Contributing

Contributing

Jul.IA welcomes focused code, test, documentation, and operational improvements.

Local workflow

1. Fork and clone the repository.

2. Create a focused branch.

3. Install the supported Go toolchain and any tools needed by the area you change.

4. Run the fast local checks:

   make ci-fast

5. Run the full-tag checks when an optional feature is affected:

   make ci-full

6. Use the closest local pull-request gate when practical:

   make ci-pr

The exact CI matrix evolves. The contribution guide and workflows under .github/workflows/ are authoritative.

Change expectations

A user-visible feature normally needs:

• implementation and tests;
• schema and validation updates where configurable;
• canonical configuration documentation;
• a focused feature guide when needed;
• a runnable example or fixture;
• a security/threat note when relevant;
• an entry under CHANGELOG.md [Unreleased];
• admin, metrics, lifecycle, and compatibility updates where applicable.

Engineering conventions

• Format Go code with gofmt and satisfy the configured linters.
• Preserve error context and deterministic cleanup.
• Keep optional features behind explicit build tags with useful missing-tag errors.
• Prefer table-driven tests for handlers, middleware, parsing, and validation.
• Keep configuration behavior and documentation in the same pull request.
• Record durable design choices in an ADR rather than burying them in an implementation comment.

Commits and pull requests

Conventional commit prefixes are preferred, for example feat:, fix:, docs:, test:, refactor:, and chore:. Open a draft pull request early, keep the scope coherent, and explain user impact, validation, and compatibility.

The project uses the Developer Certificate of Origin. Sign commits with:

git commit -s

Canonical references

• CONTRIBUTING.md
• Project architecture
• ADRs
• Release process
• Changelog
• Security policy