Issue Workflow Guidelines

This document defines the standard lifecycle for Issues in the vLLM Ascend project — from creation through triage, active handling, and final closure. It establishes consistent label usage, owner assignment, and communication expectations to ensure smooth collaboration between contributors and maintainers.

1. Label Categories

1.1 Status Labels

These labels track where an issue stands in the workflow.

Label	Description
triage review	Newly filed or unseen issue awaiting initial assessment by a maintainer
triaged	Assessment complete; type, priority, and module have been determined
wait-feedback	Blocked on an external dependency or awaiting a response before work can proceed
resolved	Issue has been closed — either via a merged PR, or through non-code resolution (e.g., answered question, configuration guidance)
stale	No activity for an extended period; parties have been notified and the issue will be auto-closed if there is no response
duplicated	A duplicate of an existing open issue or merged PR
invalid	The issue report is invalid, unclear, or not reproducible
wontfix	The issue will not be addressed; as this issue is out of scope, unviable, or intentionally ignored for the foreseeable future

1.2 Type Labels

These labels describe the nature of the issue.

Label	Description
feature request	Request for new functionality
RFC	Request for Comments — significant architectural or design change requiring community discussion
new model	Request to add support for a new model on Ascend NPU
usage	A usage question; no code change may be required
question	A general question; no code change may be required
documentation	Improvements or corrections to documentation
installation	Issues related to setup and deployment
performance	Performance regression, bottleneck, or optimization request
bug	Something is not working correctly or behaves unexpectedly

1.3 Priority Labels (Optional)

Label	Description
high	High priority; should be resolved in the current or next cycle
medium	Normal priority; handled in the regular development flow
low	Low priority; edge case or minor issue that can be deferred

1.4 Contribution Labels (Optional)

Label	Description
good first issue	A well-scoped, low-complexity task suitable for new contributors
help wanted	Community contributions are welcome and encouraged

2. Workflow

Phase 1 — First Response

When an issue is first picked up by the on-call maintainer:

• Apply triaged to signal that the issue can be classified and Add the relevant module label so the issue can be routed to the appropriate module maintainer for detailed triage.

• Apply triage review to signal that the issue requires more review and specitfic analysis before classification.

Phase 2 — Triage and Analysis

After a thorough review of the issue content:

• Verify and apply the appropriate issue type label (bug, feature request, RFC, question, documentation, installation, performance, new model, etc.).

• Handle terminal states:

  • For duplicates, apply the duplicated label, provide an explanation and a link to the existing issue or PR. If there are no further questions, close the issue.

  • For invalid reports, provide an explanation, apply the invalid and resolved label, and close the issue. The issue creator can comment or request to reopen if they have further questions.

• Optionally apply a priority label (high, medium, or low).

• If community contributions are welcome, apply help wanted. For well-scoped beginner-friendly tasks, also apply good first issue.

• Assign the issue owner and replace triage review with triaged to indicate that triage is complete.

Phase 3 — Closure

After triage, the issue moves into tracking and implementation:

• Keep the issue in progress until it is resolved through a merged PR or another confirmed resolution path.

• Once the issue is resolved, apply resolved and close it, ideally with a reference to the merged PR or a short explanation of the resolution.

• If the issue remains inactive for an extended period, apply stale as the final state before auto-closure.