FWIW, MNE-Python has been grappling with many of the same issues. I think the challenges are going to be common to many projects, and the responses may be different depending on project or context. It’s probably worth thinking about how much of the resulting guidance might make sense as a SPEC — there’s a “governance” SPEC currently in draft mode, it might fit there, or it might make more sense as its own “decision-making” SPEC.