goose/CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contribution Guide

goose is open source!

We welcome pull requests for general contributions! In these days of AI it is easier than ever to contribute, but
there are some pitfalls to avoid. This document describes the best practices for new and experienced contributors
to get work landed as smoothly as possible.

> [!TIP]
> Beyond code, check out [other ways to contribute](#other-ways-to-contribute)

---

## Getting Started

Your first contribution to goose should probably be a small bug fix. The goose maintainers have a lot of incoming
PRs to review, and the reputation of the author is an important signal. While contributions to goose are generally
of remarkably high quality, we do get our fair share of AI slop. When a first-time contributor opens a
3k line PR touching 20 files, we have no easy way to tell whether it’s thoughtful work or
blindly AI-generated without doing a deep dive.

So please start small to establish trust and work your way up from there. A small bug fix or performance improvement
is a good start. Linking your fix to an existing issue shows that you are responding to a community need.

If your first PR gets closed with a link to this section, please don’t take it personally. 
It just means the change was too large for a first contribution. Start with something smaller and try again.

## Discussions, Issues and PRs

### Issues

If you spot a bug or have a concrete proposal for a feature, please open an issue. This shows the community and
the maintainers the direction of your thinking.

For bugs, describe how to reproduce the problem as clearly as possible. If the issue involves an interaction
with an LLM, include a diagnostics report if possible.

### Discussions

If you have an idea but are not yet sure how it should work, open a discussion instead. Discussions are a good
place to explore design questions, alternatives, and whether something fits the goals of the project.

If a change is large or touches multiple parts of the codebase, please start with a discussion before opening a PR.
This helps us align on direction before you spend time implementing something.

### Pull Requests

Open a PR when you have a concrete change ready. For first contributions we strongly recommend starting small
(see [Getting Started](#getting-started)). Don't open many PRs in quick succession. Submit them in order of 
your preference and wait for them to land before opening more. 

If the code is still evolving but useful for discussion, open the PR in draft mode. Draft PRs are for discussion, 
not just unfinished work. If it’s not ready yet, keep the branch local.

### Feature Requests

Before proposing a new feature, consider whether it is something broadly useful or mainly a personal preference.
Adding features is easy; maintaining them is a long-term cost, so we may decline features that add complexity
without clear general benefit.


## AI Code Reviews

We use codex as an AI code reviewer. AI code reviewing has come a long way and more often than not points
out real issues. So we expect you to address all of them by either fixing the code or adding a one-line
answer as to why this is not an issue or not worth fixing.

If not, we might close the PR and/or reply with a link to this section. Once you address the comments, you
can always reopen.

## Quick Responsible AI Tips

There's no need to tell us you used AI in your work. You are contributing to an agent, it would be odd if 
you had not. Our general thinking is, use AI any way you want, but until the robot revolution comes, you
are responsible for the final code. Before submitting a PR for review, make sure you have reviewed it yourself.
We'll close any vibe coded submissions that obviously skip this step.

You can use whatever agent and whatever methodology you like as long as you stick to that principle. We hope
you like goose of course and use that. One thing to watch out for is LLM eagerness. They like to please and
are in a hurry. 

   * **Think first**. Agents tend to jump straight to code writing. Explain the architecture you want first to 
      avoid this behavior, based on your own understanding of the code, or have the agent explore the code first and
      suggest approaches. If the first implementation doesn't look quite right, just start over and use
      what you learned to do better next time.
   * **Spot the laziness**. LLMs will make their job easy. They'll write trivial tests, make types wide and
      optional so the compiler doesn't complain, catch exceptions and just log instead of handling errors
      and copy local patterns whether appropriate or not. Push back!
   * **Spot the uncertainty**. As much as the bots declare I see the issue now clearly, they often do not. Call
      them on it, if you see the agent flailing. Another telltale sign is if the agent starts listing the
      number of ways it fixed an issue or starts writing overly defensive code.
   * **Spot the bloat**. Agents like to insert redundant comments or worse, commenting on the change at hand,
     not the resulting code. They create loads of tests that don't really test anything and if they do,
     test the implementation, not the intention. They also like to log anything, just in case.
   
## Prerequisites

goose includes Rust binaries alongside an electron app for the GUI.

We use [Hermit][hermit] to manage development dependencies (Rust, Node, pnpm, just, etc.).
Activate Hermit when entering the project:

```bash
source bin/activate-hermit
```

Or add [shell hook auto-activation](https://cashapp.github.io/hermit/usage/shell/#shell-hooks) so Hermit activates automatically when you `cd` into the project (recommended).

