---
title: "Knative team values"
linkTitle: "Team values"
weight: 50
type: "docs"
aliases:
  - /contributing/team-values/
---

We want to make sure every member has a shared understanding of the goals and
values we hold as a team:

- Optimize for the **overall project**, not your own area or feature

  - A shortcut for one individual can mean a lot of extra work or disruption for
    the rest of the team.

- Our repos should always be in release shape: **Always Green**

  - This lets us move faster in the mid and long term.
  - This implies investments in build/test infrastructure to have fast, reliable
    tests to ensure that we can release at any time.
  - Extra discipline may require more work by individuals to keep the build in
    good state, but less work overall for the team.

- Be **specific**, **respectful** and **courteous**

  - Disagreements are welcome and encouraged, but don't use broad
    generalizations, exaggerations, or judgment words that can be taken
    personally. Consider other people’s perspective (including the wide range of
    applicability of Knative). Empathize with our users. Focus on the specific
    issue at hand, and remember that we all care about the project, first and
    foremost.
  - Emails to the [mailing lists](./CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-a-feature),
    document comments, or meetings are often better and higher bandwidth ways to
    communicate complex and nuanced design issues, as opposed to protracted
    heated live chats.
  - Be mindful of the terminology you are using, it may not be the same as
    someone else and cause misunderstanding. To promote clear and precise
    communication, define the terms you are using in context.
  - See also the [Code of Conduct](./CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md), which everyone must
    abide by.

- Raising issues is great, suggesting solutions is even better

  - Think of a proposed alternative and improvement rather than just what you
    perceive as wrong.
  - If you have no immediate solution even after thinking about it - if
    something does seem significant, raise it to someone who might be able to
    also think of solutions or to the group (don’t stay frustrated! Feel safe in
    bringing up issues.
  - Avoid rehashing old issues that have been resolved/decided (unless you have
    new insights or information).

- Be productive and **happy**, and most importantly, have _fun_ :-)

---

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the
[Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
and code samples are licensed under the
[Apache 2.0 License](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
