[RFC] Add priority field and automatic priority assignment

[Ali Alnubani]

On 10/20/25 11:13 PM, Ali Alnubani wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm sending this email to propose adding a priority field to patches 
> with support for
> automatic priority assignment based on file paths. This would help
> maintainers identify and triage patches that affect critical 
> subsystems/components.
>
> Many projects have certain files or subsystems that are more critical 
> than
> others, and currently there's no easy way to highlight
> patches that modify these critical areas, which makes triage more 
> difficult
> for maintainers.
>
> My proposed solution is to add a priority field to the Patch model 
> with four categorical levels:
> - Low (0)
> - Normal (1) - default
> - High (2)
> - Critical (3)
>
> The priority can be set manually through the UI/API, or automatically
> assigned when patches are parsed based on configurable rules.
>
> As for the implementation,
>
> Will add a priority field to the Patch model with choices. This is 
> stored as an
> integer but displayed as text labels in the UI.
>
> Will create a new PriorityRule model that defines path patterns and their
> associated priority levels. Similar to the existing DelegationRule model,
> it includes:
> - project: which project the rule applies to
> - path: fnmatch-style pattern
> - priority: the priority level to assign (Low/Normal/High/Critical)
> - rule_priority: precedence when multiple rules match
>
> When parsing incoming patches, will extract filenames from the diff 
> and match
> them against the project's PriorityRule entries. If multiple rules match,
> will use the one with the highest rule_priority. When a patch modifies 
> multiple
> files that match different priority rules, the parser assigns the 
> highest priority
> found. If no rules match, default to Normal.
>
> This is similar to how Patchwork currently handles delegation rules, 
> so the
> implementation can follow that pattern.
>
> Patch list view will get a new sortable "Priority" column that 
> displays the
> text label (Low/Normal/High/Critical). Will add a filter dropdown to 
> allow
> filtering by priority level. Showing the new column can be optional 
> (opt-in)
> and enabled in user profile settings. We can also implement it so that 
> it can
> be optional per-project.
>
> Admin interface gets an inline editor for PriorityRule on the Project
> admin page, plus a standalone admin page for managing rules.
>
> The migration will add the priority column with a default of 1 
> (Normal), so
> existing patches are unaffected. New projects can define priority rules
> as needed (optional).
>
> Please let me know what you think,
>
Hello,

Wanted to follow up and check if anyone had a chance to review, or if 
more details are needed.

I’m happy to clarify any points or make updates as suggested. Any 
feedback, even a quick thumbs up or concerns, would be really appreciated.

Thanks for your time and for maintaining this project!

Regards,
Ali