CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contributing to Flutter

[![Build Status](https://api.cirrus-ci.com/github/flutter/packages.svg)](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/flutter/packages)

_See also: [Flutter's code of conduct](https://flutter.io/design-principles/#code-of-conduct)_

## Things you will need

- Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows.
- git (used for source version control).
- An ssh client (used to authenticate with GitHub).

## Getting the code and configuring your environment

- Ensure all the dependencies described in the previous section are installed.
- Fork `https://github.com/flutter/packages` into your own GitHub account. If
  you already have a fork, and are now installing a development environment on
  a new machine, make sure you've updated your fork so that you don't use stale
  configuration options from long ago.
- If you haven't configured your machine with an SSH key that's known to github, then
  follow [GitHub's directions](https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys/)
  to generate an SSH key.
- `git clone git@github.com:<your_name_here>/packages.git`
- `cd packages`
- `git remote add upstream git@github.com:flutter/packages.git` (So that you
  fetch from the master repository, not your clone, when running `git fetch`
  et al.)

## Running the examples

To run an example with a prebuilt binary from the cloud, switch to that
example's directory, run `flutter packages get` to make sure its dependencies have been
downloaded, and use `flutter run`. Make sure you have a device connected over
USB and debugging enabled on that device. For example:

- `cd packages/palette_generator/example`
- `flutter packages get`
- `flutter run`

## Contributing code

We gladly accept contributions via GitHub pull requests.

Please peruse our
[style guide](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo) and
[design principles](https://flutter.io/design-principles/) before
working on anything non-trivial. These guidelines are intended to
keep the code consistent and avoid common pitfalls.

To start working on a patch:

- `git fetch upstream`
- `git checkout upstream/master -b <name_of_your_branch>`
- Hack away.
- Verify changes with [flutter_plugin_tools](https://pub.dartlang.org/packages/flutter_plugin_tools)

```shell
pub global activate flutter_plugin_tools
pub global run flutter_plugin_tools format --plugins package_name
pub global run flutter_plugin_tools analyze --plugins package_name
pub global run flutter_plugin_tools test --plugins package_name
```

_If `pub` is not available, use `flutter pub` instead._

- Check that the package can be published (but don't publish it until it has landed!):

```shell
cd packages/package_name; pub publish --dry-run
```

- `git commit -am "<your informative commit message>"`
- `git push origin <name_of_your_branch>`

To send us a pull request:

- `git pull-request` (if you are using [Hub](http://github.com/github/hub/)) or
  go to `https://github.com/flutter/packages` and click the
  "Compare & pull request" button

Please make sure all your checkins have detailed commit messages explaining the patch.

Once you've gotten an LGTM from a project maintainer and once your PR has received
the green light from all our automated testing (Travis, AppVeyor, etc), submit your
changes to the `master` branch using one of the following methods:

- Wait for one of the project maintainers to submit it for you.
- Click the green "Merge pull request" button on the GitHub UI of your pull
  request (requires commit access).

You must complete the [Contributor License Agreement](https://cla.developers.google.com/clas).
You can do this online, and it only takes a minute.
If you've never submitted code before, you must add your (or your
organization's) name and contact info to the [AUTHORS](AUTHORS) file.

We grant commit access to people who have gained our trust and demonstrated
a commitment to Flutter.