CONTRIBUTING.md - mirrors/flutter - Git at Google

 <!-- when editing this file also update https://github.com/flutter/.github/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md -->

 Contributing to Flutter
 =======================

 _tl;dr: join [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat), be [courteous](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), follow the steps below to set up a development environment; if you stick around and contribute, you can [join the team](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access) and get commit access._

 Welcome
 -------

 We invite you to join the Flutter team, which is made up of volunteers and sponsored folk alike!
 There are many ways to contribute, including writing code, filing issues on GitHub, helping people
 on our mailing lists, our chat channels, or on Stack Overflow, helping to triage, reproduce, or
 fix bugs that people have filed, adding to our documentation,
 doing outreach about Flutter, or helping out in any other way.

 We grant commit access (which includes full rights to the issue
 database, such as being able to edit labels) to people who have gained
 our trust and demonstrated a commitment to Flutter. For more details
 see the [Contributor access](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access)
 page on our wiki.

 We communicate primarily over GitHub and [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).

 Before you get started, we encourage you to read these documents which describe some of our community norms:

 1. [Our code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), which stipulates explicitly
    that everyone must be gracious, respectful, and professional. This
    also documents our conflict resolution policy and encourages people
    to ask questions.

 2. [Values](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Values),
    which talks about what we care most about.

 Helping out in the issue database
 ---------------------------------

 Triage is the process of going through bug reports and determining if they are valid, finding out
 how to reproduce them, catching duplicate reports, and generally making our issues list
 useful for our engineers.

 If you want to help us triage, you are very welcome to do so!

 1. Join the #hackers-triage [Discord channel](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).

 2. Read [our code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), which stipulates explicitly
    that everyone must be gracious, respectful, and professional. If you're helping out
    with triage, you are representing the Flutter team, and so you want to make sure to
    make a good impression!

 3. Help out as described in our wiki: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Triage
    You won't be able to add labels at first, so instead start by trying to
    do the other steps, e.g. trying to reproduce the problem and asking for people to
    provide enough details that you can reproduce the problem, pointing out duplicates,
    and so on. Chat on the #hackers-triage channel to let us know what you're up to!

 4. Familiarize yourself with our
    [issue hygiene](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Issue-hygiene) wiki page,
    which covers the meanings of some important GitHub labels and
    milestones.

 5. Once you've been doing this for a while, someone will invite you to the flutter-hackers
    team on GitHub and you'll be able to add labels too. See the
    [contributor access](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access) wiki
    page for details.


 Quality Assurance
 -----------------

 One of the most useful tasks, closely related to triage, is finding and filing bug reports. Testing
 beta releases, looking for regressions, creating test cases, adding to our test suites, and
 other work along these lines can really drive the quality of the product up. Creating tests
 that increase our test coverage, writing tests for issues others have filed, all these tasks
 are really valuable contributions to open source projects.

 If this interests you, you can jump in and submit bug reports without needing anyone's permission!
 The #quality-assurance channel on our [Discord server](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat)
 is a good place to talk about what you're doing. We're especially eager for QA testing when
 we announce a beta release. See https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Quality-Assurance for
 more details.

 If you want to contribute test cases, you can also submit PRs. See the next section
 for how to set up your development environment, or ask in #hackers-test on Discord.

 > As a personal side note, this is exactly the kind of work that first got me into open
 > source. I was a Quality Assurance volunteer on the Mozilla project, writing test cases for
 > browsers, long before I wrote a line of code for any open source project. —Hixie


 Developing for Flutter
 ----------------------

 If you would prefer to write code, you may wish to start with our list of [good first contributions](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+contribution%22).

 To develop for Flutter, you will eventually need to become familiar
 with our processes and conventions. This section lists the documents
 that describe these methodologies. The following list is ordered: you
 are strongly recommended to go through these documents in the order
 presented.

 1. [Setting up your engine development environment](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Setting-up-the-Engine-development-environment),
    which describes the steps you need to configure your computer to
    work on Flutter's engine. If you only want to write code for the
    Flutter framework, you can skip this step. Flutter's engine mainly
    uses C++, Java, and Objective-C.

