docs: deprecate .config.prowgen in favor of ci-operator config fields

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: Prucek

content/en/architecture/ci-operator.md

@@ -774,6 +774,9 @@ There are few extra fields that can be configured to control if or when the test
 * `skip_if_only_changed` Set a regex to skip triggering the job when all the changes in the pull request match (see the documentation link above).
 * `always_run` Set to `false` to disable automatic triggering on every PR. This deaults to `true` (run on every PR) unless `run_if_changed` or `skip_if_only_changed` is set.
 * `optional` Set to `true` to make the job not block merges.
+* `max_concurrency` Set the maximum number of concurrent runs of this job.
+* `disable_rehearsal` Set to `true` to prevent this test from being picked up for rehearsals.
+* `slack_reporter` Configure [Slack reporting](/how-tos/notification/) for this test with `channel`, `job_states_to_report`, and `report_template`.
 
 **Note:** `run_if_changed`, `skip_if_only_changed`, and `always_run: true` are mutually exclusive.
 
@@ -829,6 +832,28 @@ tests:
 Note that the build farms used to execute jobs run on UTC time, so time-of-day based `cron` schedules must be set with
 that in mind.
 
+## Prowgen Configuration
+
+The `prowgen` stanza in `ci-operator` configuration controls Prow job generation behavior. These fields replace the
+deprecated `.config.prowgen` file.
+
+{{< highlight yaml >}}
+prowgen:
+  private: true                        # mark jobs as hidden and mount git credentials for private repos
+  expose: true                         # make private jobs visible in Deck
+  disable_rehearsals: true             # prevent all tests in this config from being rehearsed
+  enable_secrets_store_csi_driver: true # use CSI Secrets Store for multi-stage credentials
+{{< / highlight >}}
+
+The `ci-operator` config fields take precedence over `.config.prowgen` when both are set. If a field is omitted in the
+`ci-operator` config, the `.config.prowgen` value is used as a fallback.
+
+**Note:** Repositories in the `openshift-priv` organization are automatically treated as `private: true`.
+
+{{< alert title="Note" color="info" >}}
+The `.config.prowgen` file is deprecated. All configuration should be migrated to the `prowgen` stanza in the `ci-operator` configuration file. The `.config.prowgen` fallback is still supported but will be removed in the future.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
 ## Referencing Images
 
 As `ci-operator` is OpenShift-native, all `images` used in a test workflow are stored as `ImageStreamTags`. The following

content/en/architecture/private-repositories.md

@@ -14,15 +14,18 @@ At that time, a Test Platform member will assist with creating the proper config
 2. When not configured to use a private `deck` instance, the logs and artifacts executed for the private repository
 will be publicly available on the `deck`. **Only set up such jobs when you are absolutely sure your jobs would not leak any sensitive information.**
 
-To allow the CI jobs to access a private repo, drop the following file to the directory in `openshift/release` holding the
-`ci-operator` configuration for your repository (usually `ci-operator/config/$org/$repo`):
+To allow the CI jobs to access a private repo, add the `prowgen` stanza to your `ci-operator` configuration file:
 
-`.config.prowgen`
 {{< highlight yaml >}}
-private: true # allows the source to be cloned from the private repo, without setting this: jobs will not succeed
-expose: true # allows the jobs to be displayed on the `deck` instance in which they are configured
+prowgen:
+  private: true # allows the source to be cloned from the private repo, without setting this: jobs will not succeed
+  expose: true # allows the jobs to be displayed on the `deck` instance in which they are configured
 {{< / highlight >}}
 
+{{< alert title="Note" color="info" >}}
+The `.config.prowgen` file is deprecated. All prowgen configuration should be moved into the `ci-operator` configuration file under the `prowgen` stanza.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
 ## `openshift-priv` organization
 
 The `openshift-priv` organization holds private forks of selected repositories. The purpose of these forks is to allow

content/en/how-tos/contributing-openshift-release.md

@@ -135,25 +135,32 @@ Handcrafted jobs can opt to be rehearsable by including this label.
 All presubmits and periodics generated by `make jobs` have this label by default. Generated postsubmits will not contain 
 it because generated postsubmits are used for promoting `images`. 
 
-In order to opt-out of rehearsals for generated presubmits and periodics, prowgen must be configured to disable rehearsals. 
-To do this your org or repo's `.config.prowgen` file can be configured to either disable **all** rehearsals:
+In order to opt-out of rehearsals for generated presubmits and periodics, rehearsals can be disabled in the `ci-operator`
+configuration file. To disable rehearsals for **all** tests in a configuration, use the `prowgen` stanza:
 
 {{< highlight yaml >}}
-rehearsals:
-    disable_all: true
+prowgen:
+  disable_rehearsals: true
 {{< / highlight >}}
 
-Or to disable them for specific tests:
+To disable rehearsals for a **specific** test, use the `disable_rehearsal` field on the test:
 
 {{< highlight yaml >}}
-rehearsals:
-    disabled_rehearsals:
-    - unit # only disable rehearsals on the job named "unit"
+tests:
+- as: "unit"
+  commands: "make test"
+  container:
+    from: "bin"
+  disable_rehearsal: true
 {{< / highlight >}}
 
-Either of the preceding configurations will result in the `pj-rehearse.openshift.io/can-be-rehearsed: "true"` label not 
+Either of the preceding configurations will result in the `pj-rehearse.openshift.io/can-be-rehearsed: "true"` label not
 being added to the affected jobs when running `make jobs`.
 
