b4[1] is a convenient tool for mail-based contribution. A config file[2]
tracked in the tree lets the project ship a few defaults that match the Xen
patch submission rules.

This aims to help new contributors who have never used a mailing list avoid
mistakes when sending their patch series.

The tree has no scripts/checkpatch.pl or equivalent, so there is nothing
for b4 to run per patch. Disable the needs-checking pre-flight check so a
series can be sent without first running b4 prep --check.

[1] https://pypi.org/project/b4/
[2] https://b4.docs.kernel.org/en/latest/config.html

Signed-off-by: Baptiste Le Duc <baptiste.le-duc@vates.tech>
---
 .b4-config | 13 +++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.b4-config b/.b4-config
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1ca1f0625e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.b4-config
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#
+# Common b4 settings for sending patches to the Xen Project upstream.
+# https://b4.docs.kernel.org/
+#
+# See docs/process/sending-patches.pandoc for the patch submission rules
+# these settings implement.
+#
+
+[b4]
+	send-series-to = xen-devel@lists.xenproject.org
+	send-auto-to-cmd = echo
+	send-auto-cc-cmd = ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl --noroles --norolestats --nogit --nogit-fallback
+	midmask = https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/%s

---
base-commit: acd87f99ac65ff9426dd52f9b7a6ef9db45cc735
change-id: 20260911-add-b4-config-9ebfaf55a323

Best regards,
--  
Baptiste Le Duc <baptiste.le-duc@vates.tech>

On 11/09/2026 2:28 pm, Baptiste Le Duc wrote:
> b4[1] is a convenient tool for mail-based contribution. A config file[2]
> tracked in the tree lets the project ship a few defaults that match the Xen
> patch submission rules.
>
> This aims to help new contributors who have never used a mailing list avoid
> mistakes when sending their patch series.
>
> The tree has no scripts/checkpatch.pl or equivalent, so there is nothing
> for b4 to run per patch. Disable the needs-checking pre-flight check so a
> series can be sent without first running b4 prep --check.
>
> [1] https://pypi.org/project/b4/
> [2] https://b4.docs.kernel.org/en/latest/config.html
>
> Signed-off-by: Baptiste Le Duc <baptiste.le-duc@vates.tech>

I don't use b4 for preparing series myself, but I can see how this would
be useful for newcomers.

> ---
>  .b4-config | 13 +++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/.b4-config b/.b4-config
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000000..1ca1f0625e
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/.b4-config
> @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
> +#
> +# Common b4 settings for sending patches to the Xen Project upstream.
> +# https://b4.docs.kernel.org/
> +#
> +# See docs/process/sending-patches.pandoc for the patch submission rules
> +# these settings implement.

I doubt people will be reading this file to discover how to send
patches, and that piece of documentation is in the process of moving
into the handbook.

I suggest dropping this sentence.  All that's going to happen to it is
becoming stale shortly.

> +#
> +
> +[b4]
> +	send-series-to = xen-devel@lists.xenproject.org
> +	send-auto-to-cmd = echo
> +	send-auto-cc-cmd = ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl --noroles --norolestats --nogit --nogit-fallback

Where did this come from?   Because it didn't come from Xen's version of
get_maintainers, which is a long way removed from Linux's

~Andrew

On 2026-09-11 17:45:37+01:00, Andrew Cooper wrote:
> On 11/09/2026 2:28 pm, Baptiste Le Duc wrote:
> 
> > b4[1] is a convenient tool for mail-based contribution. A config file[2]
> > tracked in the tree lets the project ship a few defaults that match the Xen
> > patch submission rules.
> >
> > This aims to help new contributors who have never used a mailing list avoid
> > mistakes when sending their patch series.
> >
> > The tree has no scripts/checkpatch.pl or equivalent, so there is nothing
> > for b4 to run per patch. Disable the needs-checking pre-flight check so a
> > series can be sent without first running b4 prep --check.
> >
> > [1] https://pypi.org/project/b4/
> > [2] https://b4.docs.kernel.org/en/latest/config.html
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Baptiste Le Duc <baptiste.le-duc@vates.tech>
> 
> I don't use b4 for preparing series myself, but I can see how this would
> be useful for newcomers.
> 
> > ---
> >  .b4-config | 13 +++++++++++++
> >  1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/.b4-config b/.b4-config
> > new file mode 100644
> > index 0000000000..1ca1f0625e
> > --- /dev/null
> > +++ b/.b4-config
> > @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
> > +#
> > +# Common b4 settings for sending patches to the Xen Project upstream.
> > +# https://b4.docs.kernel.org/
> > +#
> > +# See docs/process/sending-patches.pandoc for the patch submission rules
> > +# these settings implement.
> 
> I doubt people will be reading this file to discover how to send
> patches, and that piece of documentation is in the process of moving
> into the handbook.
> 
> I suggest dropping this sentence.  All that's going to happen to it is
> becoming stale shortly.
You're right, I'll drop it in v2, thanks.
> 
> > +#
> > +
> > +[b4]
> > +	send-series-to = xen-devel@lists.xenproject.org
> > +	send-auto-to-cmd = echo
> > +	send-auto-cc-cmd = ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl --noroles --norolestats --nogit --nogit-fallback
> 
> Where did this come from?   Because it didn't come from Xen's version of
> get_maintainers, which is a long way removed from Linux's

It came from QEMU. I double-checked, and indeed Xen's get_maintainer.pl
doesn't support the negated form of these options, except for --nogit.
However, --nogit is already part of the default options, so none of
these flags are actually needed. I'd suggest:

  send-auto-cc-cmd = ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl

What do you think?
> 
> ~Andrew