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Contributing

Dylan Coben edited this page Mar 6, 2025 · 2 revisions

Contributing to Hide and Seek

This guide explains the contribution process for the Hide and Seek project, including how to set up your development environment, find issues to work on, create branches, and submit changes. This page assumed you've already gone through getting started in the README.

2. Find an Issue to Work On

Unlike many open source projects, we track work through feature branches rather than assigning issues directly:

  • Browse the issues page on GitHub to find open issues
  • Check if someone has already started working on an issue by looking for:
    • The in progress tag
    • Existing feature branches (click the branch dropdown in GitHub and select "View all branches")
  • If you find an issue you want to work on, leave a comment so the tech leads can mark it as in progress
  • You can take over any branch that hasn't had activity for five days or more, or is marked with the stale label
  • If you don't have access to create a feature branch on the repo, reach out to one of the tech leads in the OSC Discord

3. Create a New Branch

If you need to create a new feature branch:

  1. Switch to the development branch: git checkout development
  2. Make sure your local repository is up to date: git pull
  3. Create your feature branch following the naming conventions: git branch <feature-branch-name>
  4. Switch to your new branch: git checkout <feature-branch-name>

Important: Always create feature branches from the development branch, not from other feature branches.

Branch Naming Conventions

  • Feature branches: Use prefix feature/ (Example: feature/3/login-system)
  • Bugfix branches: Use prefix bugfix/ (Example: bugfix/5/header-styling)

Additional naming requirements:

  • Include the issue number after the prefix: bugfix/12/map-crashing
  • Use lowercase letters and separate words with hyphens
  • Avoid consecutive hyphens
  • Optionally include your username: feature/3/login-system-username

4. Make and Push Your Changes

When making changes:

  • Format your code before committing by running yarn run format
  • Run linting checks with yarn run lint
  • Create commits regularly: git add . and git commit -m "<commit message>"
  • Push your commits to the main repository frequently with git push origin

Regular pushing ensures others can see your work and won't accidentally start working on the same issue.

5. Create a Pull Request

When your feature is complete:

  1. Go to the main repository page on GitHub
  2. From the "branch" menu, select your branch
  3. Click "Compare & pull request" in the yellow banner above the file list
  4. Enter a descriptive title and description for your pull request
  5. Include Closes #<issue-number> in the description to link the issue (Example: Closes #5)

A tech lead will review your code and approve it before merging into the development branch.

Best Practices

  • Keep your branches focused on a single issue
  • Communicate with team members about the changes you're making
  • Follow the project's coding standards and style guide
  • Test your changes thoroughly before submitting a pull request
  • Respond to review feedback promptly