[Policy Change] Detailed Standards for REP-2026-04 (Lyrical Enforcement)
All pull requests must now pass rhyme-lint for meter and rhyme, or fail with a 403 error.
The ROS 2 Project Management Committee (PMC) has finalized and automated the poetic standards for its upcoming Lyrical Luth release, set for May 2026. In a detailed policy announcement, the committee stated that effective immediately, all pull requests targeting the rolling or lyrical development branches must pass new automated 'poetic audits.' The primary enforcement tool is 'rhyme-lint,' a mandatory CI check that will fail any build with a 403: UNPOETIC_CONTRIBUTION error if commit messages lack proper meter or rhyme. The policy specifies accepted verse forms for different types of changes: Heroic Couplets for security fixes, Iambic Pentameter for new features, and Middleware Haikus for RMW (ROS Middleware) updates.
Beyond commit messages, the new 'README.shanty' standard requires all new packages added to the core to include documentation written as a memorizable sea shanty, complete with suggested tunes like 'The Wellerman.' To aid developers in this significant workflow shift, the PMC has released a curated 'Technical Rhymes' dictionary pairing ROS terms like 'node,' 'DDS,' and 'pointer' with approved rhyming words. Compliance support will be offered through dedicated 'ROS-ffice Hours' sessions for 'bardic troubleshooting.' The announcement, posted on April 1st, 2026, and accompanied by a lyrical version of the policy itself, represents a bold move to unify the robotics software ecosystem through structured verse, though it has already caused issues for users employing AI coding agents.
- All PRs must pass the new 'rhyme-lint' CI check, which fails builds (403 error) for unpoetic commit messages using forms like Heroic Couplets or Haikus.
- New packages require a 'README.shanty' file—documentation written as a singable sea shanty to aid memorization during deployments.
- The PMC provided a 'Technical Rhymes' dictionary (e.g., 'node' rhymes with 'code, mode, load') and will host 'ROS-ffice Hours' for bardic troubleshooting.
Why It Matters
This satirical policy highlights the growing complexity and automation in developer tooling, pushing the boundaries of CI/CD and project culture norms.