What Is a Podling in the Apache Incubator?

A podling is an incoming project that has been accepted into the Apache Incubator, the ASF body that helps projects adopt Apache-style governance and operation. A podling is not yet a top-level project (TLP): it works toward graduating as one, and the Incubator recommends that graduation to the ASF Board. The term applies only while a project is inside the Incubator — once it graduates, it becomes a TLP.

Where podlings sit in the ASF structure

The Incubator provides services to projects seeking to enter the Apache Software Foundation. It helps those incoming projects adopt the Apache Way — the ASF's philosophy and guidelines for collaborative development — and guides them to the services and resources they need to become TLPs.

Each podling is assigned mentors. Mentors act as liaisons between the podling and various ASF teams, such as the Incubator PMC and the Infrastructure team, to facilitate the podling's operations and ongoing growth.

What the Incubator does with podlings

The Incubator's stated responsibilities frame the podling lifecycle:

• Welcoming new podlings to become part of the ASF.
• Guiding podlings to govern and grow their communities according to the Apache Way.
• Reporting monthly to the board on the progress of podlings.
• Recommending to the ASF Board podlings that should graduate and become top-level projects.
• Retiring podlings when needed.
• Accepting IP donations.

So a podling is simultaneously being onboarded, guided, monitored (through monthly board reports), and evaluated for graduation — or, if it does not progress, retirement.

Podling vs. top-level project

The distinction is about stage, not permanence: the Incubator's own description of its role is to guide podlings so they can become TLPs.

How a project becomes a podling

The Incubator's Getting Started guidance lists three steps:

1. Read the cookbook. It helps potential podlings decide whether the ASF is a good fit and walks through the steps required to become an ASF podling.
2. Review the Incubation Policy. This outlines the rules for participation.
3. Submit a proposal for your project to join the Incubator.

A proposal is therefore the entry point: a project is not a podling until it has been accepted through that process. The site also maintains a list of Current Podlings, which is the practical place to see what is in the Incubator at any given time.

What podlings have to work with

The Incubator publishes guides aimed at podlings and their committees, including:

• Podling Guides and a Cookbook
• Roles and Responsibilities, including Committers and the Podling Project Management Committee
• A Guide to Successful Community Building
• Incubator Branding Guide, Podling Publicity/Media Guidelines, and a Podling Press Kit
• Initial Code Import, Podling Name Search Guide, and Podling IP Clearance
• Podling Websites, Podling Source Control, and Release Management (including a Release Distribution guide)
• A Guide to Successful Graduation and a Guide to Retirement
• Transferring Resources out of the Incubator

The presence of both graduation and retirement guides reflects the two documented outcomes of incubation. For advice on applying to — and ultimately graduating from — the Incubator, the site also points to presentations, including a keynote on The Apache Incubator.

Practical takeaways

• If you are evaluating a project that lives at an incubator.apache.org address or is described as "in the Incubator," treat it as a podling: it is still maturing its governance and community under mentor guidance.
• If you are proposing a project, start with the cookbook and the Incubation Policy before drafting a proposal, and expect to adopt the Apache Way rather than only host code.
• If you are following a podling's progress, the Incubator's monthly board reports and the Clutch Report are the documented tracking artifacts.