	Internal	Yes	3m
3	3	Internal	No	6m
3	?	External	Yes	9m
3	?	External	No	6m
3	?	Internal	Yes	6m
3	?	Internal	No	9m
2	1	External	Yes	18m
?	1	External	No	12m
?	1	Internal	Yes	12m
?	1	Internal	No	18m
?	2	External	Yes	12m
?	2	External	No	9m
2	2	Internal	Yes	9m
?	2	Internal	No	12m
?	3	External	Yes	9m
?	3	External	No	9m
?	3	Internal	Yes	6m
?	3	Internal	No	9m
?	?	External	Yes	12m
?	?	External	No	9m
?	?	Internal	Yes	9m
?	?	Internal	No	12m

[BillWagner]

The first run of the tool that queries for issues found the following results:

Closing 884 of 1539

• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 22, Closing 0 older than -1 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 96, Closing 50 older than 18 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 4, Closing 0 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 19, Closing 0 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 71, Closing 50 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P1, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 18, Closing 11 older than 18 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 66, Closing 38 older than 18 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 376, Closing 305 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 1 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 0 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 8, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 26, Closing 6 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 90, Closing 85 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P2, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 45, Closing 38 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P3, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 1 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P3, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 30, Closing 8 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P3, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 3, Closing 0 older than 6 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P3, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 11, Closing 11 older than 6 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = P3, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 9, Closing 4 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 60, Closing 12 older than 18 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 296, Closing 199 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Missing, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 0 older than 18 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 7, Closing 0 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 10, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri1, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 1 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 20, Closing 4 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 105, Closing 7 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 3, Closing 0 older than 6 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri2, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 1, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 2, Closing 0 older than 12 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = True, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 8, Closing 0 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = True }:
  • Total issues: 73, Closing 31 older than 9 months
• CloseCriteria { PLabel = Missing, PriLabel = Pri3, HasDocIssue = False, IsInternal = False }:
  • Total issues: 53, Closing 22 older than 12 months