faas/CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contributing

## Guidelines

Guidelines for contributing.

### How can I get involved?

The Slack community is the best place to keep up to date with the project and to get help contributing. Here we exchange ideas, ask questions and chat about OpenFaaS. There are also channels for Raspberry Pi/ARM, Kubernetes and other cloud-native topics. (*See below for how to join*)

There are a number of areas where contributions can be accepted:

* Write Golang code for the CLI, Gateway or other providers
* Write features for the front-end UI (JS, HTML, CSS)
* Write sample functions in any language
* Review pull requests
* Test out new features or work-in-progress
* Get involved in design reviews and technical proof-of-concepts (PoCs)
* Help release and package OpenFaaS including the helm chart, compose files, `kubectl` YAML, marketplaces and stores
* Manage, triage and research Issues and Pull Requests
* Engage with the growing community by providing technical support on Slack/GitHub
* Create docs, guides and write blogs
* Speak at meet-ups, conferences or by helping folks with OpenFaaS on Slack

This is just a short list of ideas, if you have other ideas for contributing please make a suggestion.

### I've found a typo

* A Pull Request is not necessary. Raise an [Issue](https://github.com/openfaas/faas/issues) and we'll fix it as soon as we can. 

### I have a (great) idea

The OpenFaaS maintainers would like to make OpenFaaS the best it can be and welcome new contributions that align with the project's goals. Our time is limited so we'd like to make sure we agree on the proposed work before you spend time doing it. Saying "no" is hard which is why we'd rather say "yes" ahead of time. You need to raise a proposal.

**Please do not raise a proposal after doing the work - this is counter to the spirit of the project. It is hard to be objective about something which has already been done**

What makes a good proposal?

* Brief summary including motivation/context
* Any design changes
* Pros + Cons
* Effort required up front
* Effort required for CI/CD, release, ongoing maintenance
* Migration strategy / backwards-compatibility
* Mock-up screenshots or examples of how the CLI would work

If you are proposing a new tool or service please do due diligence. Does this tool already exist? Can we reuse it? For example: a timer / CRON-type scheduler for invoking functions. 

### Paperwork for Pull Requests

Please read this whole guide and make sure you agree to the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) agreement (included below):

* See guidelines on commit messages (below)
* Sign-off your commits (`git commit --signoff` or `-s`)
* Complete the whole template for issues and pull requests
* [Reference addressed issues](https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/) in the PR description & commit messages - use 'Fixes #IssueNo' 
* Always give instructions for testing
 * Provide us CLI commands and output or screenshots where you can

### Commit messages

The first line of the commit message is the *subject*, this should be followed by a blank line and then a message describing the intent and purpose of the commit. These guidelines are based upon a [post by Chris Beams](https://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/).

* When you run `git commit` make sure you sign-off the commit by typing `git commit --signoff` or `git commit -s`
* The commit subject-line should start with an uppercase letter
* The commit subject-line should not exceed 72 characters in length
* The commit subject-line should not end with punctuation (., etc)

When giving a commit body:
* Leave a blank line after the subject-line
* Make sure all lines are wrapped to 72 characters

Here's an example that would be accepted:

```
Add alexellis to the .DEREK.yml file

We need to add alexellis to the .DEREK.yml file for project maintainer
duties.

Signed-off-by: Alex Ellis <alex@openfaas.com>
```

Some invalid examples:

```
(feat) Add page about X to documentation
```

> This example does not follow the convention by adding a custom scheme of `(feat)`

```
Update the documentation for page X so including fixing A, B, C and D and F.
```

> This example will be truncated in the GitHub UI and via `git log --oneline`


If you would like to ammend your commit follow this guide: [Git: Rewriting History](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Rewriting-History)

#### Unit testing with Golang

Please follow style guide on [this blog post](https://blog.alexellis.io/golang-writing-unit-tests/) from [The Go Programming Language](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Language-Addison-Wesley-Professional-Computing/dp/0134190440)

#### I have a question, a suggestion or need help

If you have a simple question you can [join the Slack community](https://docs.openfaas.com/community) and ask there, but please bear in mind that contributors may live in a different timezone or be working to a different timeline to you. If you have an urgent request then let them know about this.

If you have a deeply technical request or need help debugging your application then you should prepare a simple, public GitHub repository with the minimum amount of code required to reproduce the issue. 

If you feel there is an issue with OpenFaaS or were unable to get the help you needed from the Slack channels then raise an issue on one of the GitHub repositories.

#### I need to add a dependency

Vendoring is used for projects written in Go. This means that we will maintain a copy of the source-code of dependencies within Git in the `vendor` folder. This allows for a repeatable build and isolates change.

