[Audit] Review CONTRIBUTING.md quick start and contributor flow clarity

[ashleyshaw]

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name: "🛡️ Audit"
about: "Propose, conduct, or document a security, accessibility, code, or process audit."
title: "[Audit] Review CONTRIBUTING.md quick start and contributor flow clarity"
labels: [status:needs-audit, priority:normal, area:security]

Audit Summary

Review CONTRIBUTING.md to assess whether it needs a short Quick Start or TL;DR section near the top and whether a simple contributor workflow diagram would improve clarity.

This should remain a small documentation improvement with low maintenance cost. Prefer a minimal summary and links to existing guidance rather than duplicating content already maintained elsewhere.

Audit Checklist / Scope

• Scope defined and agreed
• Areas/components listed
• Audit tools or standards referenced
• Risks and findings documented
• Remediation actions mapped
• Review the current structure and scannability of CONTRIBUTING.md
• Identify the minimum useful content for a top-level Quick Start / TL;DR
• Check whether contributor flow is clear for first-time contributors
• Assess whether a lightweight workflow diagram would add enough value to justify maintenance
• Confirm that any recommendation aligns with existing repo docs and avoids duplication

Findings / Risks

Potential findings may include:

• CONTRIBUTING.md is useful as a reference but may be slow to scan for first-time contributors.
• Key contributor actions may be present but not surfaced early enough in the document.
• Adding too much summary content could duplicate guidance and increase maintenance overhead.
• A workflow diagram may help clarity, but only if it stays simple and easy to keep up to date.

Remediation Actions

• Add a short Quick Start / TL;DR section near the top of CONTRIBUTING.md if the audit confirms a clear onboarding gap.
• Keep the summary concise and link to deeper sections instead of repeating existing guidance.
• Only add a diagram if it provides clear value and can be maintained with minimal effort.
• If changes are made, validate Markdown formatting and keep the diff tightly scoped.

Acceptance Criteria

• Audit scope and checklist completed
• Findings and risks documented
• Remediation actions assigned and tracked
• Documentation/changelog updated (if applicable)
• PR uses correct branch prefix (audit/)
• A clear recommendation is made on whether to add a Quick Start / TL;DR section
• A clear recommendation is made on whether to add a workflow diagram
• Any proposed follow-up keeps changes minimal, practical, and maintainable

Additional Context

Related issue: #18
Current focus: improving contributor onboarding clarity in CONTRIBUTING.md without expanding scope or creating duplicate documentation.

Suggested audit lens:

• clarity for new contributors
• documentation maintainability
• consistency with existing repo instructions
• low-cost, high-value improvements

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Definition of Ready (DoR)

• Audit scope, checklist, and goals defined
• Areas/components listed
• Dependencies and standards mapped

Definition of Done (DoD)

• Audit performed and findings documented
• Remediation actions assigned
• Documentation/changelog updated (if applicable)
• PR uses correct branch prefix (audit/)

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