ROS 2's Waffle meeting offers a no-prep weekly on-ramp for contributors

Waffle is ROS 2's weekly triage meeting, held Thursdays for exactly 30 minutes over Google Meet. The format is simple: the group works through the queue of unclaimed issues and pull requests across ROS 2 repositories, giving each item a minute or two of discussion. Maintainers decide what's valid, who should look at it, and assign work live during the meeting. This fast-moving process lets attendees see real decision-making in action—far more instructive than reading documentation.

The meeting is designed as a low-barrier entry point for contributors. No preparation is needed: just show up and observe. There's no ongoing commitment—come once, come whenever, leave early if needed. You don't need to be a committer; anyone is welcome. It's particularly valuable if you already know one part of the stack, since a quick glance at an incoming PR and a comment like "this looks fine" or "this will break X" is exactly the kind of help maintainers need. However, Waffle isn't the place to bring your own issue or PR—use Discourse or Zulip for that. The name comes from the defunct waffle.io kanban board, and the current board, generated by Baffle Maker (built by @andrew_symington), is a Bazel-based tool that keeps the meeting running smoothly.