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[JENKINS-42816] Agent terminology cleanup #21944
Description
"slave" terminology was deprecated in Jenkins 2.0, but there are still occurrences in Jenkins Plugins and documentation: https://github.com/search?q=org%3Ajenkinsci+slave&type=Code. We need to clean it up. This EPIC keeps a track of missing renaming when we occasionally notice them.
Newcomer-friendly issues
There are many areas where anyone could help, deep Jenkins expertise is not required
- Cleanup plugin built-in documentation and documentation in Jenkins repositories
- GitHub Query: https://github.com/search?q=org%3Ajenkinsci+slave&type=Code
- If you work on these tasks, in the most of the cases you can just use GitHub web interface to edit files and submit pull requests.
- Newcomer-friendly tasks in this EPIC: https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/issues/?jql=labels%20%3D%20newbie-friendly%20and%20%22Epic%20Link%22%20%3D%20JENKINS-42816
- Report issues. If you see something in the Jenkins UI or on our website, please do not hesitate to report it
- Jenkins core and components: Jenkins Jira or GitHub Issues, depending on a component. If you report issues in Jira, please reference the JENKINS-42816 EPIC there
- jenkins.io website: https://github.com/jenkins-infra/jenkins.io/issues
Scope
Trivial changes:
- Jenkins Documentation (jenkins.io, plugin docs, etc.)
- Built-in plugin documentation and Web UI
- Localization files - "slave" equvalents in other languages
- 3rd-party blogposts
- Any code which is not a part of public AP or persistence modeI: private methods, local variables, comments, etc.
Non-trivial changes which may impact compatibility:
- Plugin Names
- REST API endpoints
- Symbols for JCasC/JobDSL/Pipeline
- Class Names and API where feasible (Retaining binary compatibility may require a massive effort)
- Library and module names
- Plugin labels and filters
- etc.
Originally reported by 
oleg_nenashev, imported from: Agent terminology cleanup
- status: Open
- priority: Minor
- component(s): core
- label(s): agents, documentation, hacktoberfest, help-wanted, jenkins2.0, localization, roadmap, ux
- resolution: Unresolved
- votes: 6
- watchers: 11
- imported: 2025-11-24
Raw content of original issue
"slave" terminology was deprecated in Jenkins 2.0, but there are still occurrences in Jenkins Plugins and documentation: https://github.com/search?q=org%3Ajenkinsci+slave&type=Code. We need to clean it up. This EPIC keeps a track of missing renaming when we occasionally notice them.
Newcomer-friendly issues
There are many areas where anyone could help, deep Jenkins expertise is not required
- Cleanup plugin built-in documentation and documentation in Jenkins repositories
- GitHub Query: https://github.com/search?q=org%3Ajenkinsci+slave&type=Code
- If you work on these tasks, in the most of the cases you can just use GitHub web interface to edit files and submit pull requests.
- Newcomer-friendly tasks in this EPIC: https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/issues/?jql=labels%20%3D%20newbie-friendly%20and%20%22Epic%20Link%22%20%3D%20JENKINS-42816
- Report issues. If you see something in the Jenkins UI or on our website, please do not hesitate to report it
- Jenkins core and components: Jenkins Jira or GitHub Issues, depending on a component. If you report issues in Jira, please reference the JENKINS-42816 EPIC there
- jenkins.io website: https://github.com/jenkins-infra/jenkins.io/issues
Scope
Trivial changes:
- Jenkins Documentation (jenkins.io, plugin docs, etc.)
- Built-in plugin documentation and Web UI
- Localization files - "slave" equvalents in other languages
- 3rd-party blogposts
- Any code which is not a part of public AP or persistence modeI: private methods, local variables, comments, etc.
Non-trivial changes which may impact compatibility:
- Plugin Names
- REST API endpoints
- Symbols for JCasC/JobDSL/Pipeline
- Class Names and API where feasible (Retaining binary compatibility may require a massive effort)
- Library and module names
- Plugin labels and filters
- etc.
Activity
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Mar 15, 2017
Remote links associated with this issue:
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Feb 20, 2018
Raw content of original comment:
Code changed in jenkins
User: Nicolas De loof
Path:
core/src/main/java/hudson/slaves/DumbSlave.java
http://jenkins-ci.org/commit/jenkins/bc10eca4ff16054321f514fe396e8a0160adb5b1
Log:
JENKINS-42816 use "agent" for Symbol
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Jun 18, 2020
Raw content of original comment:
This project is now a part of the Jenkins roadmap: https://www.jenkins.io/project/roadmap/
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Nov 14, 2020
Raw content of original comment:
Please consider using this rename to add a keyword to denote the master node (whatever is chosen to replace "master") instead of changing "master" to another immutable name. Node names are expected to be user-configurable, keywords are fixed.
In other words, I would rather write "agent primary" than "agent { label 'primary' }"
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Dec 5, 2024
code_arnab:
Raw content of original comment:
Hello I'm new to the community and this looks like a good starting point to contribute to Jenkins. Is this EPIC still accepting fixes/PRs?
jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Nov 24, 2025
[Original
relates_tofrom Jira: JENKINS-51320]jenkins-infra-bot commentedon Nov 24, 2025
[Original
relates_tofrom Jira: JENKINS-31095]16 remaining items
rajivranjan7 commentedon Jun 8, 2026
Hey! I'm Rajiv, a software engineer and currently enrolled in the CodePath AI301 program. I came across this issue and would love to contribute on it. I have a decent amount of experience working with Jenkins professionally so this feels like a good fit for me.
My plan is to identify a module or plugin with remaining "slave"/"master" occurrences and get my local environment set up.
Are there any areas of the codebase that would be most impactful to tackle, or that hasn't been cleaned up yet? I can take that up.
Any pointers would be really helpful, thank you!!
cschanhniem commentedon Jul 8, 2026