 2. [Setting up your framework development environment](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Setting-up-the-Framework-development-environment),
    which describes the steps you need to configure your computer to
    work on Flutter's framework. Flutter's framework mainly uses Dart.

 3. [Tree hygiene](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Tree-hygiene),
    which covers how to land a PR, how to do code review, how to
    handle breaking changes, how to handle regressions, and how to
    handle post-commit test failures.

 4. [Our style guide](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo),
    which includes advice for designing APIs for Flutter, and how to
    format code in the framework.

 5. [Flutter design doc template](https://flutter.dev/go/template),
    which should be used when proposing a new technical design.  This is a good
    practice to do before coding more intricate changes.
    See also our [guidance for writing design docs](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Design-Documents).

 [![How to contribute to Flutter](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4yBgOBAOx_A/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yBgOBAOx_A)

 In addition to the documents, there is a video linked above on **How to contribute to Flutter**
 from the [Flutter](https://youtube.com/c/flutterdev) YouTube channel,
 there are many pages on [our Wiki](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/),
 and an article [Contributing to Flutter: Getting Started](https://medium.com/@ayushbherwani/contributing-to-flutter-getting-started-a0db68cbcd5b)
 on Medium that may be of interest. For a curated list of pages see the sidebar
 on the wiki's home page. They are more or less listed in order of importance.


 Outreach
 --------

 If your interests lie in the direction of developer relations and developer outreach,
 whether advocating for Flutter, answering questions in fora like
 [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/flutter?sort=Newest&filters=NoAnswers,NoAcceptedAnswer&edited=true)
 or [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/flutterhelp/new/?f=flair_name%3A%22OPEN%22),
 or creating content for our [documentation](https://docs.flutter.dev/)
 or sites like [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flutter&sp=EgQIAxAB),
 the best starting point is to join the #hackers-devrel [Discord channel](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).
 From there, you can describe what you're interested in doing, and go ahead and do it!
 As others become familiar with your work, they may have feedback, be interested in
 collaborating, or want to coordinate their efforts with yours.


 API documentation
 -----------------

 Another great area to contribute in is sample code and API documentation. If this is an area that interests you, join our
 [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) server and introduce yourself on the #hackers-deverl, #hackers-framework,
 or #hackers-engine channels, describing your area of interest. As our API docs are integrated into our source code, see the
 "developing for Flutter" section above for a guide on how to set up your developer environment.

 To contribute API documentation, an excellent command of the English language is particularly helpful, as is a careful attention to detail.
 We have a [whole section in our style guide](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo#documentation-dartdocs-javadocs-etc)
 that you should read before you write API documentation. It includes notes on the "Flutter Voice", such as our word and grammar conventions.

 In general, a really productive way to improve documentation is to use Flutter and stop any time you have a question: find the answer, then
 document the answer where you first looked for it.

 We also keep [a list of areas that need better API documentation](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22d%3A+api+docs%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc).
 In many cases, we have written down what needs to be said in the relevant issue, we just haven't gotten around to doing it!

 We're especially eager to add sample code and diagrams to our API documentation. Diagrams are generated from Flutter code that
 draws to a canvas, and stored in a [special repository](https://github.com/flutter/assets-for-api-docs/#readme). It can be a lot of fun
 to create new diagrams for the API docs.


 Releases
 --------

 If you are interested in participating in our release process, which may involve writing release notes and blog posts, coordinating the actual
 generation of binaries, updating our release tooling, and other work of that nature, then reach out on the #hackers-releases
 channel of our [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) server.


