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Contribution Guidelines

Contributing guidelines

Thank you for your interest in contributing to SONAR! Here are a few pointers about how you can help.

Setting things up

To set up the development environment, follow the instructions on Installation Page.

Finding something to work on

The issue tracker of SONAR a good place to start. If you find something that interests you, comment on the thread and we’ll help get you started.

If you find a bug, please open an issue in the issue tracker. Please include as much information as possible, including the version you are using, the operating system, and any relevant stack traces or error messages.

Alternatively, if you want to add a new feature, please file a new issue and comment if you would like to be assigned. The existing issues are tagged with one or more labels, based on the part of the project it touches, its importance etc., that can help you in selecting one.

Instructions to submit code

Before you submit code, please talk to us via the issue tracker so we know you are working on it.

Our central development branch is main. Coding is done on feature branches based off of main and merged into it once stable and reviewed. To submit code, follow these steps:

  1. Create a new branch off of main. Select a descriptive branch name. 
        git remote add upstream git@github.com:aidecentralized/sonar.git
    git fetch upstream
    git checkout main
    git merge upstream/main
    git checkout -b your-branch-name
  2. Make your changes and commit them. Make sure to follow the commit message guidelines below.
  3. Push your branch to the remote repository.
  4. Open a pull request to merge your branch into main.
  5. Wait for feedback and review from the team.
  6. Once your code is reviewed and approved, the maintainers will merge it into main.
  7. Once merged, you can delete your branch.

  8. Repeat the process for any additional changes.

  9. Commit and push code to your branch:

    • Commits should be self-contained and contain a descriptive commit message. ##### Rules for a great git commit message style

      • Separate subject from body with a blank line
      • Do not end the subject line with a period
      • Capitalize the subject line and each paragraph
      • Use the imperative mood in the subject line
      • Wrap lines at 72 characters
      • Use the body to explain what and why you have done something. In most cases, you can leave out details about how a change has been made.
      Example for a commit message
      Subject of the commit message

Body of the commit message...
....

    • Please make sure your code is well-formatted and adheres to PEP8 conventions (for Python) and the airbnb style guide (for JavaScript). For others (Lua, prototxt etc.) please ensure that the code is well-formatted and the style consistent.

    • Please ensure that your code is well tested.

  10. Once the code is pushed, create a pull request:

    • On your GitHub fork, select your branch and click “New pull request”. Select “main” as the base branch and your branch in the “compare” dropdown. If the code is mergeable (you get a message saying “Able to merge”), go ahead and create the pull request.
    • Check back after some time to see if the checks have passed, if not you should click on “Details” link on your PR thread which will take you to the dashboard for your PR. You will see what failed / stalled, and will need to resolve them.

    • If your checks have passed, your PR will be assigned a reviewer who will review your code and provide comments. Please address each review comment by pushing new commits to the same branch (the PR will automatically update, so you don’t need to submit a new one). Once you are done, comment below each review comment marking it as “Done”. Feel free to use the thread to have a discussion about comments that you don’t understand completely or don’t agree with.

    • Once all comments are addressed, the maintainer will approve the PR.

  11. Once you get reviewed by a mentor and done with all the required changes, squash all the commits: 

                git checkout <branch_name>
            git rebase -i HEAD~N (N is the number of commits to be squashed)

    • Then a screen will appear with all N commits having "pick" written in front of every commit. Change pick to s for the last N-1 commits and let it be pick for the first one.

    • Press esc button and type ":wq" to save the change and close the screen. Now a new screen will appear asking you to change commit message. Change it accordingly and save it. git push origin --force

    • For further query regarding rebasing, visit Squash Commits

    • Once rebasing is done, the reviewer will approve and merge the PR.

Congratulations, you have successfully contributed to Project SONAR!