Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Rivaas! We welcome contributions from everyone.

Ways to Contribute

You can help Rivaas in many ways:

• Report bugs — Tell us what’s broken
• Suggest features — Share your ideas
• Write documentation — Help others understand Rivaas
• Fix bugs — Submit pull requests
• Add features — Build new functionality
• Review code — Help us maintain quality

Getting Started

1. Find Something to Work On

Good first steps:

• Browse open issues
• Look for issues tagged good first issue
• Check the discussion board
• Propose your own ideas

2. Set Up Your Environment

Fork and clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/rivaas.git
cd rivaas

Rivaas uses Nix for development. If you have Nix installed:

nix develop

This gives you all the tools you need.

3. Make Your Changes

Create a new branch:

git checkout -b my-feature

Make your changes and test them:

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Run tests with race detection
go test -race ./...

# Check code style
golangci-lint run

4. Submit Your Work

Push your changes and create a pull request:

git push origin my-feature

Then open a pull request on GitHub.

Development Standards

We have clear standards for code quality. Please follow these guides:

Documentation Standards

Learn how to write good documentation for Go code.

Documentation Standards →

Testing Standards

Learn how to test your code properly.

Testing Standards →

Code Review Process

When you submit a pull request:

1. Automated checks run — Tests, linting, and coverage checks
2. Maintainer reviews — A maintainer looks at your code
3. Feedback loop — You address any comments
4. Approval — Maintainer approves when ready
5. Merge — Your code becomes part of Rivaas!

Pull Request Guidelines

Good pull requests:

• Focus on one thing — Don’t mix unrelated changes
• Include tests — Test your changes
• Update documentation — Keep docs current
• Follow style guides — Match existing code style
• Write clear commit messages — Explain what and why

Commit messages:

Use clear, descriptive commit messages:

Add user authentication middleware

This adds JWT authentication middleware for protecting routes.
It validates tokens and adds user info to the context.

Fixes #123

Format:

• First line: Brief summary (under 72 characters)
• Blank line
• Detailed description (if needed)
• Reference issues with Fixes #123 or Closes #456

Code of Conduct

We want Rivaas to be welcoming to everyone. Please:

• Be respectful — Treat others kindly
• Be constructive — Give helpful feedback
• Be patient — Everyone learns at different speeds
• Be inclusive — Welcome diverse perspectives

Questions?

Not sure about something? Ask!

• Discussions: github.com/rivaas-dev/rivaas/discussions
• Issues: github.com/rivaas-dev/rivaas/issues

License

By contributing to Rivaas, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

Thank You!

Your contributions make Rivaas better for everyone. Thank you for helping!