Apache Monthly Meetings

• 1: November 25, 2025
• 2: October 28, 2025
• 3: September 30, 2025
• 4: August 28, 2025
• 5: July 30, 2025
• 6: June 30, 2025

1 - November 25, 2025

Texera Apache Incubation – Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date: November 25, 2025
Participants:

• Texera PPMC: Chen Li, Ali Risheh, Xiaozhen Liu, Meng Wang, Jiadong Bai, Chris Park
• Guests: Xuan Gu, Andy, Ryan Yiran Zhang

1. Apache Release Preparation

Current Status

• Repositories: Apache repositories have been created and nightly images are available.
• Distribution Directories: Directories on dist.apache.org have been created at dev/incubator/texera/ and release/incubator/texera/.

Release Candidate TODOs

• Before Staging:
  • Merge a few ongoing PRs.
  • Decide whether to include the rpy2 package.
  • Ensure the Release Manager’s GPG key is signed by other Apache committers.
• After Staging:
  • PMC members must test and vote for the release candidates.
• Post-Approval:
  • Move artifacts from the dev directory to the release directory.
  • Update the project download page and send an announcement email.

2. Technical Updates

Infrastructure and Dependencies

• Switch to Apache Pekko:
  • The project is replacing Akka with Apache Pekko (Issue #4009, #3237).
  • Reasoning: Akka utilizes a non-FOSS Business Software License, preventing the uptake of bug and security fixes; Pekko is Apache-licensed.
• CI/CD Improvements:
  • GitHub Actions have been added to Docker images (Issue #4055) to support automatic pushing.
• Big Object Support:
  • Implementation of “Supporting Big Objects” (Issue #4067) is underway.
  • The architecture involves Workflow Service Instances, Computing Units, and integration with MinIO and Iceberg for storage and lifecycle management.

Security

• Policy Documentation: A SECURITY.md file has been added to the repository outlining the security policy.
• Security Model Overview:
  1. Authentication: JWT-based token authentication with configurable expiration.
  2. Authorization: Role-based access control (RBAC) with four user roles.
  3. Resource Access Control: Fine-grained privileges for datasets, workflows, and computing units.
  4. Deployment Isolation: Separate security considerations for different deployment modes.

3. Community and Website

• Website Launch: The official site texera.apache.org is now up.
• New Contributors (Nov 2025):
  • Andy Zhang
  • Xuan Gu
  • Jae Yun Kim
  • GitHub developer “LJX2017”

4. Next Steps

The team will focus on the following items moving forward:

• Improving the Apache website.
• Supporting control blocks.
• Enabling operator caching.
• Supporting customizable interfaces on top of workflows.
• Implementing Python virtual environments.
• Running User Defined Functions (UDFs) in a separate container.

2 - October 28, 2025

Apache Texera (Incubating) Sync Meeting Summary

Date: October 28, 2025

Attendees

• Texera PPMC: Chen Li, Jiadong Bai, Yunyan Ding, Ali Risheh, Chris Park, Xiaozhen Liu, Yicong Huang
• Texera Mentors: Ian Maxon
• Guests: David Yoon, Ryan Zhang, Carlos Berumen, Andy, Roger, Qizhi Tian, Meng Wang

Agenda

1. Major development progress
2. October 2025 contributors
3. Plan for the next month

1. Major Development Progress

Key progress was made across community tools, codebase organization, and new features.

Community & Repository Management

• Codebase Reorganization: The package naming has been updated from edu.uci.ics to org.apache.texera to reflect its Apache status.
• GitHub Discussions: The team has started using the “Discussions on GitHub” feature to improve communication.
• Wiki Migration: Old Wiki pages are being migrated to GitHub Discussions to consolidate information.
• PR & Issue Templates: New templates have been implemented to improve the quality and consistency of pull requests and issue reports.

First Release Preparation

• Distribution Directories: The necessary directories on dist.apache.org for both development and release have been created.
• Docker Hub: The team is working with the ASF to set up an apache/texera registry on Docker Hub.

