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Configuration documentation standards

istio/istio
Based on 3 comments
Yaml

Ensure all user-configurable options are properly documented and discoverable, while keeping configuration files clean and focused. Configuration files serve as APIs that users rely on to understand available options.

Configurations Yaml

Reviewer Prompt

Ensure all user-configurable options are properly documented and discoverable, while keeping configuration files clean and focused. Configuration files serve as APIs that users rely on to understand available options.

Key principles:

  1. Document all settable values: If a configuration can be set at the chart level, it must be defined in values.yaml with clear documentation
  2. Minimize noise: Only include required and non-default values to reduce confusion about what is actually needed
  3. Distinguish internal vs user-facing: Add comments to clarify when configuration options are for internal usage only
  4. Provide clear descriptions: Use descriptive comments that explain the purpose and expected values

Example from Helm values:

# values.yaml
global:
  # Labels to apply to all resources
  # Set this if you need custom labels on all chart resources
  customLabels: {}
  
  # Internal usage only - controls API version selection
  # Users should not modify this directly
  autoscalingv2API: true

# Avoid unnecessary defaults like:
# test_pod:
#   enabled: false  # Don't include if not needed
#   image: bats/bats:v1.1.0  # Don't include if disabled

This ensures users can easily discover configuration options while maintaining clean, focused configuration files that don’t overwhelm with unnecessary details.

3
Comments Analyzed
Yaml
Primary Language
Configurations
Category

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