# The Block and Tackle of Django's Code of Conduct Working Group

DevFeed: [The Block and Tackle of Django's Code of Conduct Working Group](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-block-and-tackle-of-django-s-code-of-conduct-working-group-3550.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2026/aug/24/coc-block-tackle/>)

Author: Dan Ryan, Code of Conduct WG Chair

Published: 2026-08-24T14:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [The Django weblog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-django-weblog.md>)

Topics: [Django](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/django.md>), [Pull Request](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pull-request.md>), [Template](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/template.md>)

Tags: [availability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/availability.md>), [community](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/community.md>), [diversity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/diversity.md>), [django](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/django.md>), [framework](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/framework.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [python](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python.md>)

## AI overview

Django's Code of Conduct Working Group explains the governance and technical process behind adopting Contributor Covenant 3.0, including membership, board oversight, escalation paths, decision-making, and structured proposals for future changes.

## Source excerpt

In early 2026, Django's Code of Conduct Working Group adopted Contributor Covenant 3.0 as Django's Code of Conduct. I talked about why at DjangoCon US 2026 (slides here). That talk was mostly the story of how we managed the people side of the process. This post is the technical mechanics of how we managed the change and our work going forward. Who can change what, and who has to sign off The Code of Conduct Working Group is established by the DSF board and kept deliberately small. At least three people, per the working group manual, recruited for diversity of geography, background, and lived experience rather than just availability. Membership is volunteer and term-limited. Terms became annual in February 2026, and if a member doesn't respond to the January renewal check-in within a week, they're rolled off. Nobody has to feel guilty about stepping back. The board isn't a separate, distant approval layer sitting above the working group. The DSF board's president always holds a seat on the working group and acts as its board liaison. Other board members can volunteer alongside them, and two currently do, in addition to the chair. Day to day, the working group operates independently. It only has to go back to the board for three things: spending money, taking a drastic punitive action, or altering the Code of Conduct text itself. There's a second working group in the mix too. The Online Community Working Group handles routine moderation of Django's day-to-day spaces. It doesn't touch the Code of Conduct Working Group at all until something gets escalated: a formal report, a violation spanning multiple spaces, or an issue neither group can resolve alone. Each group appoints one of its own members as liaison to the other. If the two groups can't reach consensus on something that needs joint handling, either chair can send it to the board. Inside the working group itself, decisions are made by consensus first. If that doesn't happen, a two-thirds majority of members with