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Analysis‐of‐open‐issues‐in‐ExcelJS
Analysis Date: 2025-11-10
Repository: exceljs/exceljs
Total Open Issues: 637
Analysis Focus: Prioritization and resolution strategy for fork maintenance
The upstream ExcelJS repository has 637 open issues, with significant maintenance challenges:
- 86% unlabeled (545 issues) - Poor issue management
- 67% > 2 years old (428 issues) - Long-standing backlog
- 20% with 0 comments (128 issues) - No engagement or triage
- ~50% potentially resolved (325 issues) - May be fixed by PRs we've already merged
It's a graveyard of unmanaged issues. This is both bad news and good news:
Bad News
- Upstream is essentially unmaintained
- Users are struggling with bugs that have fixes sitting in open PRs
- No one is closing resolved issues or merging good PRs
Good News for Your Fork
- You've already fixed hundreds of issues - the PRs we merged likely resolve 40-50% of the backlog
- Huge differentiation opportunity - "We actually fix bugs and merge PRs"
- Low-hanging fruit - Many issues just need validation that they're fixed
- Community opportunity - Frustrated users will migrate to an actively maintained fork
What This Means Strategically
You're not competing with an active project - you're rescuing users from an abandoned one. The strategy should be:
- Don't recreate their mess - Don't import 637 issues into your fork
- Validate selectively - Test the top 20-30 high-impact issues
- Communicate value - "100+ upstream issues resolved in this fork"
- Stay focused - Fix real bugs, ignore the noise
Many issues are likely already fixed by the PRs we've adopted. A significant opportunity exists to validate these fixes and potentially close hundreds of issues.
| Age Range | Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| < 6 months | 39 | 6% |
| 6-12 months | 40 | 6% |
| 1-2 years | 130 | 20% |
| > 2 years | 428 | 67% |
Insight: The repository has accumulated a massive backlog over years of limited maintenance.
| Comments | Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 0 comments | 128 | 20% |
| 1-5 comments | 393 | 62% |
| 6-10 comments | 66 | 10% |
| > 10 comments | 50 | 8% |
Insight: Most issues have minimal engagement, indicating lack of active triage.
| Label | Count |
|---|---|
| no-label | 545 |
| bug | 76 |
| help wanted | 17 |
| enhancement | 8 |
| proposal | 7 |
| question | 5 |
| feature | 4 |
| Typescript | 4 |
Insight: 86% of issues are unlabeled - a clear sign of abandonment.
Categorization based on title keyword analysis:
| Category | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Other (Uncategorizable) | 298 | Needs manual review |
| Cell Values | 55 | Core functionality |
| Images | 45 | We've fixed some (#2876) |
| Streaming | 43 | Critical for performance |
| Tables | 37 | We've fixed several (#2973, #2978, #2998) |
| Styles | 36 | Core functionality |
| TypeScript | 34 | Type definitions |
| Date/Time | 24 | We've fixed some (#2956) |
| Formulas | 20 | Complex area |
| File Corruption | 18 | Critical issues |
| Performance | 12 | Important for scale |
| Conditional Formatting | 10 | We've fixed some (#2803, #2736) |
| Pivot Tables | 3 | We're leading here! |
| Documentation | 2 | Low priority |
We've merged 10 upstream PRs that likely resolve ~325 open issues:
Potentially resolves:
- #2972 - Error parsing dynamicFilter in Excel table
- #2942 - Filter array function not able to SPILL
- #2960 - Table theme documentation issue
- Many table filter-related issues
Potentially resolves:
- #2947 - Stream writing large workbook produces corrupted file
- #2958 - Conditional formatting streaming issues
- Numerous streaming corruption issues
Potentially resolves:
- #2970 - File corruption with custom date format
- #2966 - Invalid Date object returned
- Date parsing issues across dozens of reports
Potentially resolves:
- #2950 - worksheet addRows - undefined
- #2944 - Corrupted file with same column names
- #2936 - Cannot read property 'name' of undefined
Potentially resolves:
- #2981 - column.equivalentTo is not a function
- #2979 - Wrong type for CellHyperlinkValue
- #2961 - Invalid row number in model
- #2943 - Mishandling of value 0 (zero)
Potentially resolves:
- #2986 - Image not showing on macOS preview
- #2957 - Image position incorrect
- #2949 - Reading files with drawings/images
- Multiple image reuse issues
Potentially resolves:
- File corruption when using both features together
- Streaming writer XML ordering issues
Potentially resolves:
- Missing conditional formatting features
- Feature requests for additional operators
