Implement Automated Stale Issue Management

[camilamacedo86]

We need to automate stale issue handling in operator-controller, like in operator-sdk. This helps keep issues relevant while allowing exceptions.

The following are the default timelines used by openshift-bot in repositories like operator-framework/operator-sdk for handling stale issues.

Issue Lifecycle Process

1. Mark Stale

• Issues are marked as stale after 90 days of inactivity.
• The bot (openshift-bot) will comment on the issue notifying about the stale status.

2. Mark Rotten & Close

• If no activity occurs for 30 more days after being marked stale, the issue is labeled rotten.
• If the issue remains inactive for another 30 days after becoming rotten, it is automatically closed.

3. Keep Important Issues Open

To prevent an issue from being automatically closed, maintainers and contributors can use the following commands:

• /remove-lifecycle stale → Reset status and prevent staleness.
• /remove-lifecycle rotten → Restore an issue that has gone rotten.
• /lifecycle frozen → Keep the issue open permanently and exclude it from automatic closure.

Benefits

✅ Keeps issues clean and focused
✅ Encourages timely responses
✅ Lets maintainers keep key issues open

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References:

• https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/issues?q=is%3Aissue+state%3Aopen+label%3Alifecycle%2Fstale)
• https://github.com/openshift-bot

[camilamacedo86]

@grokspawn