Contribute

Workflow and Reviews

View as Markdown

This page describes the contribution workflow from local hooks through PR review.

Pre-Commit Hooks

Install hooks after cloning:

$uv run pre-commit install

Run them manually across the repo with:

$uv run pre-commit run --all-files

The configured hooks include a lightweight Markdown link check for README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and files under fern/.

Pull Request Process

Before submitting a PR:

  1. Ensure relevant hooks and tests pass.
  2. Verify the workspace builds cleanly.
  3. Update docs for public changes.
  4. Rebase on the latest main.

Release Tags

Versioned release tags must be created as raw SemVer tags without a leading v.

  • Use 0.1.0 for stable releases.
  • Use 0.1.0-rc.1 for prereleases.
  • Do not create tags such as v0.1.0 or v0.1.0-rc.1.

This keeps tags aligned with Cargo versions across the workspace. CI still rejects v-prefixed release tags.

For the maintainer release process and release-notes policy, see RELEASING.md.

PR Description

Include:

  • What changed
  • Why it changed
  • How it was implemented
  • What testing was run
  • Any breaking changes

Review Expectations

These expectations describe how review is handled before changes are merged.

  • At least one approving review is required.
  • CI must pass before merge
  • Reviewers may request changes for code quality, docs, tests, or architecture.
  • Do not force-push during active review.

DCO Sign-Off

Every commit in a PR must include a DCO sign-off. Use:

$git commit -s

Commit Messages

Use the format:

type: short description

Common types:

  • feat
  • fix
  • docs
  • test
  • refactor
  • chore
  • perf

Sonar Suppressions

Use SONAR_IGNORE_START and SONAR_IGNORE_END only for narrow, documented false positives. Keep the suppressed region small and call it out explicitly in the PR description for reviewer sign-off.