paperclip/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing Guide

Thanks for wanting to contribute!

We really appreciate both small fixes and thoughtful larger changes.

Two Paths to Get Your Pull Request Accepted

Path 1: Small, Focused Changes (Fastest way to get merged)

• Pick one clear thing to fix/improve
• Touch the smallest possible number of files
• Make sure the change is very targeted and easy to review
• All automated checks pass (including Greptile comments)
• No new lint/test failures

These almost always get merged quickly when they're clean.

Path 2: Bigger or Impactful Changes

• First talk about it in Discord → #dev channel
  → Describe what you're trying to solve
  → Share rough ideas / approach
• Once there's rough agreement, build it
• In your PR include:
  • Before / After screenshots (or short video if UI/behavior change)
  • Clear description of what & why
  • Proof it works (manual testing notes)
  • All tests passing
  • All Greptile + other PR comments addressed

PRs that follow this path are much more likely to be accepted, even when they're large.

General Rules (both paths)

• Write clear commit messages
• Keep PR title + description meaningful
• One PR = one logical change (unless it's a small related group)
• Run tests locally first
• Be kind in discussions 😄

Questions? Just ask in #dev — we're happy to help.

Happy hacking!