Sensitive security-related issues should be reported to [security@gitea.io](mailto:security@gitea.io).
For configuring IDEs for Gitea development, see the [contributed IDE configurations](contrib/ide/).
## Issues
### How to report issues
Please search the issues on the issue tracker with a variety of related keywords to ensure that your issue has not already been reported.
If your issue has not been reported yet, [open an issue](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/new)
and answer the questions so we can understand and reproduce the problematic behavior. \
Please write clear and concise instructions so that we can reproduce the behavior — even if it seems obvious. \
The more detailed and specific you are, the faster we can fix the issue. \
It is really helpful if you can reproduce your problem on a site running on the latest commits, i.e. <https://try.gitea.io>, as perhaps your problem has already been fixed on a current version. \
Please follow the guidelines described in [How to Report Bugs Effectively](http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html) for your report.
Please be kind, remember that Gitea comes at no cost to you, and you're getting free help.
-`bug`: Something in the frontend or backend behaves unexpectedly
-`security issue`: bug that has serious implications such as leaking another users data. Please do not file such issues on the public tracker and send a mail to security@gitea.io instead
-`feature`: Completely new functionality. You should describe this feature in enough detail that anyone who reads the issue can understand how it is supposed to be implemented
-`enhancement`: An existing feature should get an upgrade
-`refactoring`: Parts of the code base don't conform with other parts and should be changed to improve Gitea's maintainability
If you want to change or add something, please let everyone know what you're working on — [file an issue](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/new) or comment on an existing one before starting your work!
Commenting on closed or merged issues/PRs is strongly discouraged.
Such comments will likely be overlooked as some maintainers may not view notifications on closed issues, thinking that the item is resolved.
As such, commenting on closed/merged issues/PRs may be disabled prior to the scheduled auto-locking if a discussion starts or if unrelated comments are posted.
If further discussion is needed, we encourage you to open a new issue instead and we recommend linking to the issue/PR in question for context.
For the frontend, we use [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/).
The same restrictions apply for frontend dependencies as for backend dependencies, with the exceptions that the files for it are `package.json` and `package-lock.json`, and that new versions must always reference an existing version.
## Design guideline
Depending on your change, please read the
- [backend development guideline](https://docs.gitea.com/contributing/guidelines-backend)
- [frontend development guideline](https://docs.gitea.com/contributing/guidelines-frontend)
The only translation that is maintained in this repository is [the English translation](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/main/options/locale/locale_en-US.ini).
Other locales on main branch **should not** be updated manually as they will be overwritten with each sync. \
Once a language has reached a **satisfactory percentage** of translated keys (~25%), it will be synced back into this repo and included in the next released version.
Please try to make your pull request easy to review for us. \
For that, please read the [*Best Practices for Faster Reviews*](https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/261cb0fd089b64002c91e8eddceebf032462ccd6/contributors/guide/pull-requests.md#best-practices-for-faster-reviews) guide. \
It has lots of useful tips for any project you may want to contribute to. \
If you are not implementing a new feature, you should also post **before** screenshots for comparison.
If you are implementing a new feature, your PR will only be merged if your screenshots are up to date.\
Furthermore, feature PRs will only be merged if their summary contains a clear usage description (understandable for users) and testing description (understandable for reviewers).
You should strive to combine both into a single description.
Another requirement for merging PRs is that the PR is labeled correctly.\
However, this is not your job as a contributor, but the job of the person merging your PR.\
If you think that your PR was labeled incorrectly, or notice that it was merged without labels, please let us know.
-`modifies/…`: Determines which parts of the codebase are affected. These labels will be set through the CI.
-`topic/…`: Determines the conceptual component of Gitea that is affected, i.e. issues, projects, or authentication. At best, PRs should only target one component but there might be overlap. Must be set manually.
-`type/…`: Determines the type of an issue or PR (feature, refactoring, docs, bug, …). If GitHub supported scoped labels, these labels would be exclusive, so you should set **exactly** one, not more or less (every PR should fall into one of the provided categories, and only one).
-`issue/…` / `pr/…`: Labels that are specific to issues or PRs respectively and that are only necessary in a given context, i.e. `issue/not-a-bug` or `pr/need-2-approvals`
Every PR should be labeled correctly with every label that applies.
