| # How to contribute to SillyTavern | |
| ## Setting up the dev environment | |
| 1. Required software: git and node. | |
| 2. Recommended editor: Visual Studio Code. | |
| 3. You can also use GitHub Codespaces which sets up everything for you. | |
| ## Getting the code ready | |
| 1. Register a GitHub account. | |
| 2. Fork this repository under your account. | |
| 3. Clone the fork onto your machine. | |
| 4. Open the cloned repository in the code editor. | |
| 5. Create a git branch (recommended). | |
| 6. Make your changes and test them locally. | |
| 7. Commit the changes and push the branch to the remote repo. | |
| 8. Go to GitHub, and open a pull request, targeting the upstream branch. | |
| ## Contribution guidelines | |
| 1. Our standards are pretty low, but make sure the code is not too ugly: | |
| - Run VS Code's autoformat when you're done. | |
| - Check with ESLint by running `npm run lint`, then fix the errors. | |
| - Use common sense and follow existing naming conventions. | |
| 2. Create pull requests for the staging branch, 99% of contributions should go there. That way people could test your code before the next stable release. | |
| 3. You can still send a pull request for release in the following scenarios: | |
| - Updating README. | |
| - Updating GitHub Actions. | |
| - Hotfixing a critical bug. | |
| 4. Project maintainers will test and can change your code before merging. | |
| 5. Write at least somewhat meaningful PR descriptions. There's no "right" way to do it, but the following may help with outlining a general structure: | |
| - What is the reason for a change? | |
| - What did you do to achieve this? | |
| - How would a reviewer test the change? | |
| 6. Mind the license. Your contributions will be licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License. If you don't know what that implies, consult your lawyer. | |
| ## Further reading | |
| 1. [How to write UI extensions](https://docs.sillytavern.app/for-contributors/writing-extensions/) | |
| 2. [How to write server plugins](https://docs.sillytavern.app/for-contributors/server-plugins) | |