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new 7190a7c6a4 GH-49675: [Docs] Make "stale issues" more visible to
potential contributors and document stale issue policy (#49703)
7190a7c6a4 is described below
commit 7190a7c6a48c99179922861ec5a5fe3b10534d8d
Author: Nic Crane <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Sun Apr 19 01:40:07 2026 -0400
GH-49675: [Docs] Make "stale issues" more visible to potential contributors
and document stale issue policy (#49703)
### Rationale for this change
New things in repo weren't documented
### What changes are included in this PR?
Document them
### Are these changes tested?
I'll check they look correct on CI
### Are there any user-facing changes?
Nah
* GitHub Issue: #49675
Authored-by: Nic Crane <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: AlenkaF <[email protected]>
---
docs/source/developers/bug_reports.rst | 31 ++++++++++++++++++++++
.../guide/step_by_step/finding_issues.rst | 13 ++++++++-
2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/docs/source/developers/bug_reports.rst
b/docs/source/developers/bug_reports.rst
index 07445de2bb..307261617a 100644
--- a/docs/source/developers/bug_reports.rst
+++ b/docs/source/developers/bug_reports.rst
@@ -206,6 +206,37 @@ reached a terminal status, it is closed with one of two
outcomes:
* **closed as not planned** - indicates the issue is closed and should
not receive any further updates, but *without* action being taken.
+.. _stale-issues:
+
+Stale issues and pull requests
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+
+To keep the issue tracker manageable, issues and pull requests that have had
+no activity for an extended period are automatically marked as stale by a
+daily GitHub Actions workflow.
+
+The policy varies by type:
+
+* **Pull requests**: After 365 days of inactivity, a ``Status: stale-warning``
+ label is added. If there is still no activity after 14 more days, the PR is
+ closed.
+* **Usage issues** (labeled ``Type: usage``): Same 365 + 14 day policy as
+ pull requests.
+* **Enhancement issues** (labeled ``Type: enhancement``): Same 365 + 14 day
+ policy, but issues labeled ``Status: needs champion`` are exempt from
+ closure. This label indicates that the enhancement is still desired but
+ needs someone to take ownership of it.
+
+To prevent an issue or PR from being closed, remove the
+``Status: stale-warning`` label or leave a comment explaining that it is
+still active.
+
+.. seealso::
+
+ If you are looking for issues to work on, issues labeled
+ ``Status: needs champion`` are confirmed-wanted enhancements that need
+ a contributor. See :ref:`finding-issues` for more.
+
.. _issue-assignment:
Issue assignment
diff --git a/docs/source/developers/guide/step_by_step/finding_issues.rst
b/docs/source/developers/guide/step_by_step/finding_issues.rst
index a76b15e917..de686269a8 100644
--- a/docs/source/developers/guide/step_by_step/finding_issues.rst
+++ b/docs/source/developers/guide/step_by_step/finding_issues.rst
@@ -59,7 +59,18 @@ GitHub issues.
<https://github.com/apache/arrow/labels/good-first-issue>`_
The issues labeled as good first issues should take no more than two days or
-a weekend to fix them. Once you dig into the code you may find that the issue
+a weekend to fix them.
+
+Another way to find issues is to look for the **"Status: needs champion"**
+label. These are enhancement requests that the community has confirmed are
+still wanted, but that have no current owner. They may be more complex than
+good first issues, but they are a great way to make a meaningful contribution.
+
+.. seealso::
+ Search for needs champion issues `needs champion label listing
+ <https://github.com/apache/arrow/labels/Status%3A%20needs%20champion>`_
+
+Once you dig into the code you may find that the issue
is not easy at all - this can happen as the problem could be harder than the
person who triaged the ticket expected it to be. Don't hesitate to write that
in the comments.
