CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to AI Visual Code Review

Thank you for your interest in contributing to AI Visual Code Review! This document provides guidelines and instructions for contributing.

📋 Table of Contents

• Code of Conduct
• Getting Started
• Development Setup
• How to Contribute
• Pull Request Process
• Coding Standards
• Testing Guidelines
• Commit Message Convention

Code of Conduct

This project adheres to a Code of Conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code.

Getting Started

1. Fork the repository on GitHub
2. Clone your fork locally
3. Create a branch for your feature/fix
4. Make changes and test them
5. Submit a Pull Request

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 14.0.0
• npm >= 6.0.0
• Git

Installation

# Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/ai-visual-code-review.git
cd ai-visual-code-review

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Install VSCode extension dependencies
cd vscode-extension && npm install && cd ..

# Run tests
npm test

# Start development server
npm run dev

Available Scripts

Script	Description
npm start	Start production server
npm run dev	Start development server with nodemon
npm test	Run all tests
npm run test:watch	Run tests in watch mode
npm run test:coverage	Run tests with coverage
npm run lint	Run ESLint
npm run lint:fix	Auto-fix lint issues
npm run build	Build project
npm run vscode:compile	Compile VSCode extension

How to Contribute

Reporting Bugs

1. Check existing issues first
2. Use the bug report template
3. Include:
   • Node.js version
   • OS and version
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Expected vs actual behavior
   • Error messages/logs

Suggesting Features

1. Check existing feature requests
2. Use the feature request template
3. Explain the use case
4. Describe expected behavior

Code Contributions

1. Look for issues labeled good first issue or help wanted
2. Comment on the issue to claim it
3. Fork and create a feature branch
4. Make your changes
5. Submit a PR

Pull Request Process

1. Update documentation for any new features
2. Add tests for new functionality
3. Run the test suite and ensure all tests pass
4. Follow coding standards and commit conventions
5. Link related issues in the PR description
6. Wait for review and address feedback

PR Checklist

• Tests pass (npm test)
• Lint passes (npm run lint)
• Documentation updated
• CHANGELOG.md updated
• Commit messages follow convention

Coding Standards

JavaScript/Node.js

• Use ES6+ features
• Use const by default, let when reassignment needed
• Never use var
• Use template literals for string interpolation
• Use async/await over callbacks
• Add JSDoc comments for public functions

Code Style

We use ESLint to enforce consistent code style:

# Check code style
npm run lint

# Auto-fix issues
npm run lint:fix

File Organization

src/
├── config/      # Configuration modules
├── middleware/  # Express middleware
├── routes/      # API route handlers
└── utils/       # Utility functions

services/        # Business logic services
public/          # Static frontend files
test/            # Test files

Testing Guidelines

Running Tests

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run specific test file
npm test -- test/server.test.js

# Run with coverage
npm run test:coverage

Writing Tests

• Place tests in test/ directory
• Name test files *.test.js
• Use descriptive test names
• Follow Arrange-Act-Assert pattern
• Test edge cases and error conditions

Example Test

describe('API Endpoint', () => {
  it('should return health status', async () => {
    const response = await request(app)
      .get('/api/health')
      .expect(200);

    expect(response.body.status).toBe('healthy');
  });
});

Commit Message Convention

We follow Conventional Commits:

Format

<type>(<scope>): <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer]

Types

Type	Description
feat	New feature
fix	Bug fix
docs	Documentation
style	Code style (formatting)
refactor	Code refactoring
test	Adding tests
chore	Maintenance tasks
perf	Performance improvement
security	Security fix

Examples

feat(api): add file exclusion support
fix(cli): resolve path traversal vulnerability
docs(readme): update installation instructions
test(server): add rate limiting tests

Questions?

• Open an issue with your question
• Tag it with question label
• We'll respond as soon as possible

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Thank you for contributing! 🎉