New Features & Improvements

• Admin Dashboard: The admin dashboard now shows active users.
• New Operator: A strip chart visualization operator has been added.
• Workflow Execution: The UI now displays the worker number for each operator during workflow execution, providing better insight into parallelism.

2. October 2025 Contributors

Thank you to all the contributors this month (excluding Committers and PPMC members):

• Xuan Gu
• Jae Yun Kim
• Andy Zhang
• Grace Chia
• Madison Lin
• “LJX2017” (GitHub developer)

3. Ongoing Tasks (Plan for Next Month)

• Set up the official texera.apache.org website.
• Prepare for the 6-month ASF review.
• Continue with system improvements, including:
  • Replacing Ingress and Envoy with Kong or Contour gateways.
  • Developing an access control service.
  • Working on the AI agent.
  • Migrating scripts.

3 - September 30, 2025

Texera Apache Incubation – Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date: September 30, 2025
Participants:

• PPMC: Yicong Huang, Xinyuan Lin, Chris Park, Jiadong Bai, Xiaozhen Liu, Yunyan Ding, Zuozhi Wang
• Mentors: Ian Maxon, Gordon K
• Guests: Qizhi Tian, Xuan Gu, Madison Lin, Ryan Zhang

1. Recent Accomplishments

Core System Enhancements

• Machine Learning Integration: Added new ML training operators for both linear and logistic regression.
• Data Visualization: A new choropleth map operator has been added for geographical data visualization.
• Architecture: The AccessControlService has been implemented as a new microservice to improve security and modularity. A diagram of the new cluster architecture is available.
• User Authentication: The user activity window has been separated from the JWT expiration to provide more flexible session management.
• Admin Settings: Added new configuration guidance in the admin settings for file upload parameters, including file size, concurrent parts, and part size.

Community and Outreach

• Official Website: Work is in progress with mentors to set up the official Apache website at https://texera.apache.org/.
• YouTube Channels: Two new YouTube channels have been launched to support the community:
  • Texera Project General
  • Texera Project Tutorials

2. September 2025 Active Contributors

This month, we’d like to recognize the following active contributors (excluding Committers and PPMC members):

• Xuan Gu
• Jae Yun Kim
• Andy Zhang
• Victor Fawole

3. v1.1.0-incubating Release Plan

A major ongoing effort is the upcoming v1.1.0-incubating release, which is planned for the next few weeks. The last major release was v1.0.0 on April 7, 2025.

Release TODO List

• 1. Namespace Preparation
  • Create dev and release namespaces on dist.apache.org.
  • Create the apache/texera repository on Docker Hub.
• 2. Artifacts Preparation
  • The release will include a source code tarball, a docker-compose tarball, and 9 docker images.
  • Each artifact will be accompanied by a signature and checksum.
• 3. Voting Procedure
  • The formal voting process will be initiated on the dev@texera.apache.org mailing list.
• 4. Wrap-up
  • Upon a successful vote, artifacts will be moved to the release namespace.
  • Docker images will be built and pushed to Docker Hub.
  • The release will be formally announced to the community.

For any questions regarding the release, please contact Jiadong Bai.

4 - August 28, 2025

Texera Apache Incubation – Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date: August 28, 2025 Chair: Chen Li Participants: Chen Li, Anzhi Zhang, Seongjin Yoon, Yichen Ren, Ali Risheh, Yicong Huang, Matthew Ball, Sarah Asad, Ryan Zhang, Dhriti Soni, Jae Yun Kim, Madison Liu

1. Apache Incubation Status Overview

• Incubation Start Date: April 12, 2025
• Mentors Assigned: 4
• PPMC Members: 13
• Committers: 13 (same as PPMC)
• External Contributors: 100+
• Website: https://texera.io
• Tutorial Videos are being developed to onboard new users.

