Contributing¶

Contributions are welcome, and they are greatly appreciated! Every little bit helps, and credit will always be given.

You can contribute in many ways:

Types of Contributions¶

Report Bugs¶

Report bugs at https://github.com/arkottke/pyrvt/issues.

If you are reporting a bug, please include:

Your operating system name and version.
Any details about your local setup that might be helpful in troubleshooting.
Detailed steps to reproduce the bug.

Fix Bugs¶

Look through the GitHub issues for bugs. Anything tagged with “bug” is open to whoever wants to implement it.

Implement Features¶

Look through the GitHub issues for features. Anything tagged with “feature” is open to whoever wants to implement it.

Write Documentation¶

pyRVT could always use more documentation, whether as part of the official pyRVT docs, in docstrings, or even on the web in blog posts, articles, and such. Docstrings should be formatted using the NumPy conventions

Submit Feedback¶

The best way to send feedback is to file an issue at https://github.com/arkottke/pyrvt/issues.

If you are proposing a feature:

Explain in detail how it would work.
Keep the scope as narrow as possible, to make it easier to implement.
Remember that this is a volunteer-driven project, and that contributions are welcome :)

Get Started!¶

Ready to contribute? Here’s how to set up pyRVT for local development.

Prerequisites¶

This project uses uv for dependency management. Install uv first:

# On macOS and Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Or with pip
pip install uv

Setup¶

Fork the pyRVT repo on GitHub.

Clone your fork locally:

$ git clone git@github.com:your_name_here/pyrvt.git

Create a branch for local development:

$ git checkout -b name-of-your-bugfix-or-feature

Install the development environment using uv:
```
$ ./scripts.sh install
```
Now you can make your changes locally.
When you’re done making changes, check that your changes pass formatting and the tests:
```
$ ./scripts.sh format
$ ./scripts.sh test
```
The documentation can be built and served with:
```
$ ./scripts.sh docs-build
$ ./scripts.sh docs-serve
```

Commit your changes and push your branch to GitHub:

$ git add .
$ git commit -m "Your detailed description of your changes."
$ git push origin name-of-your-bugfix-or-feature

Submit a pull request through the GitHub website.

Pull Request Guidelines¶

Before you submit a pull request, check that it meets these guidelines:

The pull request should include tests.
If the pull request adds functionality, the docs should be updated. Put your new functionality into a function with a docstring, and add the feature to the list in README.md.
The pull request should work for Python 3.10 and later.

Development Commands¶

This project uses [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) for dependency management and a custom scripts.sh file for common development tasks.

Available development commands:

$ ./scripts.sh install      # Install project in development mode
$ ./scripts.sh test         # Run tests
$ ./scripts.sh test-cov     # Run tests with coverage
$ ./scripts.sh format       # Format code with black and ruff
$ ./scripts.sh lint         # Check code style with ruff
$ ./scripts.sh docs-build   # Build documentation
$ ./scripts.sh docs-serve   # Serve documentation with auto-reload
$ ./scripts.sh docs-clean   # Clean documentation build
$ ./scripts.sh clean        # Clean all build artifacts

To run a subset of tests:

$ uv run pytest tests/test_specific_module.py

Code Style and Quality¶

Formatting: Code is automatically formatted using Black and Ruff.

Type Hints: Use type hints for public APIs and complex functions.

Documentation: All public functions and classes should have NumPy-style docstrings.

Testing: Write tests for new functionality. Aim for high test coverage.

Performance: Profile code before optimizing. Use NumPy vectorization and consider Numba for hot loops.

Release Process¶

Releases are handled by the maintainers. The process includes:

Update version numbers
Update changelog
Create GitHub release
Publish to PyPI
Update documentation

Community Guidelines¶

Be respectful and inclusive
Follow the code of conduct
Help newcomers get started
Provide constructive feedback
Celebrate contributions from all skill levels

Getting Help¶

If you need help with development:

Check the existing documentation
Search GitHub issues for similar problems
Ask questions in GitHub Discussions
Contact the maintainers

Thank you for contributing to pyRVT!