1. A reasoning why this breaking change is necessary
2. A `BREAKING` section explaining in simple terms (understandable for a typical user) how this PR affects users and how to mitigate these changes. This section can look for example like
If a PR has the `lgtm/done` label and there are no open discussions or merge conflicts anymore, any maintainer can add the `reviewed/wait-merge` label. \
This label means that the PR is part of the merge queue and will be merged as soon as possible. \
The merge queue will be cleared in the order of the list below:
If a PR has been ignored for more than 7 days with no comments or reviews, and the author or any maintainer believes it will not survive a long wait (such as a refactoring PR), they can send "final call" to the TOC by mentioning them in a comment.
After another 7 days, if there is still zero approval, this is considered a polite refusal, and the PR will be closed to avoid wasting further time. Therefore, the "final call" has a cost, and should be used cautiously.
Mergers are able and required to rewrite the PR title and summary (the first comment of a PR) so that it can produce an easily understandable commit message if necessary. \
The final commit message should no longer contain any uncertainty such as `hopefully, <x> won't happen anymore`. Replace uncertainty with certainty.
Gitea's API should use the same endpoints and fields as the GitHub API as far as possible, unless there are good reasons to deviate. \
If Gitea provides functionality that GitHub does not, a new endpoint can be created. \
If information is provided by Gitea that is not provided by the GitHub API, a new field can be used that doesn't collide with any GitHub fields. \
Updating an existing API should not remove existing fields unless there is a really good reason to do so. \
The same applies to status responses. If you notice a problem, feel free to leave a comment in the code for future refactoring to API v2 (which is currently not planned).
### Adding/Maintaining API routes
All expected results (errors, success, fail messages) must be documented ([example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/routers/api/v1/repo/issue.go#L319-L327)). \
All JSON input types must be defined as a struct in [modules/structs/](modules/structs/) ([example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/modules/structs/issue.go#L76-L91)) \
and referenced in [routers/api/v1/swagger/options.go](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/routers/api/v1/swagger/options.go). \
They can then be used like [this example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/routers/api/v1/repo/issue.go#L318). \
All JSON responses must be defined as a struct in [modules/structs/](modules/structs/) ([example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/modules/structs/issue.go#L36-L68)) \
and referenced in its category in [routers/api/v1/swagger/](routers/api/v1/swagger/) ([example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/routers/api/v1/swagger/issue.go#L11-L16)) \
They can be used like [this example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/c620eb5b2d0d874da68ebd734d3864c5224f71f7/routers/api/v1/repo/issue.go#L277-L279).
- **GET** endpoints return the requested object(s) and status **OK (200)**
- **DELETE** endpoints return the status **No Content (204)** and no content either
- **POST** endpoints are used to **create** new objects (e.g. a User) and return the status **Created (201)** and the created object
- **PUT** endpoints are used to **add/assign** existing Objects (e.g. a user to a team) and return the status **No Content (204)** and no content either
- **PATCH** endpoints are used to **edit/change** an existing object and return the changed object and the status **OK (200)**
- support pagination (`page` &`limit` options in query)
- set `X-Total-Count` header via **SetTotalCountHeader** ([example](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/7aae98cc5d4113f1e9918b7ee7dd09f67c189e3e/routers/api/v1/repo/issue.go#L444))
We backport PRs given the following circumstances:
1. Feature freeze is active, but `<version>-rc0` has not been released yet. Here, we backport as much as possible. <!-- TODO: Is that our definition with the new backport bot? -->
2.`rc0` has been released. Here, we only backport bug- and security-fixes, and small enhancements. Large PRs such as refactors are not backported anymore. <!-- TODO: Is that our definition with the new backport bot? -->
3. We never backport new features.
4. We never backport breaking changes except when
1. The breaking change has no effect on the vast majority of users
2. The component triggering the breaking change is marked as experimental
### How to backport?
In the past, it was necessary to manually backport your PRs. \
Now, that's not a requirement anymore as our [backport bot](https://github.com/GiteaBot) tries to create backports automatically once the PR is merged when the PR
- does not have the label `backport/manual`
- has the label `backport/<version>`
The `backport/manual` label signifies either that you want to backport the change yourself, or that there were conflicts when backporting, thus you **must** do it yourself.