2. Recent Accomplishments

Core System Enhancements

• Cloud Deployment: Investigated the use of AWS ECS for a more cost-effective deployment of Texera.
• Data Access Control: Added a new option allowing data owners to grant download access to public datasets, a key feature in preparation for NIH use cases.
• User Experience (UI/UX):
  • The admin dashboard now includes a feature to monitor user activeness.
  • File uploads now display the real-time upload speed and estimated time remaining.
  • A new dashboard tab has been added for managing computing units.
• Documentation: All project design decisions are now being documented in the issues tab on GitHub for transparency and tracking.

Community and Development

• Repository Migration: The Texera repository was officially transferred to the Apache GitHub organization on August 6, 2025.
• Monthly Sync: The project’s monthly sync meeting was successfully conducted with PPMC members, committers, and contributors.

4. Incubation Graduation Action Items

Software Grant Agreement (SGA) & Code Donation

• Status: ✅ Completed
• Details: The SGA process is complete, and the repository has been officially transferred to the Apache organization.

Apache Website & Documentation

• Status: ⚙️ In Progress
• Details: The primary remaining task is setting up the official Apache Texera webpage (http://texera.apache.org/). Work continues on consolidating user guides, developer setup instructions, and governance policies. We are analyzing the documentation structures of successful projects like Apache Flink and Spark to ensure an optimal user experience.

Reporting Schedule

• Next Monthly Report Due: September 6, 2025
• First Quarterly Report Due: November 2025

5 - July 30, 2025

Texera Apache Incubation – Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date: July 30, 2025
Chair: Chen Li
Participants: Chen Li, Anzhi Zhang, Seongjin Yoon, Yichen Ren, Ali Risheh, Yicong Huang, Yunyan Ding, Meng Wang, Matthew Ball, Sarah Asad, Xinyuan Lin, Ryan Zhang, Dhriti Soni, Jae Yun Kim

1. Apache Incubation Status Overview

• Incubation Start Date: April 12, 2025
• Mentors Assigned: 4
• PPMC Members: 13
• Committers: 13 (same as PPMC)
• External Contributors: 100+
• System Architecture: Cloud Infrastructure
• Project Logo: New logo based on a peacock motif
• Website: https://texera.io
• Tutorial Videos are being developed to onboard new users.
• Use Cases from the Medical Domain, including NIH and ADA data pipelines, are being documented and integrated.

2. Recent Accomplishments

Core System Enhancements

• Cloud Deployment: Successfully deployed Texera on AWS EKS, demonstrating scalability for over 20 concurrent students.
• Collaborative Features: Implemented shared write access for computing units among different users.
• Machine Learning Integration: Added new operators for scikit-learn model training.
• User Experience (UI/UX):
  • Enabled dynamic workflow configuration directly from the user interface.
  • Improved UI for displaying operator and port-level metrics.
  • Enhanced performance for retrieving resources from the Texera Hub.
• System Configuration: Introduced a new configuration parameter, max-concurrent-regions, to manage resource allocation.

Community and Outreach

• Data Science for All (DS4ALL): Utilized hub.texera.io to teach data science and AI/ML concepts to 34 students from high schools and community colleges.
• Middle School Program: Taught a data science workshop to 32 middle school students on July 21, 2025.
• Biology Summer Camp: Hosted an online summer camp on data science for biology, targeting undergraduate and graduate students with limited coding backgrounds.
• Academic Deployment: The platform is now officially deployed and in use at the UCI Department of Ophthalmology.

3. Project Roles and Responsibilities

The Texera project follows the standard Apache meritocracy model. The table below outlines the key roles, their permissions, and the process for joining.

4. Incubation Graduation Action Items

Software Grant Agreement (SGA)

• Status: In Progress
• Details: The copyright release form has been signed by the UCI Licensing Office and Chen Li. We are currently awaiting feedback from the Apache Foundation.

Documentation

• Status: In Progress
• Details: Work is underway to consolidate user guides, developer setup instructions, and governance policies into an Apache-compliant format. We are analyzing the documentation structures of projects like Apache Flink and Spark to ensure an optimal user experience. We are also exploring solutions for community-contributed documentation for public datasets.