 Social events in the contributor community
 ------------------------------------------

 Finally, one area where you could have a lot of impact is in contributing to social interactions among the Flutter contributor community itself.
 This could take the form of organizing weekly video chats on our Discord, or planning tech talks from contributors, for example.
 If this is an area that is of interest to you, please join our [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) and ping Hixie on the #hackers
 channel!
	<!-- when editing this file also update https://github.com/flutter/.github/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md -->

	Contributing to Flutter
	=======================

	_tl;dr: join [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat), be [courteous](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), follow the steps below to set up a development environment; if you stick around and contribute, you can [join the team](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access) and get commit access._

	Welcome
	-------

	We invite you to join the Flutter team, which is made up of volunteers and sponsored folk alike!
	There are many ways to contribute, including writing code, filing issues on GitHub, helping people
	on our mailing lists, our chat channels, or on Stack Overflow, helping to triage, reproduce, or
	fix bugs that people have filed, adding to our documentation,
	doing outreach about Flutter, or helping out in any other way.

	We grant commit access (which includes full rights to the issue
	database, such as being able to edit labels) to people who have gained
	our trust and demonstrated a commitment to Flutter. For more details
	see the [Contributor access](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access)
	page on our wiki.

	We communicate primarily over GitHub and [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).

	Before you get started, we encourage you to read these documents which describe some of our community norms:

	1. [Our code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), which stipulates explicitly
	that everyone must be gracious, respectful, and professional. This
	also documents our conflict resolution policy and encourages people
	to ask questions.

	2. [Values](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Values),
	which talks about what we care most about.

	Helping out in the issue database
	---------------------------------

	Triage is the process of going through bug reports and determining if they are valid, finding out
	how to reproduce them, catching duplicate reports, and generally making our issues list
	useful for our engineers.

	If you want to help us triage, you are very welcome to do so!

	1. Join the #hackers-triage [Discord channel](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).

	2. Read [our code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md), which stipulates explicitly
	that everyone must be gracious, respectful, and professional. If you're helping out
	with triage, you are representing the Flutter team, and so you want to make sure to
	make a good impression!

	3. Help out as described in our wiki: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Triage
	You won't be able to add labels at first, so instead start by trying to
	do the other steps, e.g. trying to reproduce the problem and asking for people to
	provide enough details that you can reproduce the problem, pointing out duplicates,
	and so on. Chat on the #hackers-triage channel to let us know what you're up to!

	4. Familiarize yourself with our
	[issue hygiene](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Issue-hygiene) wiki page,
	which covers the meanings of some important GitHub labels and
	milestones.

	5. Once you've been doing this for a while, someone will invite you to the flutter-hackers
	team on GitHub and you'll be able to add labels too. See the
	[contributor access](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Contributor-access) wiki
	page for details.


	Quality Assurance
	-----------------

	One of the most useful tasks, closely related to triage, is finding and filing bug reports. Testing
	beta releases, looking for regressions, creating test cases, adding to our test suites, and
	other work along these lines can really drive the quality of the product up. Creating tests
	that increase our test coverage, writing tests for issues others have filed, all these tasks
	are really valuable contributions to open source projects.

	If this interests you, you can jump in and submit bug reports without needing anyone's permission!
	The #quality-assurance channel on our [Discord server](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat)
	is a good place to talk about what you're doing. We're especially eager for QA testing when
	we announce a beta release. See https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Quality-Assurance for
	more details.

	If you want to contribute test cases, you can also submit PRs. See the next section
	for how to set up your development environment, or ask in #hackers-test on Discord.

	> As a personal side note, this is exactly the kind of work that first got me into open
	> source. I was a Quality Assurance volunteer on the Mozilla project, writing test cases for
	> browsers, long before I wrote a line of code for any open source project. —Hixie


	Developing for Flutter
	----------------------

	If you would prefer to write code, you may wish to start with our list of [good first contributions](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+contribution%22).

	To develop for Flutter, you will eventually need to become familiar
	with our processes and conventions. This section lists the documents
	that describe these methodologies. The following list is ordered: you
	are strongly recommended to go through these documents in the order
	presented.

	1. [Setting up your engine development environment](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Setting-up-the-Engine-development-environment),
	which describes the steps you need to configure your computer to
	work on Flutter's engine. If you only want to write code for the
	Flutter framework, you can skip this step. Flutter's engine mainly
	uses C++, Java, and Objective-C.

