CODEOWNERs behaviour

[Karan Jadaun]

Suppose you have added - src/lib/libsmlb/** @@load_balancer_cluster_approvers, then what type of files it will include? In our case it is sometimes including src/lin/libsmlbabc also and these kind of unrelated files. 

[Theodora Boudale]

Hi Karan and welcome to the community!

I would like to ask a few questions so I can better help you:

1. Are you using Bitbucket Cloud or Bitbucket Data Center? Your community question has the tag 'bitbucket-cloud', however, I don't see a Bitbucket Cloud account with your email address in our system. If you are unsure which one you use, the URL of a Bitbucket Cloud repo starts with https://bitbucket.org/ while Bitbucket Data center repos have a different, custom URL.
2. Are you using the built-in Bitbucket CODEOWNERS feature or are you using a third-party extension for CODEOWNERS?
3. Can you also please clarify what you mean by "it is sometimes including src/lin/libsmlbabc"? Does a PR have changes only in files of the directory src/lin/libsmlbabc/ and not in files of the directory src/lib/libsmlb/, and are the CODEOWNERS added to the PR in this case?

Kind regards,
Theodora

[Akriti Sagar]

Hi Karan,

In a CODEOWNERS file, the patterns are interpreted as path globs. The entry src/lib/libsmlb/** will match everything under the src/lib/libsmlb/ directory (including all nested folders and files). It should not normally match something like src/lin/libsmlbabc, since that path does not start with src/lib/libsmlb/.

If you’re seeing unrelated paths included, a couple of things to check:

• Make sure there isn’t another overlapping pattern higher up in your CODEOWNERS file that is assigning approvers to those files.

• Confirm whether your platform is using the default GitHub-style matching rules or if it has any product-specific extensions (for example, GitLab or Bitbucket Server may handle wildcards slightly differently).

• Try testing the pattern locally with git check-ignore -n <path> to see which rule is being applied.

In short: the pattern you shared should only include files directly under src/lib/libsmlb/. If other paths are being included, it’s likely due to another matching rule elsewhere in your CODEOWNERS file.