2015-08-22 22:33:22 +03:00
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# Contributing to urbit
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Thank you for your interest in contributing to urbit.
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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See [urbit.org/docs/getting-started](https://urbit.org/docs/getting-started/#arvo)
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for basic orientation and usage instructions.
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## Fake ships
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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You may have an identity on the live network, but doing all your
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development on the live network would be cumbersome and unnecessary.
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Standard practice in urbit development is to work on a fake `~zod`.
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Fake ships use deterministic keys (derived from the ship address)
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and don't talk to the live network. They can talk to each other over
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the local loopback.
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To start a fake ship, simply specify the name with `-F`:
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```
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$ urbit -F zod
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```
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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You can also pass a name for the *pier* (or ship directory):
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ urbit -F zod my-fake-zod
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```
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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To resume a fake ship, just pass the name of the pier:
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ urbit fake-zod/
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```
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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2015-08-22 22:33:22 +03:00
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## Git practice
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2016-02-15 08:52:31 +03:00
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Since we use the GitHub issue tracker, it is helpful (though not
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required) to contribute via a GitHub pull request. If you already know
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what you are doing, skip down to the Style section.
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Start by cloning the repository on your work machine:
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ git clone https://github.com/urbit/urbit
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```
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And, additionally, fork the repository on GitHub by clicking the "Fork"
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button. Add your fork as a remote:
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ git remote add [username] https://github.com/[username]/urbit
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```
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and set it as the default remote to push to:
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ git config --local remote.pushDefault [username]
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```
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This is good practice for any project that uses git. You will pull
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upstream branches from urbit/urbit and push to your personal urbit fork
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by default.
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2016-10-27 20:02:43 +03:00
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Next, start a new branch to do your work on. For `urbit`, please use the
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latest tagged release as your starting point. For other repositories,
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anywhere pointed to by `master` is alright to start from.
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```
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$ git checkout -b [branch name] [starting point]
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```
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Now you are free to do your work on this branch. When finished, you may
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want to clean up your commits:
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```
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$ git rebase -i [starting point]
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```
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Then you can push to your public fork with `git push` and make a pull
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request via the GitHub UI.
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After your changes are merged upstream, you can delete your branch (via
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github UI or `git push :[branch]` remotely, and with `git branch -d`
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locally).
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## Style
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The urbit project uses two-space indentation and avoids tab characters.
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In C code, it should not be too difficult to mimic the style of the code
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around you, which is just fairly standard K&R with braces on every
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compound statement. One thing to watch out for is top-level sections in
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source files that are denoted by comments and are actually indented one
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level.
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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Hoon will be a less familiar language to many contributors. More details
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are forthcoming; for now, the `%ford` vane (in
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[`sys/vane/ford.hoon`](https://github.com/urbit/arvo/blob/master/sys/vane/ford.hoon))
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is the highest quality code in the kernel.
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## Kernel development
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Working on either C or non-kernel Hoon should not bring any surprises, but
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the Hoon kernel (anything under `sys/` in [urbit/arvo](https://github.com/urbit/arvo))
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is bootstrapped from `urbit.pill`, and must be recompiled if any changes are
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made. This should happen automatically when you make changes, but if it doesn't,
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the command to manually recompile the kernel and install the new kernel
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is `|reset` in `dojo`. This rebuilds from the `sys` directory in the
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`home` desk in `%clay`. Currently, `|reset` does not reload apps like
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`dojo` itself, which will still reference the old kernel. To force them
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to reload, make a trivial edit to their main source file (under the
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`app` directory) in `%clay`.
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2015-08-22 22:33:22 +03:00
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2015-08-24 22:50:08 +03:00
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## The kernel and pills
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2016-02-15 08:52:31 +03:00
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urbit bootstraps itself using a binary blob called `urbit.pill`. You
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probably remember it being fetched from `bootstrap.urbit.org` before
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your first boot. This is the compiled version of the kernel (which
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you can find in the `sys` directory of [urbit/arvo](https://github.com/urbit/arvo)),
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along with a complete copy of the Arvo repository as source.
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The procedure for creating `urbit.pill` is often called "soliding". It
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is somewhat similar to `|reset`, but instead of replacing your running
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kernel, it writes the compiled kernel to a file. The command to solid
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is:
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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> .urbit/pill +solid
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```
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When the compilation finishes, your `urbit.pill` will be found in the
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`[pier]/.urb/put/` directory.
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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You can boot a new ship from your local pill with `-B`:
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2015-10-19 11:33:25 +03:00
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ urbit -F zod -B path/to/urbit.pill fake-zod
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```
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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Ordinarily, `http://bootstrap.urbit.org/latest.pill` will be updated
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to match whatever's on `master` in the `arvo` repository with every
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merge to `master`. Older pills will be stored with the first 10
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characters of the `git` SHA1 of the relevant commit as `git-[sha1].pill`.
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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The continuous-integration build of the `urbit/arvo` repository
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uploads these pills for any successful build (if the commit or pull-request
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affects the `sys/` directory).
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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You can boot from one of these pills by passing the path to an Arvo
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working copy with `-A` (and `-s` for *search*):
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2019-01-16 00:03:37 +03:00
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```
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$ git clone https://github.com/urbit/arvo
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$ urbit -F zod -A path/to/arvo -s fake-zod
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```
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2015-10-19 11:33:25 +03:00
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2015-08-22 22:33:22 +03:00
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## What to work on
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If you are not thinking of contributing with a specific goal in mind,
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the GitHub issue tracker is the first place you should look for ideas.
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Issues are tagged with a priority and a difficulty. A good place to
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start is on either a low-difficulty issue or a low-priority issue.
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Higher priority issues are likely to be assigned to someone - if this is
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the case, then contacting that person to coordinate before starting to
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work is probably a good idea.
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2015-08-23 00:10:32 +03:00
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There is also a "help wanted" tag for things that we are especially
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eager to have outside contributions on. Check here first!
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2015-08-22 22:33:22 +03:00
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## Staying in touch
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The urbit developers communicate on urbit itself. Joining the
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`urbit-meta` channel on
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[`:talk`](https://urbit.org/docs/learn/arvo/arvo-internals/messaging/)
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is highly recommended, as is reading the forums at
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[http://urbit.org/fora](http://urbit.org/fora).
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Questions or other communications about contributing to Urbit can go to
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[support@urbit.org](mailto:support@urbit.org).
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