How do we decide to sunset/retire repos?

[matt-dray]

Would this be useful to discuss and write about for the style guide? I'm not sure we have 'rules' per se ('it depends'). Add to team standup AOB for discussion.

Was chatting about this with @Lextuga007, which prompted:

• Indicate that this repo is no longer under active development? nhp_evidence_maps#96
• Indicate that this repo is not under active development? renal_evidence_map#49

[Lextuga007]

We could do with a checklist I expect to ensure certain things are done to archive -

• update README
• notify particular groups in they've contributed to code/PRs
• look for references across GitHub organisation (usually in READMEs)

[matt-dray]

For READMEs, we could use Github-style callouts:

>[!NOTE]
>This repository is no longer actively maintained blah blah blah.

Renders as:

Note

This repository is no longer actively maintained blah blah blah.

[DCEW]

Somewhat related draft PR: https://github.com/The-Strategy-Unit/nhp_planning/pull/624

[matt-dray]

Discussed at team meeting 26 May 2026. Other related/spawned issues:

• data_science: The code repository lifecycle #452 (potential C&C)
• data_science: Deciding and advertising repo life cycle stages #453 (style guide)
• github_dashboard: https://github.com/The-Strategy-Unit/github-dashboard/issues/53