Add backport email template by steveisok · Pull Request #124085 · dotnet/runtime

steveisok · 2026-02-06T12:57:59Z

This adds a template for emailing Tactics to request approval for backports to release branches.

The template includes standard sections:

Customer Impact - with checkboxes for "Customer reported" / "Found internally"
Regression - with checkboxes for Yes/No and space for details
Testing - how the fix was verified
Risk - High/Medium/Low with justification

This complements the existing PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/servicing_pull_request_template.md which is used for the PR itself, while this template is for the email approval request step.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds a standardized template for requesting backports to release branches, providing a structured format that aligns with the existing servicing PR workflow and .NET Tactics approval process.

Changes:

Adds .github/BACKPORT_TEMPLATE.md with sections for Customer Impact, Regression, Testing, and Risk assessment to standardize backport requests

Copilot · 2026-02-06T13:00:55Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+
+---
+
+**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <Brief description> (#<PR number>)


Inconsistent placeholder format: Line 7 uses <PR number> (lowercase with space) while line 13 uses <PR_NUMBER> (uppercase with underscore). Consider standardizing to use the same format throughout, preferably uppercase with underscores for consistency with <PR_NUMBER> and <ISSUE_NUMBER>.

Suggested change

**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <Brief description> (#<PR number>)

**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION> (#<PR_NUMBER>)

jkotas · 2026-02-06T13:02:38Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+
+---
+
+Hello Tactics,


This does not belong into the PR description

Do you sleep ;-)?

I changed it to compliment the existing template. Will help with email generation.

I understand you want this in the email, but I do not think we want this in the commit history.

ok, I'm sure there will be another way to have templates outside the repo to achieve the same result.

I have missed that this is meant to be an email template only. The filename made it look like one of the those templates that are picked up by github workflows automatically.

It is fine to have the automation for this checked in. Should it be under skills directory?

I don't think it needs a skill. I think it's similar to the other templates and it can just find it accordingly. Allows you to say something like "I want to create an email to tactics for PR ".

I'll open this back up shortly.

Adds a template for emailing Tactics to request approval for backports to release branches, with standard sections for Customer Impact, Regression, Testing, and Risk.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Copilot · 2026-02-06T13:15:17Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+
+---
+
+**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <Brief description> (#<PR number>)


Inconsistent placeholder formatting in the subject line. The template uses both lowercase <Brief description> and <PR number> here, while using uppercase <PR_NUMBER> and <ISSUE_NUMBER> elsewhere in the template (lines 15, 24). Consider using consistent formatting throughout - either all uppercase (e.g., <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION> and <PR_NUMBER>) or all lowercase with underscores for multi-word placeholders.

Suggested change

**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <Brief description> (#<PR number>)

**Subject:** [release/X.0] Backport request: <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION> (#<PR_NUMBER>)

Copilot · 2026-02-06T13:15:18Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+
+Use this template when emailing Tactics to request approval for a backport to a release branch.
+
+> **Note:** Most email clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) don't render Markdown. Copy the template below and the section headers will display as bold text. If your email client supports rich text, you can manually increase the header font size.


The note states "the section headers will display as bold text" but this is misleading. When copying markdown text with **TEXT** into a plain text email, the asterisks will be visible as literal characters (e.g., **CUSTOMER IMPACT**), not rendered as bold. Consider clarifying this note to say something like "the section headers use **bold** markdown syntax which, while not rendered in plain text emails, provides visual emphasis through the asterisks" or remove the claim about bold text display.

Suggested change

> **Note:** Most email clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) don't render Markdown. Copy the template below and the section headers will display as bold text. If your email client supports rich text, you can manually increase the header font size.

> **Note:** Most email clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) don't render Markdown. Copy the template below: the section headers use `**bold**` Markdown syntax which, in plain-text emails, appears with asterisks for visual emphasis. If your email client supports rich text, you can manually format the headers (for example, by increasing the font size or applying bold).

Copilot · 2026-02-06T13:15:18Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+- [ ] Customer reported
+- [ ] Found internally


The checkbox syntax - [ ] is GitHub Flavored Markdown that won't render as checkboxes in email clients. When copied to email, these will appear as plain text like - [ ] Customer reported. Consider whether this is the intended format for an email template, or if a simpler format like ☐ Customer reported or just removing the brackets entirely would be more appropriate for email use.

jkotas · 2026-02-06T13:56:26Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Backport Email Template
+
+Use this template when emailing Tactics to request approval for a backport to a release branch.


This may want to explicitly say to include a verbatim text from the PR description in the email. I do not think we want the PR description and the description in the email to be different.

The intended flow I had in mind is definitely that way. The backport PR is the basis for any email we send out.

I'll see if we can enforce (or nudge) that flow through the template.

