starred/netbox
1
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git synced 2026-01-11 21:10:29 +01:00
Code Issues 273 Packages Projects Releases 10 Wiki Activity

Option to make new "Changelog message" field mandatory #11656

New Issue
Closed
opened 2025-12-29 21:48:11 +01:00 by adam · 2 comments
adam commented 2025-12-29 21:48:11 +01:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @RevLaw on GitHub (Sep 29, 2025).

NetBox version

v4.4.1

Feature type

Change to existing functionality

Proposed functionality

Hi NetBox team,

we would like to request an option to make the Changelog message field mandatory.
This would ensure that whenever a user makes a change in NetBox, they are required to provide a comment describing the modification.

This feature would help enforce better documentation and accountability for changes within the system, especially in collaborative environments.

Thank you for your amazing work on NetBox!

Use case

  • Enforces proper documentation for all changes, making it easier to understand the context of modifications.
  • Increases accountability by ensuring that users explicitly state the reason behind updates.
  • Improves collaboration across teams by providing consistent records and reducing ambiguity about why a change happened.
  • Makes auditing and troubleshooting easier, since the history of changes will always include human-readable explanations.

Database changes

No response

External dependencies

No response

Originally created by @RevLaw on GitHub (Sep 29, 2025). ### NetBox version v4.4.1 ### Feature type Change to existing functionality ### Proposed functionality Hi NetBox team, we would like to request an option to make the Changelog message field mandatory. This would ensure that whenever a user makes a change in NetBox, they are required to provide a comment describing the modification. This feature would help enforce better documentation and accountability for changes within the system, especially in collaborative environments. Thank you for your amazing work on NetBox! ### Use case - Enforces proper documentation for all changes, making it easier to understand the context of modifications. - Increases accountability by ensuring that users explicitly state the reason behind updates. - Improves collaboration across teams by providing consistent records and reducing ambiguity about why a change happened. - Makes auditing and troubleshooting easier, since the history of changes will always include human-readable explanations. ### Database changes _No response_ ### External dependencies _No response_
adam added the type: feature label 2025-12-29 21:48:11 +01:00
adam closed this issue 2025-12-29 21:48:12 +01:00
adam commented 2025-12-29 21:48:13 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 29, 2025):

Implementation concerns aside, I have a less optimistic expectation. Making the changelog message field mandatory will most likely result in a bunch of poor quality change messages, as users will quickly tire of crafting meaningful messages, especially for trivial changes. (We see this all the time with git commit messages, for instance.)

From a practical perspective, I would suggest leaving it optional and instead implementing some form of audit where you can review all changes which don't have a message set, and make a determination based on the changes made in each whether a message was warranted. For example, changing the status of a site might warrant a message, but correcting a typo in its description probably doesn't.

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Sep 29, 2025): Implementation concerns aside, I have a less optimistic expectation. Making the changelog message field mandatory will most likely result in a bunch of poor quality change messages, as users will quickly tire of crafting meaningful messages, especially for trivial changes. (We see this all the time with git commit messages, for instance.) From a practical perspective, I would suggest leaving it optional and instead implementing some form of audit where you can review all changes which don't have a message set, and make a determination based on the changes made in each whether a message was warranted. For example, changing the status of a site might warrant a message, but correcting a typo in its description probably doesn't.
adam commented 2025-12-29 21:48:13 +01:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@jnovinger commented on GitHub (Oct 2, 2025):

We're going to pass on this. As Jeremy noted, making fields mandatory typically results in low-quality data as users work around the requirement rather than providing meaningful input.

@jnovinger commented on GitHub (Oct 2, 2025): We're going to pass on this. As Jeremy noted, making fields mandatory typically results in low-quality data as users work around the requirement rather than providing meaningful input.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
beta
breaking change
complexity: high
complexity: low
complexity: medium
needs milestone
netbox
pending closure
plugin candidate
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 severity: high
severity: low
severity: medium
status: accepted
status: backlog
status: blocked
status: duplicate
status: needs owner
status: needs triage
status: revisions needed
status: under review
topic: GraphQL
topic: Internationalization
topic: OpenAPI
topic: UI/UX
topic: cabling
topic: event rules
topic: htmx navigation
topic: industrialization
topic: migrations
topic: plugins
topic: scripts
topic: templating
topic: testing
type: bug
type: deprecation
type: documentation
type: feature
type: housekeeping
type: translation
No Label type: feature
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
adam
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: starred/netbox#11656
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?