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Checks Module Overview

The checks module within the Policy Methods Library provides a collection of methods and utilities for checking compliance with various aspects of ONS' GitHub Usage Policy. This module encapsulates the business logic for performing checks against GitHub repositories, such as checking for the presence of a CODEOWNERS file, serving as the backbone of the package.

Documentation on each component within the checks module can be found in the relevant documentation files within the docs/checks directory.

Checks Module Contents

  • naming_convention.py: Contains methods for checking that repository names adhere to ONS' naming conventions.
  • inactivity.py: Contains methods for checking the inactivity of repositories (i.e. not updated in the last year).

Importing the Checks Module

In Python, you can import the checks module as follows:

from policy_methods_library.checks.<submodule> import <component>

For example, to import the method for checking repository naming conventions:

from policy_methods_library.checks.naming_convention import check_naming_convention

Check Structure

All checks within the checks module follow a consistent structure. This includes:

  • A primary, public function that serves as the entry point for the check. This function will always be named check_<check_name>, where <check_name> is a descriptive name for the check being performed.
  • Each check will allow either:
  • A GitHub Client instance to be passed in alongside any necessary parameters for the check. This allows the check to make API calls as needed to perform its function.
  • Or, a data object containing all necessary information for the check to be performed without making any API calls. This allows tools using the package to save performance if the data needed for the check has already been retrieved via previous API calls.

  • Checks will return a standardised result object containing the outcome of the check:

    {
    "result": "pass" | "fail" | "error",
    "message": "A descriptive message providing details about the check result.",
    "details": {
        // Any additional details relevant to the check result, such as specific findings or data points.
    }
}

    It is then up to the calling code to determine how to handle the result of the check, for example by logging the result, raising an exception, or taking some other action based on the outcome.

For further details on checks, including specific checks implemented and how to use them, please refer to the individual documentation files for each check within the docs/checks directory.

A guide is also available for developers on how to create new checks, which can be found in the docs/dev_guides directory.