Phase 4: Create internal documentation

Before enabling GitHub Advanced Security, you should create internal documentation that defines processes for teams to follow. Everyone needs to know what to do when they receive a security alert, even if the process simply asks the team to apply their best judgment. Documentation will also prevent developers from getting blocked when they have questions. You should put the documentation about GHAS with existing developer-focused documentation, such as your developer portal or custom knowledge base.

If you ran pilot programs, use the experiences and feedback from the teams involved in those pilots to influence your documentation. This is especially useful if you encountered issues that are specific to your company, that other teams will also likely encounter.

If you skip creating internal documentation, your rollout won’t go at your intended pace. Creating internal documentation may slow the initial rollout by a week or two, but that time will be made up when developers can answer their own questions instead of coming to your team.

Education is probably the most crucial part of the rollout as it teaches developers what to do in different situations. You should ensure developers are empowered to maintain the security of their repository and that the security team are authorized to verify both what developers are doing and that it's in the best interest of security. In addition to internal documentation, education can take the form of online sessions, Q&As, etc.