Guidelines on Namespace Requests

The general concept of namespaces is described in the Managing Namespaces. This page provides guidelines for handling namespace-related requests, which are submitted as issues to github.com/EclipseFdn/open-vsx.org.

Namespace ownership requests are marked with a namespace label. After processing the request, we assign either the granted or the denied label (the latter should happen very rarely).

The requesting users must have logged in to https://open-vsx.org at least once so we can find them in our database and they must have signed the Publisher Agreement.

In most cases the namespace in question has already been created by the requesting user. If the namespace does not exist yet, the administrator can create it. If unsure whether the spelling of the namespace is correct, the administrator should clarify this in the issue.

Upper and lower case is irrelevant when searching extensions and namespaces. However, the namespace will appear in the UI exactly as it has been created.

Detailed operating instructions for admins processing namespace ownership requests are included in the internal Standard Operating Principles.

All namespace requests must be submitted, with accompanying justification, as issues in github.com/EclipseFdn/open-vsx.org. This is true even for requests that come in initially as email.

The basic objective of this approval process is to ensure the legitimacy of extensions and publishers through an open and transparent process. The process aims to prevent namespace and extension squatting and misrepresentation and to ensure that if an extension exists on both the VS Code Marketplace and the Open VSX Registry, it is published by the same person or org.

Requests to rename a namespace will come in as issues to github.com/EclipseFdn/open-vsx.org. An admin submits to rename a namespace (and optionally merge it with another) through the admin panel. These requests are processed asynchronously. If there are dependencies on any of the extensions in the namspace, the rename will fail.

Requests to delete a namespace will come in as issues to github.com/EclipseFdn/open-vsx.org. Currently, there is no explicit support to delete a namespace. Once there are no extensions in the namespace, an admin can accomplish a delete by 'renaming' the namespace to an existing namespace and marking the converge option.