Regzbot is a bot tailored for low-overhead regression tracking in the email driven Linux kernel development process. It's actually used in the field, but still in a alpha stage: more adjustments are needed to make it better suite the its intended purpose.
Anyone can make regzbot track a regression by adding a command such as
#regzbot introduced: <commit-id> to an email sent to the Linux kernel mailing
list (LKML) or regressions@lists.linux.dev. Regzbot later notices fixes
automatically when a change points to the report using existing conventions such
as Link: or Closes: tags, which avoids extra work for developers. If those
links were forgotten, or if more details need to be recorded, the documentation
below lists other #regzbot commands.
Kernel development treats regressions with high urgency — fixing them takes priority over new features. Before automated tracking, regression reports on mailing lists could disappear in the traffic. Regzbot automates the bookkeeping: open regressions appear on a public dashboard, and periodic mail summaries list outstanding issues ahead of releases. See the kernel documentation for reporting regressions and handling regressions.
Regzbot focuses on Linux kernel regressions in mainline, the latest mainline release, and the stable series derived from it. Tracking is best-effort: regzbot helps reports stay visible and helps connect fixes to reports, but it does not guarantee every regression is tracked or fixed.
It is not intended to track ordinary bugs, monitor every bug tracker used by kernel subsystems, or produce complete regression statistics.
The public dashboards below show regression tracking in practice: start with the mainline regression list to see currently tracked issues, while this README gives background on the Linux kernel regression tracking effort. The documentation links cover reporting, fixing, installation, and development.
| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| Tracked regressions (mainline) | https://linux-regtracking.leemhuis.info/regzbot/mainline/ |
| All views (index) | https://linux-regtracking.leemhuis.info/regzbot/ |
| About the effort | README |
| Weekly reports (lore search) | lore.kernel.org |
- Getting started — report, fix, or update a tracked regression
- Reference — full
#regzbotcommand syntax - Installation — run your own instance
- Contributing — codebase layout and development
Linux had no formal regression tracking for most of its history. Rafael J. Wysocki tracked regressions for several years in the 2000s, but that effort ended in 2012.
Thorsten Leemhuis restarted the work manually in 2017. That showed the value of regression tracking, but also that manual tracking did not scale.
Development of regzbot started in 2021, and Thorsten began tracking regressions with it later that year.
Regzbot is available under the LGPL 2.1; see the file COPYING for details.
Regzbot was started by Thorsten Leemhuis as part of a project that received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871528.
Starting in May 2022, regzbot development and the Linux kernel regression tracking efforts performed by Thorsten were supported with funds from Meta for about two years. Regzbot is now part of KernelCI, where it contributes to coordinated regression tracking across the kernel ecosystem and receives funding for current development.