Contributing to BookOrbit

Thanks for your interest in contributing to BookOrbit. Whether you are fixing a typo or building a major feature, this guide walks you through the process from start to finish.

Companion docs:

DEVELOPMENT.md - Local setup, architecture, commands, and technical reference.
TESTING.md - Test architecture, E2E suites, coverage thresholds, and harness details.
COMMIT_GUIDELINES.md - Commit message format, types, scopes, and examples.

Where to Start

Not sure what to work on? Look for issues tagged with:

good first issue - Scoped tasks with clear acceptance criteria. Great for your first contribution.
help wanted - Larger tasks where maintainer bandwidth is limited.

If nothing there catches your eye, browse the open issues or propose something new.

Documentation Contributions

Doc improvements are always welcome and have a lighter process:

No tests required.
Use a branch name that starts with BO-<issue-number>- (e.g. BO-456-docs-fix-setup-instructions).
Focus areas: fixing inaccuracies, improving examples, adding missing guides, clarifying confusing sections.

The rest of this guide still applies (issue first, PR template, etc.), but expect a faster review cycle.

Security Issues

Do not open public issues for security vulnerabilities. Use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting instead. See SECURITY.md for details.

Contribution Workflow

This is the end-to-end journey from idea to merged PR. Each phase builds on the previous one.

Phase 1: Find or Create an Issue

Issue first, PR second. Every pull request must link to an approved issue. PRs without one will be closed.

Browse open issues for something you want to tackle.
If you have a new idea, open one using the bug report or feature request template.
Not sure if your idea fits the roadmap? Ask in a new issue before investing time.

Phase 2: Get Maintainer Approval

Wait for explicit approval before writing code. Approval looks like:

A 👍 reaction on your issue.
A comment such as "go ahead", "approved", or "approved to proceed".

This step prevents wasted effort on changes that conflict with the project direction. Small bug fixes with clear reproduction are usually approved quickly.

Phase 3: Fork and Clone

Fork the repository, then clone your fork:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/bookorbit.git
cd bookorbit
git remote add upstream https://github.com/bookorbit/bookorbit.git

Trusted contributors with direct push access can skip the fork and work on branches in the main repository. The rest of this guide assumes the fork workflow.

Phase 4: Set Up Your Environment

If this is your first time:

pnpm setup

This handles everything: dependencies, PostgreSQL, migrations, and seed data. See DEVELOPMENT.md for prerequisites, manual setup steps, and troubleshooting.

Phase 5: Create Your Branch

Always branch from the latest main:

git fetch upstream
git checkout -b BO-<issue-number>-<short-description> upstream/main

Branch name requirements:

Start with BO-<issue-number>-
Use lowercase kebab-case for the description suffix
Example: BO-123-fix-reader-sync

Phase 6: Implement Your Change

Start the dev server and get to work:

pnpm dev

Refer to DEVELOPMENT.md for architecture details, project structure, database workflows, and conventions. A few ground rules:

One logical change per PR. Do not bundle a bug fix with a refactor or unrelated cleanup.
No unapproved dependencies. Propose new dependencies in the linked issue first (see Adding Dependencies).
Keep the scope tight. If you discover something unrelated that needs fixing, open a separate issue for it.

Phase 7: Write and Run Tests

Testing expectations depend on what you changed:

Change type	What is expected
Bug fix	Regression test proving the bug is fixed
New backend feature/API	Server unit tests for the new behavior
New frontend logic	Client unit tests (composables, utilities)
UI-only change	Manual verification evidence (screenshot/video)
Refactor	Existing tests stay green, no new tests needed

Run the full test suite:

pnpm test

If your change touches an area covered by an existing E2E suite, run it locally before pushing: pnpm run e2e:run -- <suite-id>. Use pnpm run e2e:list to see available suites.

For E2E tests, suite IDs, coverage thresholds, and the test harness, see TESTING.md.

Phase 8: Verify Code Quality

The project has two automated gates that catch issues before they reach CI:

Pre-commit hook runs lint-staged on your staged files (ESLint + Prettier).
Pre-push hook runs pnpm verify:fast (lint + typecheck + tests). Your push is blocked if this fails.

Before marking your PR ready for review, run the full quality gate yourself:

pnpm verify

See the Code Quality section in DEVELOPMENT.md for individual commands.

Phase 9: Commit Your Work

Follow the format in COMMIT_GUIDELINES.md. The short version:

<type>(<scope>): <summary>

Type: feat, fix, db, perf, refactor, style, docs, test, build, ci, chore, security, revert
Scope (optional): auth, books, library, metadata, kobo, scanner, etc.
Summary: Imperative mood, lowercase, no period. Describe what the commit does, not what you did.

Examples: feat(kobo): add shelf sync endpoint, fix(reader): correct page count for multi-volume PDFs

Phase 10: Open a Pull Request

Push your branch and open a PR against main:

git push origin BO-123-your-feature-name

When creating the PR:

Fill out the PR template. It asks for a summary, testing evidence, screenshots (if UI changed), and non-obvious decisions.
Use a Conventional Commit-style PR title (for example: fix(reader): correct page count for multi-volume PDFs).
Link your issue with a GitHub closing keyword in the description (close, closes, closed, fix, fixes, fixed, resolve, resolves, resolved) and an issue reference (#123 or owner/repo#123). Example:
```
## What does this PR do?

Correct page count handling for multi-volume PDFs.

Fixes: #123
```
Open as a draft if you want early direction feedback before the code is complete.
Disclose AI usage if applicable. See AI_POLICY.md for the format and expectations.

Phase 11: Respond to Review

Expect feedback within a few days, sometimes sooner.
Push additional commits to address review comments. Do not force-push during review unless a reviewer asks you to.
Do not resolve review threads yourself. Let the reviewer confirm the fix.
If feedback is unclear, ask for clarification in the thread.

Phase 12: After Merge

Your changes ship in a future release when maintainers cut one. Keep your fork in sync for your next contribution:

git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

Quick-Reference Checklist

Before marking your PR ready for review, confirm:

Policies

Adding Dependencies

Do not add dependencies without prior discussion in the linked issue. If proposing one, document:

What problem it solves.
Why existing dependencies or a small custom implementation are insufficient.
Maintenance status and community activity of the package.

Breaking Changes and Self-Hosted Upgrades

BookOrbit is self-hosted. Any change that can break existing deployments must include a clear upgrade path before merge.

If your PR introduces a breaking change (schema, API contract, environment variable, config format):

Call it out explicitly in the PR description.
Document the required upgrade steps.
Include Drizzle migrations for schema changes. Never hand-write migration SQL.

AI-Assisted Contributions

See AI_POLICY.md. The short version: disclose all AI usage in your PR description and make sure you understand every line of the diff.

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions are licensed under the same license as the project (AGPL-3.0).

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