path: root/CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contributing code to Synapse

Everyone is welcome to contribute code to [matrix.org
projects](https://github.com/matrix-org), provided that they are willing to
license their contributions under the same license as the project itself. We
follow a simple 'inbound=outbound' model for contributions: the act of
submitting an 'inbound' contribution means that the contributor agrees to
license the code under the same terms as the project's overall 'outbound'
license - in our case, this is almost always Apache Software License v2 (see
[LICENSE](LICENSE)).

## How to contribute

The preferred and easiest way to contribute changes is to fork the relevant
project on github, and then [create a pull request](
https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/) to ask us to pull your
changes into our repo.

**The single biggest thing you need to know is: please base your changes on
the develop branch - *not* master.**

We use the master branch to track the most recent release, so that folks who
blindly clone the repo and automatically check out master get something that
works. Develop is the unstable branch where all the development actually
happens: the workflow is that contributors should fork the develop branch to
make a 'feature' branch for a particular contribution, and then make a pull
request to merge this back into the matrix.org 'official' develop branch. We
use github's pull request workflow to review the contribution, and either ask
you to make any refinements needed or merge it and make them ourselves. The
changes will then land on master when we next do a release.

Some other things you will need to know when contributing to Synapse:

 * Please follow the [code style requirements](#code-style).

 * Please include a [changelog entry](#changelog) with each PR.

 * Please [sign off](#sign-off) your contribution.

 * Please keep an eye on the pull request for feedback from the [continuous
   integration system](#continuous-integration-and-testing) and try to fix any
   errors that come up.

 * If you need to [update your PR](#updating-your-pull-request), just add new
   commits to your branch rather than rebasing.

## Code style

Synapse's code style is documented [here](docs/code_style.md). Please follow
it, including the conventions for the [sample configuration
file](docs/code_style.md#configuration-file-format).

Many of the conventions are enforced by scripts which are run as part of the
[continuous integration system](#continuous-integration-and-testing). To help
check if you have followed the code style, you can run `scripts-dev/lint.sh`
locally. You'll need python 3.6 or later, and to install a number of tools:

```
# Install the dependencies
pip install -U black flake8 flake8-comprehensions isort

# Run the linter script
./scripts-dev/lint.sh
```

**Note that the script does not just test/check, but also reformats code, so you
may wish to ensure any new code is committed first**.

By default, this script checks all files and can take some time; if you alter
only certain files, you might wish to specify paths as arguments to reduce the
run-time:

```
./scripts-dev/lint.sh path/to/file1.py path/to/file2.py path/to/folder
```

Before pushing new changes, ensure they don't produce linting errors. Commit any
files that were corrected.

Please ensure your changes match the cosmetic style of the existing project,
and **never** mix cosmetic and functional changes in the same commit, as it
makes it horribly hard to review otherwise.

## Changelog

All changes, even minor ones, need a corresponding changelog / newsfragment
entry. These are managed by [Towncrier](https://github.com/hawkowl/towncrier).

To create a changelog entry, make a new file in the `changelog.d` directory named
in the format of `PRnumber.type`. The type can be one of the following:

* `feature`
* `bugfix`
* `docker` (for updates to the Docker image)
* `doc` (for updates to the documentation)
* `removal` (also used for deprecations)
* `misc` (for internal-only changes)

This file will become part of our [changelog](
https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/CHANGES.md) at the next
release, so the content of the file should be a short description of your
change in the same style as the rest of the changelog. The file can contain Markdown
formatting, and should end with a full stop (.) or an exclamation mark (!) for
consistency.

Adding credits to the changelog is encouraged, we value your
contributions and would like to have you shouted out in the release notes!

For example, a fix in PR #1234 would have its changelog entry in
`changelog.d/1234.bugfix`, and contain content like:

> The security levels of Florbs are now validated when received
> via the `/federation/florb` endpoint. Contributed by Jane Matrix.

If there are multiple pull requests involved in a single bugfix/feature/etc,
then the content for each `changelog.d` file should be the same. Towncrier will
merge the matching files together into a single changelog entry when we come to
release.

### How do I know what to call the changelog file before I create the PR?

Obviously, you don't know if you should call your newsfile
`1234.bugfix` or `5678.bugfix` until you create the PR, which leads to a
chicken-and-egg problem.