Per feedback, the email content should come directly from the backport PR description to ensure consistency. Updated template to: - Explicitly instruct users to copy sections from their PR - Add DESCRIPTION and main PR sections to match servicing template - Standardize placeholder format to UPPERCASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES

steveisok · 2026-02-06T20:26:05Z

@jkotas it should now work like this:

Generate a backport email from https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/pull/124058

If it ends up inconsistent, we can add a skill to better direct it. I doubt that will be necessary since our usage is straightforward.

jkotas · 2026-02-06T22:06:14Z

Generate a backport email from #124058

This did not work for me. It generated an email that was ~95% right.

I had to point it to the template explicitly like Generate a backport email from https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/pull/124058 using template at .github\BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md to actually use this template. It generated the text, but it did not open it in outlook.

Generate a backport email from #124058 using template at .github\BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md and open it outlook` made it to open it in outlook as ASCII text (without nice formatting). The Powershell script that it executed to open the email in outlook caused my outlook to hang and I had to restart.

jkotas · 2026-02-06T22:10:44Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# Backport Email Template


How much does the file name matter for copilot? Can the file be in a subdirectory and have a name that does not look like a special name recognized by github? (For example, the existing PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE is a special directory name that github knowns about.)

jkotas · 2026-02-06T22:13:23Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+
+main PR: <MAIN_PR_LINK>
+
+<!-- Copy the following sections verbatim from your backport PR description -->


Can this just say "Copy the PR description verbatim" and drop the rest that is duplicating the PR template content?

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Copilot · 2026-02-07T03:30:49Z

.github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md

+**RISK**
+
+<Copy from PR: Risk section>


PR description says the email template includes a Risk High/Medium/Low selection with justification, but the template only has a free-form <Copy from PR: Risk section> placeholder and no standard options. Consider adding the Risk level options (e.g., checkboxes or an explicit Risk: High|Medium|Low line) so the template matches the intended standardized format.

Copilot · 2026-02-07T03:30:50Z

.github/skills/backport-email/SKILL.md

+Output the email as **plain text** (not markdown) since email clients don't render markdown.
+
+```
+Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <TITLE> (#<PR_NUMBER>)


The sample subject line here uses Subject: ... <TITLE> while .github/BACKPORT_EMAIL_TEMPLATE.md uses **Subject:** ... <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION>. Align the placeholder naming/format between the skill output example and the template to reduce ambiguity about what should be inserted (full PR title vs brief description).

Suggested change

Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <TITLE> (#<PR_NUMBER>)

Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION> (#<PR_NUMBER>)

Copilot · 2026-02-07T03:30:50Z

.github/skills/backport-email/SKILL.md

+2. **Extract from the PR description:**
+   - Link to the original main PR
+   - Link to the issue being fixed
+   - DESCRIPTION section
+   - CUSTOMER IMPACT section (including checkboxes)
+   - REGRESSION section (including checkboxes)
+   - TESTING section
+   - RISK section


This skill says the PR description contains checkbox blocks for Customer Impact/Regression and instructs to preserve - [ ] / - [x], but the existing servicing PR template (.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/servicing_pull_request_template.md) only has section headings and HTML comments (no checkboxes). Either adjust this skill/template to not assume checkboxes exist, or update the servicing PR template in the same PR so the flow is consistent.

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 6, 2026 12:58

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dotnet-policy-service bot assigned steveisok Feb 6, 2026

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Add backport email template

1a4401e

Adds a template for emailing Tactics to request approval for backports to release branches, with standard sections for Customer Impact, Regression, Testing, and Risk.

steveisok force-pushed the add-backport-template branch from c3a25ac to 1a4401e Compare February 6, 2026 13:04

steveisok changed the title ~~Add backport request template~~ Add backport email template Feb 6, 2026

Improve email template formatting for email clients

91712b3

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 6, 2026 13:12

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steveisok closed this Feb 6, 2026

steveisok deleted the add-backport-template branch February 6, 2026 13:15

jkotas reviewed Feb 6, 2026

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steveisok restored the add-backport-template branch February 6, 2026 15:52

steveisok reopened this Feb 6, 2026

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Add backport-email skill

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Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 7, 2026 03:27

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		---

		Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <Brief description> (#<PR number>)


		Use this template when emailing Tactics to request approval for a backport to a release branch.

		> Note: Most email clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) don't render Markdown. Copy the template below and the section headers will display as bold text. If your email client supports rich text, you can manually increase the header font size.

		@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
		# Backport Email Template

		Use this template when emailing Tactics to request approval for a backport to a release branch.


		main PR: <MAIN_PR_LINK>

		<!-- Copy the following sections verbatim from your backport PR description -->

	Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <TITLE> (#<PR_NUMBER>)
	Subject: [release/X.0] Backport request: <BRIEF_DESCRIPTION> (#<PR_NUMBER>)

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steveisok commented Feb 6, 2026 •

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