pkg: add CONTRIBUTING

explain lint

explain commit message preferences in CONTIRBUTING

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# Contributing to Handshake
+
+## Code style
+
+This repository includes a file [.eslintrc.json](.eslintrc.json) which sets
+linting preferences for the project. The continuous integration bot will
+install [bslint](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bslint) which vendors a specific
+version of eslint. Before submitting a pull request, please make sure your code
+is clean of linting errors. If you choose to use bslint, it can be installed
+globally in your development environment:
+
+```
+npm install bslint -g
+cd hsd            # must be in repository root
+npm run lint      # command is defined in package.json
+```
+
+## Testing
+
+[bmocha](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bmocha) will be installed as a
+"developer dependency" if installed without the `--production` flag. The
+complete built-in testing suite can be run with the command:
+
+```
+cd hsd
+npm run test
+```
+
+You can specify a single test file to run with (for example):
+
+```
+cd hsd
+npm run test-file test/wallet-test.js
+```
+
+Before submitting a pull request, please make sure your code changes do not
+break any of the existing regression tests or linting rules. We currently use
+GitHub Workflows to run the testing suite on all new pull requests.
+
+Recent workflow actions are available:
+https://github.com/handshake-org/hsd/actions
+
+All code changes should be covered by new tests if applicable. We currently use
+Coveralls to examine test coverage, and a pull request that *decreases* test
+coverage will likely not be reviewed by contributors or maintainers.
+
+Current test coverage details are available:
+https://coveralls.io/github/handshake-org/hsd
+
+## Commit messages
+
+Whenever possible, commits should prefixed by the module they change. The module
+name is generally the folder name in the `lib/` directory in which the changes
+occur (subdirectories can usually be ignored). Please see recent
+[commits to master branch](https://github.com/handshake-org/hsd/commits/master)
+for examples of the preferred pattern.
+
+Additional examples:
+
+```
+test: increase timeouts
+pkg: update CHANGELOG
+wallet: expose importname in RPC
+```
+
+Additional commit details are always welcome after the short title. A good
+example of this is in
+[this commit](https://github.com/handshake-org/hsd/commit/c385fc59d488f5cd592a1d23554fe1c018bf26da).
+Note how the author used a very brief commit message as the title but then added
+a detailed description in the extended message.
+
+
+

README.md

@@ -123,6 +123,12 @@ $ npm install -g hs-client
 - API Docs: [https://hsd-dev.org/api-docs](https://hsd-dev.org/api-docs)
 - JSDoc: [https://hsd-dev.org/docs](https://hsd-dev.org/docs)
 
+## Contributing
+
+Handshake is a community project, we welcome contributions of all kinds from
+everyone. Before opening a pull request, please review the style guide and
+workflow tips in [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
 ## Quickstart
 
 ### API