Contributing

Bug reports, fixes, documentation and testing on hardware and desktops the developers don't have are all welcome. This page is a short map; the full guide is CONTRIBUTING.md.

Report a bug or suggest a feature

Open an issue with one of the issue forms. Search existing issues first.

Form	Use it when
Bug report	Something in Rostrum failed, crashed or behaved wrongly.
Audio routing	A bus, app rule, headset or OBS capture did the wrong thing.
Accessibility barrier	Something is hard or impossible to use with a screen reader, keyboard, zoom or other assistive technology.
Feature request	You want Rostrum to do something, or do it differently.

Helpful details: your distribution and desktop, the Rostrum version (Settings → About), what you expected, what happened, and the relevant part of the log file.

Security problems

Do not open a public issue. Report privately through GitHub's security advisory form or email security@getrostrum.dev. See SECURITY.md.

Test on your system

Testing on desktops, distributions and hardware beyond Kubuntu with Plasma is especially useful. The manual test plan lists the checks that need a real headset, OBS or a reboot. Areas that still need people with the hardware or a real session:

• the mic path with OBS, and OBS capture;
• quit and reboot routing with Discord;
• a real headset unplug;
• OBS while live: LIVE and REC badges, go-live warnings and scene mapping against a real OBS;
• push to talk, push to mute, panic mute and the on-screen messages in a real session;
• global shortcuts on non-Plasma desktops;
• Keep on Top for Compact View on Plasma Wayland;
• update checks against the real getrostrum.dev feed.

Translate Rostrum

Rostrum is in English only for now, and every string is ready for translation. To start a language, see CONTRIBUTING.md, Translating. Use the names the app uses for its own concepts (bus, scene, Headphones, Stream) consistently.

Send a change

1. Fork the repository and create a branch from main.
2. Make the change, with tests where they fit, and run ctest --test-dir build.
3. If it touches audio routing, the mic path, headphones, OBS or startup, walk through the matching manual tests.
4. Open a pull request and fill in the template.

For bigger changes (new pages, a change to how the audio graph is built, or new files written outside ~/.config/rostrum/), open an issue first to agree on the approach.

CONTRIBUTING.md covers the build options, code style, commit messages, and the rules that protect people who are live on stream, such as "quitting or crashing never silences apps".

Documents in the repository

Document	What it covers
README.md	Overview, usage, defaults, installation
CONTRIBUTING.md	Building, testing, code style, pull requests
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md	Contributor Covenant 2.1
SECURITY.md	Reporting vulnerabilities, scope
ACCESSIBILITY.md	Keyboard and screen reader support, known limitations
docs/audio.md	How the audio side works, and why
docs/privacy.md	Crash reports and updates: what is sent, and when
docs/manual-tests.md	Manual test plan and smoke test log
docs/releasing.md	Cutting a release, the AppImage and the update feed

Code of Conduct

Everyone taking part agrees to follow the Code of Conduct. Report unacceptable behavior to hello@getrostrum.dev or with GitHub's Report content option.

License

Rostrum is licensed under Apache-2.0. Contributions are accepted under the same license.