+{{< alert title="Note" color="info" >}}
+The `.config.prowgen` file `rehearsals` section is deprecated. The `rehearsals.disable_all` and `rehearsals.disabled_rehearsals` fields in `.config.prowgen` are still supported as a fallback, but new configuration should use the `ci-operator` config fields above.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
 {{< alert title="Warning" color="warning" >}}
 Jobs that are marked as `hidden: true` will never be rehearsed, regardless of the presence of the `pj-rehearse.openshift.io/can-be-rehearsed: "true"` label.
 {{< /alert >}}

content/en/how-tos/notification.md

@@ -3,101 +3,70 @@ title: "Set Up Slack Alerts for Job Results"
 description: How to set up alerting to Slack for a CI job.
 ---
 
-We can set up Slack alerts for job results by defining `reporter_config` in the job definition. This is possible for all job types: `periodics`, `presubmits`, and `postsubmits`.
-`Prowgen` is [capable](https://docs.ci.openshift.org/how-tos/notification/#setting-up-slack-notifications-with-prowgen) of adding this to the job definition.
+We can set up Slack alerts for job results by configuring the `slack_reporter` field on individual tests in the `ci-operator` configuration file. This is possible for all job types: `periodics`, `presubmits`, and `postsubmits`.
 
-{{< alert title="Warning" color="warning" >}}
-Currently, it is still possible to manually add the `reporter_config` to periodic jobs. This functionality is deprecated, and using `Prowgen` is preferred.
-Once a significant number of jobs have migrated to use `Prowgen`, the ability to manually edit the periodics will be removed.
-{{< /alert >}}
+## Setting up Slack notifications
+
+To add Slack reporting for a test, add the `slack_reporter` field to the test in your `ci-operator` configuration:
 
 ```yaml
-reporter_config:
-  slack:
-    channel: '#forum'
+tests:
+- as: "unit"
+  commands: "make test-unit"
+  container:
+    from: "bin"
+  slack_reporter:
+    channel: "#my-channel"
     job_states_to_report:
     - failure
-    report_template: Job {{.Spec.Job}} failed.
+    - error
+    report_template: 'Job {{.Spec.Job}} ended with {{.Status.State}}. <{{.Status.URL}}|View logs>'
 ```
 
-For example, by the above snippet, a Slack alert will be sent out to `#forum` channel when there is a failure of the job. The alert is formatted by `report_template`.
+### Configuration fields
 
-* The channel has to be in [coreos.slack.com](https://coreos.slack.com/).
-* The channel has to be public. If it is not then the `@prow` bot has to be added to it otherwise it won't be able to properly post messages.
-* The state in `job_states_to_report` has to be a valid Prow job state. See [upstream documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/sigs.k8s.io/prow/pkg/apis/prowjobs/v1#ProwJobState).
-* The value of `report_template` is a [Go template](https://golang.org/pkg/text/template/) and it will be applied to the Prow job instance. The annotations such as `{{.Spec.Job}}` will be replaced by the job name when the alert is received in Slack. See [upstream documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/sigs.k8s.io/prow/pkg/apis/prowjobs/v1#ProwJob) for more fields of a Prow job. Note that no alerts will be sent out if the template is broken, e.g., cannot be parsed or applied successfully.
+* `channel` (**required**) The Slack channel to report to (e.g., `#my-channel`).
+* `job_states_to_report` (optional) Which job states trigger a report. Defaults to `["failure", "error"]` if not set. Must be valid [Prow job states](https://pkg.go.dev/sigs.k8s.io/prow/pkg/apis/prowjobs/v1#ProwJobState).
+* `report_template` (optional) A [Go template](https://golang.org/pkg/text/template/) for the Slack message. Applied to the [ProwJob](https://pkg.go.dev/sigs.k8s.io/prow/pkg/apis/prowjobs/v1#ProwJob) instance. If not set, a default template is used. No alerts will be sent if the template cannot be parsed or applied.
 
