CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to GovFlow VN

Thank you for helping improve an auditable, local-first dossier-checking workflow.

Before contributing

• Read README.md, docs/architecture.md, and docs/evaluation.md.
• Search existing issues before opening a new one.
• For a material feature or evaluation change, open an issue first so scope and evidence can be agreed.
• Report vulnerabilities through SECURITY.md, not a public issue.

Local verification

Use Node.js 20 or newer.

git clone https://github.com/mrlouisdev/govflow-vn.git
cd govflow-vn
npm test

To inspect the demo:

npm run serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080/demo/ and stop the server with Ctrl+C.

Pull-request checklist

• Keep the change focused and explain the user-visible behavior.
• Add or update automated tests for behavior changes.
• Run npm test and include the command result in the pull request.
• Update relevant documentation and CHANGELOG.md for user-visible changes.
• State limitations; do not describe OCR, SLM/RAG, or official rulesets as implemented until code and reproducible evaluation artifacts exist.
• Use synthetic, non-identifying fixtures only. Do not commit confidential inputs or authentication material.
• Preserve citation and audit fields unless the pull request explicitly revises their documented contract.

Evaluation contributions

Performance or quality claims must identify:

1. dataset and ruleset version;
2. engine version or commit SHA;
3. exact reproduction command;
4. raw machine-readable result; and
5. relevant environment details for latency or memory results.

Synthetic evaluation cases should state the expected result and cover a specific behavior such as a missing field, invalid format, unsupported question, or ruleset-version change.

Review

The process and ownership model are described in MAINTAINERS.md. Submission of a contribution means it is provided under the repository's Apache-2.0 license.