bitvid/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to bitvid

Thanks for helping build an open video ecosystem on nostr!

License Model

• App (this repo): GPL-3.0-or-later
• Potential SDKs/embeds (if split later): Apache-2.0 (to keep integration friction low)

All contributions to this repository are made under the repository’s license (GPL-3.0-or-later).

Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO)

We use the DCO to keep contributions simple and legally sound. Sign your commits with -s:

git commit -s -m "feat: add cool thing"

This adds a Signed-off-by: Your Name <[email protected]> line and certifies you have the right to contribute under the project license. See https://developercertificate.org/ for the full text.

(Optional) Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

If we later introduce dual-licensing options (e.g., commercial licenses for enterprises), we may add an optional CLA for contributors who want to grant relicense rights. You will be asked to agree explicitly in any PR that requires it. We will keep community use under GPL-3.0-or-later.

Code Guidelines

• Prefer small, focused PRs.
• Add tests where reasonable; keep UI accessible.
• Follow existing formatting/lint rules.
• Update docs and user-facing text when behavior changes.
• Do not commit css/tailwind.generated.css; it is generated at build time.

Agent PR Conventions

Automated agents contributing to this repository should follow these rules:

• Atomic Commits: Keep changes small, focused, and self-contained.
• Descriptive Titles: Use clear, semantic titles (e.g., fix(ui): resolve upload modal overflow).
• Commit Messages: Use the convention type(scope): description (agent) (e.g., fix(ai): formatting (agent) or docs(ai): update quickstart (agent)).
• Reference Issues: Link to relevant issues in the PR description.
• Review AGENTS.md: Always consult AGENTS.md for specific architectural guidelines and constraints before starting work.

Submitting a Pull Request

1. Fork the repository and create a new branch from main.
2. Make your changes, adding tests if applicable.
3. Run npm run format, npm run test:unit, and npm run lint to ensure quality.
4. (Optional) Run npm run test:visual if you made UI changes.
5. (Optional) Run domain-specific tests if relevant (e.g., npm run test:dm:unit for Direct Messages).
6. Push your branch and open a Pull Request against the main branch.
7. Provide a clear description of the problem and solution.

CI Behavior and Operations

Concurrency (superseded runs)

The CI workflow is configured with concurrency.cancel-in-progress: true, which means when you push new commits to the same PR or branch, any in-flight run for the same workflow group is canceled automatically. This keeps the latest changes running and stops superseded runs from burning capacity. If you need to cancel runs manually (for example, stuck or obviously outdated runs), operators can use the GitHub CLI:

gh run list --workflow=CI --limit 10
gh run list --workflow=CI --limit 10 | awk 'NR>1 {print $1}' | xargs -n1 gh run cancel

If a run refuses to cancel normally, GitHub provides a force-cancel endpoint. We only use this in the automated cleanup workflow (below) or when a normal gh run cancel does not take effect.

Job timeouts

Each job in the CI workflow has an explicit timeout:

• build: 45 minutes
• unit-tests (sharded): 30 minutes
• dm-unit-tests: 20 minutes
• dm-integration-tests: 30 minutes
• e2e-headless: 45 minutes

If a job exceeds its timeout, the runner terminates it automatically, so keep an eye on the longest-running suites when adjusting tests.

Cleanup workflow (manual invocation)

The Cleanup stuck workflow runs workflow cancels queued or in-progress runs older than the configured stale threshold (currently 2 hours). It runs on a schedule every 30 minutes, but you can also trigger it manually:

gh workflow run "Cleanup stuck workflow runs"

This workflow uses the force-cancel endpoint to ensure stalled runs are terminated reliably, so prefer it for true stuck runs instead of normal cancellation.

Development Setup

To set up the project locally:

1. Install Dependencies: Use npm ci to ensure you get the exact dependencies from package-lock.json.

   npm ci
   

2. Build:

   npm run build
   

   (This runs npm run build:css to generate Tailwind styles.)

3. Run Tests:

   npm run test:unit
   

   Note: Unit tests may take a few minutes to complete. To speed up local iterations, you can run a specific shard (e.g., npm run test:unit:shard1).

   You can also run end-to-end and visual tests:

   npm run test:e2e
   npm run test:visual
   

   For Direct Message features, run:

   npm run test:dm:unit
   npm run test:dm:integration
   

4. Format & Lint:

   npm run format
   npm run lint
   

   Note: npm run format currently only targets CSS, HTML, and Markdown files.

5. Git Hooks (Optional): We provide a script to set up a git pre-commit hook that runs linting and CSS builds automatically before you commit.

   ./scripts/setup-pre-commit.sh
   

For a full guide, see the Local Setup section in README.md.

Troubleshooting

• Browserslist Warning: If you see Browserslist: caniuse-lite is outdated during the build, run:

  npx update-browserslist-db@latest
  

• Unit Test Hangs: npm run test:unit may occasionally hang after completion due to open handles. If this happens, use Ctrl+C to exit. For CI or faster local runs, consider running specific shards (e.g., npm run test:unit:shard1).

• Linting Failures: npm run lint includes checks for inline styles (e.g., style="..." or .style.prop = ...). Move these styles to CSS classes or design tokens to pass linting.

Dev Container

This project includes a .devcontainer configuration for VS Code. It provides a pre-configured environment with Node.js 22, the GitHub CLI, and necessary extensions.

To use it:

1. Open the project in VS Code.
2. When prompted, re-open in Container (or use the command palette: "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container").
3. The container will automatically:
   • Install NPM dependencies (npm ci)
   • Run the build (npm run build)
   • Install Playwright browsers (so you can run npm run test:visual)

Key Documentation

Before starting your work, please review these key documents:

• AGENTS.md: Architectural guidelines, mission statement, and troubleshooting tips.
• Nostr Event Schemas: The source of truth for all Nostr events published by the application.
• Playback Fallback: Details on the URL-first playback strategy and WebTorrent fallback mechanism.

Security

If you find a vulnerability, please email [email protected]. We’ll coordinate a responsible disclosure window before public release.

Trademark

The bitvid name and logos are trademarks (see TRADEMARKS.md). Don’t use them in ways that imply official sponsorship or confuse users. “Powered by bitvid” attribution is encouraged.