-## Setting up Slack notifications with Prowgen
-`Prowgen` is the tool that is used to generate `ProwJobs` from `ci-operator` configuration. It is possible to instruct `Prowgen` to add a `reporter_config` to specific jobs.
-Doing so requires creating or updating the repo (or organization) in question's `.config.prowgen` file. This YAML configuration file is stored in the repo's `ci-operator` folder.
-For example, `ci-tools` configuration file is found at `ci-operator/config/openshift/ci-tools/.config.prowgen`. The following example illustrates how to utilize this config to add slack notifications for jobs:
-
-```yaml
-slack_reporter:
-- channel: "#slack-channel"
-  job_states_to_report: #Accepts any ProwJob status
-  - success
-  - failure
-  - error
-  report_template: '{{if eq .Status.State "success"}} :rainbow: Job *{{.Spec.Job}}*
-                           ended with *{{.Status.State}}*. <{{.Status.URL}}|View logs> :rainbow: {{else}}
-                           :volcano: Job *{{.Spec.Job}}* ended with *{{.Status.State}}*. <{{.Status.URL}}|View
-                           logs> :volcano: {{end}}'
-  job_names: # Listing of job names (ci-operator's 'as' field) that this configuration applies to
-  - unit
-  - upload-results
-  - lint
-  excluded_variants: # It is possible to exclude notifications from specific variants, for example, when you don't require them from older releases
-  - some-old-release
-```
+### Requirements
 
-{{< alert title="Note" color="info" >}}
-Note that it is possible to include multiple `slack_reporter` entries in this config, but each `job_name` should only be included in, at most, one.
-{{< /alert >}}
+* The channel must be on [coreos.slack.com](https://coreos.slack.com/).
+* The channel must be public, or the `@prow` bot must be added to it.
 
-{{< alert title="Note" color="info" >}}
-It is possible to add slack reporting for the `images` postsubmit job by adding the "images" entry to `job_names`.
-{{< /alert >}}
+### Example with defaults
 
-Once the configuration is added, simply use the `make jobs` target to generate the new job definitions containing the `reporter_config`.
+When only `channel` is provided, defaults are applied for `job_states_to_report` and `report_template`:
 
-### Slack Reporter Configuration
+```yaml
+tests:
+- as: "e2e"
+  commands: "make test-e2e"
+  container:
+    from: "bin"
+  slack_reporter:
+    channel: "#my-team"
+```
 
-The `slack_reporter` configuration supports flexible job matching with multiple approaches:
+This will report on `failure` and `error` states using a default template.
 
-1. **Exact matching** with `job_names`: Matches job names exactly
-2. **Pattern matching** with `job_name_patterns`: Matches job names using regular expressions
-3. **Exclusion** with `excluded_job_patterns`: Excludes jobs matching regex patterns (similar to `excluded_variants`)
+## Deprecated: `.config.prowgen` Slack configuration
 
-**Matching Priority:**
-- Exclusions are checked first - if a job matches any `excluded_job_patterns`, it's excluded regardless of other rules
-- Exact matches in `job_names` take precedence over pattern matches in `job_name_patterns`
-- This allows for more flexible job matching while maintaining compatibility with existing configurations
+{{< alert title="Warning" color="warning" >}}
+The `.config.prowgen` file `slack_reporter` section is deprecated. Slack reporting should be configured directly on each test using the `slack_reporter` field as shown above. The `.config.prowgen` fallback is still supported but will be removed in the future.
+{{< /alert >}}
 
-**Examples:**
+The legacy `.config.prowgen` approach used a separate file (`ci-operator/config/$org/$repo/.config.prowgen`) with pattern-based job matching:
 
 ```yaml
 slack_reporter:
-# Example 1: Mixed exact and pattern matching
-- channel: "#my-team"
-  job_names: ["unit", "images"]        # Exact matches
-  job_name_patterns: ["^e2e-.*"]       # Regex patterns
-
-# Example 2: Broad matching with exclusions (similar to excluded_variants)
-- channel: "#ops-team"
-  job_name_patterns: [".*"]            # Match all jobs
-  excluded_job_patterns:               # But exclude these patterns
-  - ".*-skip$"                         # Jobs ending with "-skip"
-  - "^nightly-.*"                      # Jobs starting with "nightly-"
-  - ".*-flaky-.*"                      # Jobs containing "-flaky-"
-
-# Example 3: Combining all approaches
-- channel: "#dev-team"
-  job_names: ["critical-test"]         # Always include this specific job
-  job_name_patterns: ["^unit-.*"]      # Include all unit tests
-  excluded_job_patterns: [".*-slow$"]  # But exclude slow tests
+- channel: "#slack-channel"
+  job_states_to_report:
+  - failure
+  - error
+  job_names:
+  - unit
+  - e2e
 ```
 
-The `excluded_job_patterns` approach is often simpler than complex inclusion patterns, especially when you want to match most jobs in a repository but exclude specific types.
-
-The `SlackReporterConfig` is provided for [reference](https://github.com/openshift/ci-tools/blob/6810ce942bbe25a06c092af8098fd2d071604a04/pkg/config/load.go#L49-L57).
+This is now replaced by the per-test `slack_reporter` field in the `ci-operator` configuration, which is simpler and keeps all configuration in one place.