We provide a shortcut to standard commands using [just][just] in our `justfile`.

### Windows Subsystem for Linux

For WSL users, you might need to install `build-essential` and `libxcb` otherwise you might run into `cc` linking errors (cc stands for C Compiler).
Install them by running these commands:

```
sudo apt update                   # Refreshes package list (no installs yet)
sudo apt install build-essential  # build-essential is a package that installs all core tools
sudo apt install libxcb1-dev      # libxcb1-dev is the development package for the X C Binding (XCB) library on Linux
```

## Getting Started

### Rust

First let's compile goose and try it out
Since goose requires Hermit for managing dependencies, let's activate hermit.

```
cd goose
source ./bin/activate-hermit
cargo build
```

When that completes, debug builds of the binaries are available, including the goose CLI:

```
./target/debug/goose --help
```

For first-time setup, run the configure command:

```
./target/debug/goose configure
```

Once a connection to an LLM provider is working, start a session:

```
./target/debug/goose session
```

These same commands can be recompiled and immediately run using `cargo run -p goose-cli` for iteration.
When making changes to the Rust code, test them on the CLI or run checks, tests, and the linter:

```
cargo check  # verify changes compile
cargo test  # run tests with changes
cargo fmt   # format code
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings # run the linter
```

### Node

To run the app:

```
just run-ui
```

This command builds a release build of Rust (equivalent to `cargo build -r`) and starts the Electron process.
The app opens a window and displays first-time setup. After completing setup, goose is ready for use.

Make GUI changes in `ui/desktop`.

### Regenerating the OpenAPI schema

The file `ui/desktop/openapi.json` is automatically generated during the build.
It is written by the `generate_schema` binary in `crates/goose-server`.
To update the spec without starting the UI, run:

```
just generate-openapi
```

This command regenerates `ui/desktop/openapi.json` and then runs the UI's
`generate-api` script to rebuild the TypeScript client from that spec.

API changes should be made in the Rust source under `crates/goose-server/src/`.

### Debugging

To debug the Goose server, run it from an IDE. The configuration will depend on the IDE. The command to run is:

```
export GOOSE_SERVER__SECRET_KEY=test
cargo run --package goose-server --bin goosed -- agent   # or: `just run-server`
```

The server listens on port `3000` by default; this can be changed by setting the
`GOOSE_PORT` environment variable.

Once the server is running, start a UI and connect it to the server by running:

```
just debug-ui
```

The UI connects to the server started in the IDE, allowing breakpoints
and stepping through the server code while interacting with the UI.

## Creating a fork

To fork the repository:

1. Go to https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose and click “Fork” (top-right corner).
2. This creates https://github.com/<your-username>/goose under your GitHub account.
3. Clone your fork (not the main repo):

```
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/goose.git
cd goose
```

4. Add the main repository as upstream:

```
git remote add upstream https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose.git
```

5. Create a branch in your fork for your changes:

```
git checkout -b my-feature-branch
```

6. Sync your fork with the main repo:

```
git fetch upstream

# Merge them into your local branch (e.g., 'main' or 'my-feature-branch')
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
```

7. Push to your fork. Because you’re the owner of the fork, you have permission to push here.

```
git push origin my-feature-branch
```

8. Open a Pull Request from your branch on your fork to aaif-goose/goose’s main branch.

## Keeping Your Fork Up-to-Date

To ensure a smooth integration of your contributions, it's important that your fork is kept up-to-date with the main 
repository. This helps avoid conflicts and allows us to merge your pull requests more quickly. Here’s how you can sync your fork:

### Syncing Your Fork with the Main Repository

1. **Add the Main Repository as a Remote** (Skip if you have already set this up):

   ```bash
   git remote add upstream https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose.git
   ```

2. **Fetch the Latest Changes from the Main Repository**:

   ```bash
   git fetch upstream
   ```

3. **Checkout Your Development Branch**:

   ```bash
   git checkout your-branch-name
   ```

4. **Merge Changes from the Main Branch into Your Branch**:

   ```bash
   git merge upstream/main
   ```

   Resolve any conflicts that arise and commit the changes.

5. **Push the Merged Changes to Your Fork**:

   ```bash
   git push origin your-branch-name
   ```

This process will help you keep your branch aligned with the ongoing changes in the main repository, minimizing integration issues when it comes time to merge!

