Please read these guidelines before submitting an issue, filing a feature request, or contributing code.
If you have a question about using Mocha, please use StackOverflow or ask the friendly people in our Discord.
Before adding anything to the issue tracker, please search issues to see if it's already been reported. Make sure to check closed and/or older issues as well.
With the exception of minor documentation typos, all changes to Mocha should be discussed in the issue tracker first. This includes bugs, feature requests, and improvements to documentation.
Sorry! It happens to the best of us.
Please file an issue using the bug report template with as much detail as possible to help us reproduce and diagnose the bug. Most importantly:
- Let us know how you're running Mocha (options, flags, environment, browser or Node.js, etc.).
- Include your test code or file(s). If large, please provide a link to a repository or gist.
If we need more information from you, we'll let you know. If you don't within a few weeks, your issue will be closed for inactivity.
Please file an issue using the feature request template. Most importantly:
- Let us know what the proposed change is, in as much detail as you can
- Explain why you want the change
- Include your test code or file(s). If large, please provide a link to a repository or gist.
We'll discuss your proposed changes and how they relate to the overarching goals of Mocha, detailed below in ⚽️ About Project Goals.
Mocha is a test framework. Developers use it against anything from legacy spaghetti in barely-supported browsers to stage-0 TC39 features in Electron. Mocha is committed to providing support for maintained (LTS) versions of Node.js and popular browsers.
Mocha adheres strictly to semantic versioning. We are extremely cautious with changes that have the potential to break; given the size of Mocha's user base, it's highly unlikely a breaking change will slide by.
Mocha's usage far outweighs its resources. If a proposed feature would incur a maintenance penalty, it could be a hard sell.
We ask you please keep these goals in mind when making or proposing changes.
Excellent. Here's how:
- Handy with JavaScript? Please check out the issues labeled
status: accepting prs
orgood first issue
. Trynpx good-first-issue mocha
! - Can you write
goodwell? The documentation almost always needs some love. See the doc-related issues. - Design your thing? Our site needs your magic touch.
- Familiar with Mocha's codebase? We could use your help triaging issues and/or reviewing pull requests. Please contact an org member, and we'll chat.
- Want to build our community? Mocha has a lot of users. We could use your help bringing everyone together in peace and harmony. Please contact an org member.
- Do you write unit tests for fun? A PR which increases coverage is unlikely to be turned down.
- Are you experienced? 🎸 If you're a seasoned Mocha user, why not help answer some questions in our Discord's
#help
channel?
First follow the steps in DEVELOPMENT.md to get Mocha's repository installed locally. Then:
- Make sure the issue is labeled with
status: accepting prs
- Create a new branch in your working copy.
- Make your changes and add them via
git add
.- Your changes will likely be somewhere in
lib/
,bin/
, or (if your changes are browser-specific)browser-entry.js
. - Unit and/or integration tests are required for any code change.
These live in
test/
. - Do not modify the root
mocha.js
file directly; it is automatically generated. - Keep your PR focused. Don't fix two things at once; don't upgrade dependencies unless necessary.
- Your changes will likely be somewhere in
- Before committing, run
npm test
.- This will run both Node.js-based and browser-based tests.
- Ultimately, your pull request will be built on our continuous integration servers (GitHub Actions). The first step to ensuring these checks pass is to test on your own machine.
- A coverage check will be sent to Coveralls. A drop in code coverage % is considered a failed check.
- Commit your changes.
- Use a brief message on the first line, referencing a relevant issue (e.g.
closes #12345
). - Add detail in subsequent lines.
- A pre-commit hook will run which automatically formats your staged changes (and fixes any problems it can) with ESLint and Prettier. If ESLint fails to fix an issue, your commit will fail and you will need to manually correct the problem.
- Use a brief message on the first line, referencing a relevant issue (e.g.
- (Optional) Ensure you are up-to-date with Mocha's
main
branch:- You can add an "upstream" remote repo using
git remote add upstream https://github.com/mochajs/mocha.git && git fetch upstream
. - Navigate to your
main
branch usinggit checkout main
. - Pull changes from
upstream
usinggit pull upstream main
. - If any changes were pulled in, update your branch from
main
by switching back to your branch (git checkout <your-branch>
) then merging usinggit merge main
.
- You can add an "upstream" remote repo using
- Push your changes to your fork;
git push origin
. - In your browser, navigate to mochajs/mocha. You should see a notification about your recent changes in your fork's branch, with a (green?) button to create a pull request. Click it.
- Describe your changes in detail here, following the template. Once you're satisfied, submit the form.
At that point, hooray! 🎉 You should see a pull request on github.com/mochajs/mocha/pulls.
Now that the pull request exists, some tasks will be run on it:
- If you have not signed our Contributor License Agreement, a friendly robot will prompt you to do so. A CLA (electronic) signature is required for all contributions of code to Mocha.
- Continuous integration checks will run against your changes.
The result of these checks will be displayed on your PR.
- If the checks fail, you must address those before the PR is accepted.
- Be patient while your PR is reviewed. This can take a while. We may request changes, but don't be afraid to question them.
- Your PR might become conflicted with the code in
main
. If this is the case, you will need to update your PR and resolve your conflicts. - You don't need to make a new PR to any needed changes. Instead, commit on top of your changes, and push these to your fork's branch. The PR will be updated, and CI will re-run.
- Once you've addressed all the feedback you can, re-request review on GitHub.
Join us in our Discord!