At GitLab, we are proud of the strong, collaborative relationship with our community. We encourage everyone to contribute to GitLab. Over the years, those community contributions have helped strengthen the GitLab platform. But as we've grown, community participation via GitLab issues has grown, resulting in an unwieldy issue backlog.GitLab's Product and Engineering teams recently launched the Healthy Backlog Initiative to address this backlog and refine our approach to managing contributed issues going forward.Issues with ongoing community engagement, recent activity, or a clear strategic alignment will remain open. We'll be closing issues that are no longer relevant, lack community interest, or no longer fit our current product direction.This focus will lead to increased innovation, better expectation setting, and faster development and delivery cycles of community-contributed capabilities.What is the Healthy Backlog Initiative?Over time, the GitLab community has submitted tens of thousands of issues, including bugs, feature requests, and feedback items. Currently, the main GitLab issue tracker contains over 65,000 issues, some are no longer applicable to the platform and others remain relevant today.Our Healthy Backlog Initiative will cull the backlog and establish a workstream for our Product and Engineering teams to implement a more focused approach to backlog management. They will conduct weekly assessments of the backlog to ensure that we prioritize issues that align with our product strategy and roadmap.Note: If you believe a closed issue does align with GitLab’s product strategy and roadmap, or if you're actively contributing to the request, we strongly encourage you to comment on the issue with updated context and current details. We are committed to reviewing these updated issues as part of our regular assessment efforts.How does this change benefit you?This streamlined approach means direct, tangible improvements for every GitLab user:Sharper focus and faster delivery: By narrowing our backlog to strategically aligned features, we can dedicate development resources more effectively. This means you can expect shorter development cycles and more meaningful improvements to your GitLab experience.Clearer expectations: We are committed to transparent communication about what's on our roadmap and what isn't, empowering you to make informed decisions about your workflows and contributions.Accelerated feedback loops: With a clean backlog, new feedback and feature requests will be reviewed and prioritized more efficiently, reducing overall triage time and ensuring timely issues receive the necessary attention. This creates a more responsive feedback loop for everyone.This initiative does not diminish the significance of community feedback and contributions. We are taking this action to create clarity around what GitLab Team Members can realistically commit to delivering, and to ensure that all feedback receives proper consideration.Looking forwardThe GitLab Healthy Backlog Initiative reflects our commitment to being transparent and effective stewards of the GitLab platform. By clearly communicating our priorities and focusing our efforts on what we can realistically deliver over the next year, we're better positioned to meet and exceed your expectations.Your continued participation and feedback help make GitLab stronger. Every comment, merge request, bug report, and feature suggestion contributes to our shared vision. And we’re still rewarding you for that as well, with initiatives like our monthly Notable Contributor program, Swag rewards for leveling up, Hackathon winners, and more, all available through our Contributor Portal.To learn more about how to contribute to GitLab, visit our community site. To share feedback on this project, please add your comments on the feedback issue in this epic.