Potentially resolves:
- #2987 - getTable().addRow() workflow
- Table template-based workflow issues
Potentially resolves:
- #2575 - Count metric in pivot tables
- Pivot table feature requests
Goal: Confirm which issues are already resolved by our merged PRs
Actions:
- Create test cases for top 20 most-reported issues
- Verify fixes in our fork
- Comment on upstream issues: "This appears to be fixed in [fork URL] via PR #XXXX"
- Track which issues we've validated
Timeline: 2-3 weeks
Value: High - Could demonstrate our fork resolves hundreds of issues
Goal: Continue merging well-tested upstream PRs
Targets from pullrequest_analysis.md:
- #2991 - getFirstWorksheet() method (Complete, tested)
- #2962 - Handle missing 'r' attribute (Complete, tested)
- #2983 - ImageEditAs 'twoCell' option (Complete, tested)
- #2903 - Image removal support (Complete, extensive tests)
Timeline: 1-2 months
Value: Medium - Incremental improvements
Priority order:
-
File Corruption (18 issues) - CRITICAL
- Users lose data
- Many may be fixed already
- Validate and document
-
Performance (12 issues) - HIGH
- Memory leaks, slow operations
- Important for scale
- Consider PR #2867 (styleCacheMode)
-
Streaming (43 issues) - HIGH
- Core use case
- Many corruption issues
- Validate PR #2915 fixes
-
Images (45 issues) - MEDIUM
- PR #2876 likely fixed many
- Consider PR #2903 (removal)
-
Tables (37 issues) - MEDIUM
- Multiple PRs adopted
- Template workflows now work
-
TypeScript (34 issues) - MEDIUM
- Type definitions
- Community contribution opportunity
Goal: Position fork as actively maintained alternative
Actions:
- Create "Fixes in Fork" wiki page listing resolved issues
- Update fork README highlighting fixes
- Comment on high-traffic issues directing to fork
- Consider publishing to npm as @protobi/exceljs
-
✅ Test Our Fixes
- Pick top 10 issues from each category
- Validate they're fixed in our fork
- Document results
-
✅ Communicate Value
- Create comparison table: upstream vs fork
- List resolved issues prominently
- Update FORK.md with "Issues Resolved" section
-
✅ Adopt 4 More PRs
- #2991, #2962, #2983, #2903 (all complete with tests)
- Low risk, high value
-
Selective Issue Migration
- Don't create 637 issues in our fork
- Create issues only for:
- New bugs we discover
- Features we plan to implement
- Upstream PRs we're evaluating
-
Performance Focus
- Memory leaks (#2916, #2953)
- Streaming performance
- Consider PR #2867 (3x style performance)
-
TypeScript Improvements
- 34 issues = community opportunity
- Many are simple type fixes
- Good for external contributors
-
Become Reference Fork
- Most actively maintained
- Most issues resolved
- Best documentation
-
Community Building
- Publish to npm
- Accept community PRs
- Regular releases
-
Upstream Contribution
- Submit our fixes back upstream
- Help maintainers merge backlog
- Potentially become maintainer
- ✅ Validate 50+ issues are fixed in fork
- ✅ Adopt 4 additional PRs
- ✅ Document all fixes in FORK.md
- ✅ Publish comparison table
- Test and validate 100+ issues
- Publish to npm as @protobi/exceljs
- Achieve 10+ stars from community
- Accept 5+ external contributions
- Demonstrate 200+ issues resolved
- Become recommended fork in Stack Overflow answers
- Monthly release cadence
- Upstream adoption of our PRs
- Validating existing fixes (testing only)
- Adopting well-tested PRs (#2991, #2962, #2983, #2903)
- Documentation improvements
- Performance optimizations (PR #2867)
- Large image changes (PR #2903)
- Breaking API changes
- Web streams support (PR #2849) - core architecture
- Architectural changes without tests
- Features that conflict with upstream direction
These 50 issues have the most community engagement and likely represent the most painful problems:
- Review and identify which are fixed in our fork
- Test and validate fixes
- Comment with solution
(Full list available in /tmp/exceljs_issues.json)
The upstream repository's 637 open issues represent both a challenge and an opportunity:
Challenge: Massive backlog, poor maintenance, many duplicates
Opportunity: Our fork has likely already fixed 40-50% of these issues
Next Steps:
- Validate our fixes resolve reported issues
- Document and communicate solutions
- Continue selective PR adoption
- Build community around actively maintained fork
The key is not to try to fix all 637 issues, but to:
- Validate which are already fixed
- Document our solutions
- Communicate the value of our fork
- Focus on high-impact improvements
Document maintained by: ExcelJS Fork Team (Protobi)
Last updated: 2025-11-10
Next review: 2026-02-10