	2. [Setting up your framework development environment](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Setting-up-the-Framework-development-environment),
	which describes the steps you need to configure your computer to
	work on Flutter's framework. Flutter's framework mainly uses Dart.

	3. [Tree hygiene](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Tree-hygiene),
	which covers how to land a PR, how to do code review, how to
	handle breaking changes, how to handle regressions, and how to
	handle post-commit test failures.

	4. [Our style guide](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo),
	which includes advice for designing APIs for Flutter, and how to
	format code in the framework.

	5. [Flutter design doc template](https://flutter.dev/go/template),
	which should be used when proposing a new technical design. This is a good
	practice to do before coding more intricate changes.
	See also our [guidance for writing design docs](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Design-Documents).

	[![How to contribute to Flutter](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4yBgOBAOx_A/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yBgOBAOx_A)

	In addition to the documents, there is a video linked above on How to contribute to Flutter
	from the [Flutter](https://youtube.com/c/flutterdev) YouTube channel,
	there are many pages on [our Wiki](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/),
	and an article [Contributing to Flutter: Getting Started](https://medium.com/@ayushbherwani/contributing-to-flutter-getting-started-a0db68cbcd5b)
	on Medium that may be of interest. For a curated list of pages see the sidebar
	on the wiki's home page. They are more or less listed in order of importance.


	Outreach
	--------

	If your interests lie in the direction of developer relations and developer outreach,
	whether advocating for Flutter, answering questions in fora like
	[Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/flutter?sort=Newest&filters=NoAnswers,NoAcceptedAnswer&edited=true)
	or [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/flutterhelp/new/?f=flair_name%3A%22OPEN%22),
	or creating content for our [documentation](https://docs.flutter.dev/)
	or sites like [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flutter&sp=EgQIAxAB),
	the best starting point is to join the #hackers-devrel [Discord channel](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat).
	From there, you can describe what you're interested in doing, and go ahead and do it!
	As others become familiar with your work, they may have feedback, be interested in
	collaborating, or want to coordinate their efforts with yours.


	API documentation
	-----------------

	Another great area to contribute in is sample code and API documentation. If this is an area that interests you, join our
	[Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) server and introduce yourself on the #hackers-deverl, #hackers-framework,
	or #hackers-engine channels, describing your area of interest. As our API docs are integrated into our source code, see the
	"developing for Flutter" section above for a guide on how to set up your developer environment.

	To contribute API documentation, an excellent command of the English language is particularly helpful, as is a careful attention to detail.
	We have a [whole section in our style guide](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo#documentation-dartdocs-javadocs-etc)
	that you should read before you write API documentation. It includes notes on the "Flutter Voice", such as our word and grammar conventions.

	In general, a really productive way to improve documentation is to use Flutter and stop any time you have a question: find the answer, then
	document the answer where you first looked for it.

	We also keep [a list of areas that need better API documentation](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22d%3A+api+docs%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc).
	In many cases, we have written down what needs to be said in the relevant issue, we just haven't gotten around to doing it!

	We're especially eager to add sample code and diagrams to our API documentation. Diagrams are generated from Flutter code that
	draws to a canvas, and stored in a [special repository](https://github.com/flutter/assets-for-api-docs/#readme). It can be a lot of fun
	to create new diagrams for the API docs.


	Releases
	--------

	If you are interested in participating in our release process, which may involve writing release notes and blog posts, coordinating the actual
	generation of binaries, updating our release tooling, and other work of that nature, then reach out on the #hackers-releases
	channel of our [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) server.


	Social events in the contributor community
	------------------------------------------

	Finally, one area where you could have a lot of impact is in contributing to social interactions among the Flutter contributor community itself.
	This could take the form of organizing weekly video chats on our Discord, or planning tech talks from contributors, for example.
	If this is an area that is of interest to you, please join our [Discord](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Chat) and ping Hixie on the #hackers
	channel!