Description

This task is about ensuring that bots do not become automatically subscribed to discussions they start and/or comment in.

This work is intended to prevent a scenario where the Topic Subscription database becomes unhelpfully large as a result of it becoming filled with subscriptions that have not been initiated by humans as @Ladsgroup noted in T294881#7709569.

Requirements

Implement some kind of check/safeguard/constraint/etc. that prevents bots from becoming subscribed to sections they start and/or comment in. [i]

Approaches

Approach #1: Add a check on $user->isBot()
- Per the suggestion @DLynch made in T294881#7715409.

i. E.g. https://w.wiki/4qt8

Details

	Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines /-
	Don't autosubscribe flagged bots	mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools	master	9 -0

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects
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Status	Subtype	Assigned	Task
Open		None	T276497 Scale DiscussionTools to all projects
Open		None	T251207 [Epic] Scale DiscussionTools to all Wikipedias
Open		None	T233447 [OKR] Increase response rates
Resolved		ppelberg	T294882 Offer Topic Subscriptions as an opt-out feature at all projects (desktop)
Open	Feature	None	T295090 When I use MassMessage's bot to post a comment, let me auto-subscribe
Resolved		ppelberg	T294881 Revise topic subscription quota
Open		None	T290041 [Release Ticket] Offer support for automatic topic subscriptions in all editing interfaces
Resolved		DLynch	T301933 Ensure bots are not automatically subscribed to discussions they comment in and/or start

Event Timeline

ppelberg created this task.Feb 17 2022, 2:34 AM

ppelberg updated the task description. (Show Details)

ppelberg moved this task from Backlog to Existing Feature Improvements on the DiscussionTools board.

ppelberg edited projects, added Editing-team; removed Editing-team (Tracking).

ppelberg moved this task from Untriaged to Next Quarter on the Editing-team board.

Change 763560 had a related patch set uploaded (by DLynch; author: DLynch):

[mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools@master] Don't autosubscribe flagged bots

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/763560

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Feb 17 2022, 4:52 PM

DLynch claimed this task.Feb 17 2022, 4:54 PM

DLynch edited projects, added Editing-team (Kanban Board); removed Editing-team.

DLynch moved this task from Incoming to Code Review on the Editing-team (Kanban Board) board.

Esanders updated the task description. (Show Details)Feb 17 2022, 5:31 PM

ppelberg added a parent task: T294881: Revise topic subscription quota.Feb 17 2022, 5:35 PM

ppelberg removed a parent task: T294882: Offer Topic Subscriptions as an opt-out feature at all projects (desktop).

ppelberg added a parent task: T290041: [Release Ticket] Offer support for automatic topic subscriptions in all editing interfaces.Feb 17 2022, 6:24 PM

Change 763560 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools@master] Don't autosubscribe flagged bots

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/763560

ReleaseTaggerBot added a project: MW-1.38-notes (1.38.0-wmf.23; 2022-02-21).Feb 17 2022, 7:00 PM

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Feb 17 2022, 7:10 PM

QA steps: verify that auto subscriptions are working, then add yourself to the "bot" group (temporarily) and verify that they no longer do.

As expected,
Non-bot :) users are automatically subscribed:

Bots are not automatically subscribed:

EAkinloose edited projects, added Verified; removed Editing QA.Feb 21 2022, 12:26 PM

EAkinloose moved this task from QA to Ready for Sign Off on the Editing-team (Kanban Board) board.

ppelberg closed this task as Resolved.Feb 21 2022, 9:52 PM

	F34960563: Screenshot 2022-02-21 at 13.22.50.png
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	F34960551: Screenshot 2022-02-21 at 13.14.09.png
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Ensure bots are not automatically subscribed to discussions they comment in and/or startClosed, ResolvedPublicActions