The vendoring tool in use is Golang's `dep`. You can get it here: https://github.com/golang/dep

### How are releases made?

Releases are made by the project lead when deemed necessary. If you want to request a new release then mention this on your PR or Issue.

Releases are cut with Git tags and a successful Travis build results in new binary artifacts and Docker images being published to the Docker Hub and Quay.io. See the "Build" badge on each GitHub README file for more.

### How do I become a maintainer?

In the OpenFaaS community there are three levels of maintainership:

* Core Contributors
* GitHub Organisation Members
* Those with Derek access

#### Who are the Core Contributors?

The Core Contributor group includes:

- Alex Ellis (@alexellis)
- Richard Gee (@rgee0)
- Stefan Prodan (@stefanprodan)
- Lucas Roesler (@LucasRoesler)
- Burton Rheutan (@burtonr)

The Core Contributors have the ear of the project lead and help with strategy, project maintenance, community management and make a regular commitment of time to the project. Core Contributors attend all project meetings and calls.

#### GitHub Organisation Members

GitHub Organisation Members are well-known contributors with a track record of:

* Fixing, testing and triaging issues
* Joining contributor meetings and supporting new contributors
* Testing and reviewing pull requests
* Offering other project support and strategical advice
* Attending contributors' meetings

Varying levels of write access are made available via the project bot [Derek](https://github.com/alexellis/derek) to help regular contributors transition to GitHub Organisation Membership.

#### How do I get access to Derek?

If you have been added to the `.DEREK.yml` file in the root of an OpenFaaS repository then you can help us manage the community and contributions by issuing comments on Issues and Pull Requests. See [Derek](https://github.com/alexellis/derek) for available commands.

If you are a regular contributor then you are welcome to request access.

#### Community/project meetings and calls

The community calls are held on Zoom on a regular basis with invitations sent out via email ahead of time.

General format:

- Project updates/briefing
- Round-table intros/updates
- Demos of features/new work from community
- Q&A

## Governance

OpenFaaS is an independent project created by Alex Ellis in 2016. OpenFaaS is led by Alex and is being built in the open by a growing community of contributors.

## Branding guidelines

For press, branding, logos and marks see the [OpenFaaS media repository](https://github.com/openfaas/media).

## Community

This project is written in Golang but many of the community contributions so far have been through blogging, speaking engagements, helping to test and drive the backlog of FaaS. If you'd like to help in any way then that would be more than welcome whatever your level of experience.

### Community file

The [community.md](https://github.com/openfaas/faas/blob/master/community.md) file highlights blogs, talks and code repos with example FaaS functions and usages. Please send a Pull Request if you are doing something cool with FaaS.

### Roadmap

Checkout the [roadmap](https://github.com/openfaas/faas/blob/master/ROADMAP.md) and [open issues](https://github.com/openfaas/faas/issues).

### Slack

There is an Slack community which you are welcome to join to discuss FaaS, IoT and Raspberry Pi projects. Ping [Alex Ellis](https://github.com/alexellis) with your email address so that an invite can be sent out.

Please send in a short one-line message about yourself to alex@openfaas.com so that we can give you a warm welcome and help you get started.

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

### Copyright notice

It is important to state that you retain copyright for your contributions, but agree to license them for usage by the project and author(s) under the MIT license. Git retains history of authorship, but we use a catch-all statement rather than individual names. 

Please add a Copyright notice to new files you add where this is not already present.

```
// Copyright (c) OpenFaaS Author(s) 2018. All rights reserved.
// Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
```

### Sign your work

> Note: every commit in your PR or Patch must be signed-off.

The sign-off is a simple line at the end of the explanation for a patch. Your
signature certifies that you wrote the patch or otherwise have the right to pass
it on as an open-source patch. The rules are pretty simple: if you can certify
the below (from [developercertificate.org](http://developercertificate.org/)):

```
Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1

Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
1 Letterman Drive
Suite D4700
San Francisco, CA, 94129

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.
```

Then you just add a line to every git commit message:

    Signed-off-by: Joe Smith <joe.smith@email.com>

Use your real name (sorry, no pseudonyms or anonymous contributions.)

If you set your `user.name` and `user.email` git configs, you can sign your
commit automatically with `git commit -s`.

Please sign your commits with `git commit -s` so that commits are traceable.

This is different from digital signing using GPG, GPG is not required for 
making contributions to the project. 

If you forgot to sign your work and want to fix that, see the following 
guide: [Git: Rewriting History](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Rewriting-History)