### Before Submitting a Pull Request

Before you submit a pull request, please ensure your fork is synchronized as described above. This check ensures your changes are compatible with the latest in the main repository and streamlines the review process.

If you encounter any issues during this process or have any questions, please reach out by [opening an issue][issues], and we'll be happy to help.

## Env Vars

You may want to make more frequent changes to your provider setup or similar to test things out
as a developer. You can use environment variables to change things on the fly without redoing
your configuration.

> [!TIP]
> At the moment, we are still updating some of the CLI configuration to make sure this is
> respected.

You can change the provider goose points to via the `GOOSE_PROVIDER` env var. If you already
have a credential for that provider in your keychain from previously setting up, it should
reuse it. For things like automations or to test without doing official setup, you can also
set the relevant env vars for that provider. For example `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`,
or `DATABRICKS_HOST`. Refer to the provider details for more info on required keys.

### Isolating Test Environments

When testing changes or running multiple goose configurations, use `GOOSE_PATH_ROOT` to isolate your data:

```bash
# Test with a clean environment
export GOOSE_PATH_ROOT="/tmp/goose-test"
./target/debug/goose session

# Or for a single command
GOOSE_PATH_ROOT="/tmp/goose-dev" cargo run -p goose-cli -- session
```

This creates isolated `config/`, `data/`, and `state/` directories under the specified path, preventing your test sessions from affecting your main goose installation. See the [environment variables guide](./documentation/docs/guides/environment-variables.md#development--testing) for more details.

## Enable traces in goose with [locally hosted Langfuse](https://langfuse.com/docs/deployment/self-host)

- [Start a local Langfuse using the docs](https://langfuse.com/self-hosting/docker-compose). Create an organization and project and create API credentials.
- Set the environment variables so that goose can connect to the langfuse server:

```
export LANGFUSE_INIT_PROJECT_PUBLIC_KEY=publickey-local
export LANGFUSE_INIT_PROJECT_SECRET_KEY=secretkey-local
```

Then you can view your traces at http://localhost:3000

## Conventional Commits

This project follows the [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/) specification for PR titles. Conventional Commits make it easier to understand the history of a project and facilitate automation around versioning and changelog generation.

[issues]: https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/issues
[hermit]: https://cashapp.github.io/hermit/
[just]: https://github.com/casey/just?tab=readme-ov-file#installation

## Developer Certificate of Origin

This project requires a [Developer Certificate of Origin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developer_Certificate_of_Origin) sign-offs on all commits. This is a statement indicating that you are allowed to make the contribution and that the project has the right to distribute it under its license. When you are ready to commit, use the `--signoff` or `-s` flag to attach the sign-off to your commit.

```
git commit --signoff ...
# OR
git commit -s ...
```

## Other Ways to Contribute

There are numerous ways to be an open source contributor and contribute to goose. We're here to help you on your way! Here are some suggestions to get started. If you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out to us on [Discord](https://discord.gg/goose-oss).

- **Stars on GitHub:** If you resonate with our project and find it valuable, consider starring our goose on GitHub! 🌟
- **Ask Questions:** Your questions not only help us improve but also benefit the community. If you have a question, don't hesitate to ask it on [Discord](https://discord.gg/goose-oss).
- **Give Feedback:** Have a feature you want to see or encounter an issue with goose, [click here to open an issue](https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/issues/new/choose), [start a discussion](https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/discussions) or tell us on Discord.
- **Participate in Community Events:** We host a variety of community events and livestreams on Discord every month, ranging from workshops to brainstorming sessions. You can subscribe to our [events calendar](https://calget.com/c/t7jszrie) or follow us on [social media](https://linktr.ee/goose_oss) to stay in touch.
- **Improve Documentation:** Good documentation is key to the success of any project. You can help improve the quality of our existing docs or add new pages.
- **Help Other Members:** See another community member stuck? Or a contributor blocked by a question you know the answer to? Reply to community threads or do a code review for others to help.
- **Showcase Your Work:** Working on a project or written a blog post recently? Share it with the community in our [#share-your-work](https://discord.com/channels/1287729918100246654/1287729920797179958) channel.
- **Give Shoutouts:** Is there a project you love or a community/staff who's been especially helpful? Feel free to give them a shoutout in our [#general](https://discord.com/channels/1287729918100246654/1287729920797179957) channel.
- **Spread the Word:** Help us reach more people by sharing goose's project, website, YouTube, and/or Twitter/X.