Reporting Schedule

• Next Monthly Report Due: August 6, 2025
• First Quarterly Report Due: November 2025

6 - June 30, 2025

Texera Apache Incubation – Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date: June 30, 2025
Chair: Yicong Huang
Participants: Jiadong Bai, Yunyan Ding, Yicong Huang, Chen Li, Xinyuan Lin, Shengquan Ni, Cezar Cristian Andrei, Ian Maxon, Zuozhi Wang

1. Apache Incubation Status Overview

• Incubation Start Date: April 12, 2025
• Mentors Assigned: 4
• PPMC Members: 13
• Committers: 13 (same as PPMC)
• External Contributors: 100+
• System Architecture: Cloud Infrastructure
• Project Logo: New logo based on a peacock motif
• Website: https://texera.io
• Tutorial Videos are being developed to onboard new users.
• Use Cases from the Medical Domain, including NIH and ADA data pipelines, are being documented and integrated.

2. Incubation Graduation Requirements and Status

TODO 1: Software Grant Agreement (SGA)

• Status: UCI License office approved releasing the copyright of Texera to PPMC.
• Chen is finishing up some paperwork; he has requested modifications to the terms and is awaiting a response.
• Once resolved, the Apache SGA can be submitted quickly.

TODO 2: Codebase Cleanup

• Leads: Xinyuan Lin & Yicong Huang
• Progress:
  • Several major cleanups completed.
  • Two remaining issues:
    1. Pekko Migration: PJ suggests moving from Akka to Pekko; PPMC agrees. Will vote on emailing list.
    2. License Issue with Stack Overflow Code:
       • Current snippet is under Stack Overflow license, which is not Apache-compatible.
       • Proposed solution:
         • Create a GitHub issue referencing the snippet and document its origin.
         • Rewrite the logic to ensure compliance. Cezar’s Comment: Rewriting after understanding is acceptable and preferred.

TODO 3: Donate Codebase to Apache GitHub

• Action Item: Prepare the current codebase and initiate the transfer process.

TODO 4: Apache Website Setup

• Discussion on Website Hosting Strategy:
  • Options:
    1. Transfer texera.io domain to texera.apache.org
    2. Redirect texera.apache.org to texera.io (feasibility under discussion)
    3. [recommended] Maintain both domains separately for different purposes:
       • texera.apache.org: Code, documentation, and incubator artifacts
       • texera.io: Academic materials, publications, and grant-related content
  • Example Cited: AsterixDB has separate Apache and academic websites.
  • Cezar’s Recommendation: Ensure anything not officially under Apache IP is hosted outside apache.org.

TODO 5: Documentation

• Ongoing: Need to consolidate user guides, developer setup, and governance policies in Apache-compliant format.

TODO 6: Community Growth Initiatives

• Academic Collaborations:
  • University of Michigan, NIH, UCLA, Cornell
• Public Access Promotion:
  • Make hub.texera.io public
  • Make texera.dknet-ai.org public
• Community Programs:
  • Integration with DS4ALL summer program for data science education using Texera

4. Committer and PPMC Onboarding

Apache Roles Clarified

• Contributor: External code and documentation submissions
• Committer: Direct write access to the codebase
• PPMC Member: Governance, release voting, project direction
• Mentor: Oversight, compliance, and community best practices

New PPMC Member Proposal

• Zuozhi has been proposed (and welcomed back) as a new PPMC member. The official voting will start on the emailing list.

5. Official Communication Channels

• private@texera.apache.org – PPMC coordination, sensitive topics, voting
• dev@texera.apache.org – Technical discussions, code reviews, general development
• general@texera.apache.org – User Q&A, public community discussion

6. Reporting Schedule

• Next Monthly Report Due: July 2, 2025
  Next sync meeting will be at end of July, to sync and discuss about August report.
• Quarterly Reporting Starts: November 2025

Prepared by: Jiadong Bai and Yicong Huang
On behalf of the Texera PPMC