CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Auto-Scholar

Thanks for your interest in contributing.

Ways to Contribute

• Report bugs and UX issues
• Improve docs and examples
• Add tests or improve reliability
• Submit feature PRs aligned with project scope

Development Setup

See docs/DEVELOPMENT.md for local setup and command references.

Pull Request Process

1. Fork and create a topic branch from main
2. Keep changes focused and small
3. Update docs when behavior/contracts change
4. Ensure all required checks pass
5. Open PR with clear context and screenshots/logs if relevant

Required Checks

Backend

ruff check backend/
ruff format backend/ --check
find backend -name '*.py' -exec python -m py_compile {} +

Frontend

cd frontend && bun x tsc --noEmit
cd frontend && bun run lint

Coding Guidelines

• Python: absolute imports from backend.*, typed functions, async network I/O
• TypeScript: use @/ aliases, keep components focused and testable
• Avoid unrelated refactors in feature/fix PRs
• Keep API schemas and docs synchronized

Commit Messages

Use clear, scoped messages, for example:

• feat(backend): add pubmed source filter
• fix(frontend): handle empty citation list
• docs: update API start/approve examples

Questions

Open a GitHub issue for architecture discussions before implementing major changes.