There are two options for solving this:

 1. Open the PR without a changelog file, see what number you got, and *then*
    add the changelog file to your branch (see [Updating your pull
    request](#updating-your-pull-request)), or:

 1. Look at the [list of all
    issues/PRs](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues?q=), add one to the
    highest number you see, and quickly open the PR before somebody else claims
    your number.

    [This
    script](https://github.com/richvdh/scripts/blob/master/next_github_number.sh)
    might be helpful if you find yourself doing this a lot.

Sorry, we know it's a bit fiddly, but it's *really* helpful for us when we come
to put together a release!

### Debian changelog

Changes which affect the debian packaging files (in `debian`) are an
exception to the rule that all changes require a `changelog.d` file.

In this case, you will need to add an entry to the debian changelog for the
next release. For this, run the following command:

```
dch
```

This will make up a new version number (if there isn't already an unreleased
version in flight), and open an editor where you can add a new changelog entry.
(Our release process will ensure that the version number and maintainer name is
corrected for the release.)

If your change affects both the debian packaging *and* files outside the debian
directory, you will need both a regular newsfragment *and* an entry in the
debian changelog. (Though typically such changes should be submitted as two
separate pull requests.)

## Sign off

In order to have a concrete record that your contribution is intentional
and you agree to license it under the same terms as the project's license, we've adopted the
same lightweight approach that the Linux Kernel
[submitting patches process](
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#sign-your-work-the-developer-s-certificate-of-origin>),
[Docker](https://github.com/docker/docker/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md), and many other
projects use: the DCO (Developer Certificate of Origin:
http://developercertificate.org/). This is a simple declaration that you wrote
the contribution or otherwise have the right to contribute it to Matrix:

```
Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1

Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
660 York Street, Suite 102,
San Francisco, CA 94110 USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
    have the right to submit it under the open source license
    indicated in the file; or

(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
    of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
    license and I have the right under that license to submit that
    work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
    by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
    permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
    in the file; or

(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
    person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
    it.

(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
    are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
    personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
    maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
    this project or the open source license(s) involved.
```

If you agree to this for your contribution, then all that's needed is to
include the line in your commit or pull request comment:

```
Signed-off-by: Your Name <your@email.example.org>
```

We accept contributions under a legally identifiable name, such as
your name on government documentation or common-law names (names
claimed by legitimate usage or repute). Unfortunately, we cannot
accept anonymous contributions at this time.

Git allows you to add this signoff automatically when using the `-s`
flag to `git commit`, which uses the name and email set in your
`user.name` and `user.email` git configs.

## Continuous integration and testing

[Buildkite](https://buildkite.com/matrix-dot-org/synapse) will automatically
run a series of checks and tests against any PR which is opened against the
project; if your change breaks the build, this will be shown in GitHub, with
links to the build results. If your build fails, please try to fix the errors
and update your branch.

To run unit tests in a local development environment, you can use:

- ``tox -e py35`` (requires tox to be installed by ``pip install tox``)
  for SQLite-backed Synapse on Python 3.5.
- ``tox -e py36`` for SQLite-backed Synapse on Python 3.6.
- ``tox -e py36-postgres`` for PostgreSQL-backed Synapse on Python 3.6
  (requires a running local PostgreSQL with access to create databases).
- ``./test_postgresql.sh`` for PostgreSQL-backed Synapse on Python 3.5
  (requires Docker). Entirely self-contained, recommended if you don't want to
  set up PostgreSQL yourself.

Docker images are available for running the integration tests (SyTest) locally,
see the [documentation in the SyTest repo](
https://github.com/matrix-org/sytest/blob/develop/docker/README.md) for more
information.

## Updating your pull request

If you decide to make changes to your pull request - perhaps to address issues
raised in a review, or to fix problems highlighted by [continuous
integration](#continuous-integration-and-testing) - just add new commits to your
branch, and push to GitHub. The pull request will automatically be updated.

Please **avoid** rebasing your branch, especially once the PR has been
reviewed: doing so makes it very difficult for a reviewer to see what has
changed since a previous review.

## Notes for maintainers on merging PRs etc

There are some notes for those with commit access to the project on how we
manage git [here](docs/dev/git.md).

## Conclusion

That's it! Matrix is a very open and collaborative project as you might expect
given our obsession with open communication. If we're going to successfully
matrix together all the fragmented communication technologies out there we are
reliant on contributions and collaboration from the community to do so. So
please get involved - and we hope you have as much fun hacking on Matrix as we
do!