We consider the act of contributing to the code by submitting a Pull Request as the "Sign off" or agreement to the certifications and terms of the [DCO](DCO) and [MIT license](LICENSE). \
No further action is required. \
You can also decide to sign off your commits by adding the following line at the end of your commit messages:
We adopted a release schedule to streamline the process of working on, finishing, and issuing releases. \
The overall goal is to make a major release every three or four months, which breaks down into two or three months of general development followed by one month of testing and polishing known as the release freeze. \
merged before feature freeze. All feature pull requests haven't been merged before this feature freeze will be moved to next milestone, please notice our feature freeze announcement on discord. And, during the frozen period, a corresponding
At the start of 2023, the `Owners` team was dissolved. Instead, the governance charter proposed a technical oversight committee (TOC) which expands the ownership team of the Gitea project from three elected positions to six positions. Three positions are elected as it has been over the past years, and the other three consist of appointed members from the Gitea company.
Any maintainer is eligible to be part of the community TOC if they are not associated with the Gitea company.
A maintainer can either nominate themselves, or can be nominated by other maintainers to be a candidate for the TOC election.
If you are nominated by someone else, you must first accept your nomination before the vote starts to be a candidate.
The TOC is elected for one year, the TOC election happens yearly.
After the announcement of the results of the TOC election, elected members have two weeks time to confirm or refuse the seat.
If an elected member does not answer within this timeframe, they are automatically assumed to refuse the seat.
Refusals result in the person with the next highest vote getting the same choice.
As long as seats are empty in the TOC, members of the previous TOC can fill them until an elected member accepts the seat.
If an elected member that accepts the seat does not have 2FA configured yet, they will be temporarily counted as `answer pending` until they manage to configure 2FA, thus leaving their seat empty for this duration.
These funds will come from community sources like the OpenCollective rather than directly from the company.
Only non-company members are eligible for this compensation, and if a member of the community TOC takes the responsibility of release manager, they would only be compensated for their TOC duties.
Gitea Ltd employees are not eligible to receive any funds from the OpenCollective unless it is reimbursement for a purchase made for the Gitea project itself.
With Gitea covering many projects outside of the main repository, several groups will be created to help focus on specific areas instead of requiring maintainers to be a jack-of-all-trades. Maintainers are of course more than welcome to be part of multiple groups should they wish to contribute in multiple places.
- **Core Group**: maintain the primary Gitea repository
- **Integration Group**: maintain the Gitea ecosystem's related tools, including go-sdk/tea/changelog/bots etc.
- **Documentation Group**: maintain related documents and repositories
- **Translation Group**: coordinate with translators and maintain translations
- **Security Group**: managed by TOC directly, members are decided by TOC, maintains security patches/responsible for security items
## Roadmap
Each year a roadmap will be discussed with the entire Gitea maintainers team, and feedback will be solicited from various stakeholders.
TOC members need to review the roadmap every year and work together on the direction of the project.
When a vote is required for a proposal or other change, the vote of community elected TOC members count slightly more than the vote of company elected TOC members. With this approach, we both avoid ties and ensure that changes align with the mission statement and community opinion.
- Let $vmaj, $vmin and $vpat be Major, Minor and Patch version numbers, $vpat should be rc1, rc2, 0, 1, ...... $vmaj.$vmin will be kept the same as milestones on github or gitea in future.
- Before releasing, confirm all the version's milestone issues or PRs has been resolved. Then discuss the release on Discord channel #maintainers and get agreed with almost all the owners and mergers. Or you can declare the version and if nobody against in about serval hours.
- If this is a big version first you have to create PR for changelog on branch `main` with PRs with label `changelog` and after it has been merged do following steps:
- Create `-dev` tag as `git tag -s -F release.notes v$vmaj.$vmin.0-dev` and push the tag as `git push origin v$vmaj.$vmin.0-dev`.
- When CI has finished building tag then you have to create a new branch named `release/v$vmaj.$vmin`
- If it is bugfix version create PR for changelog on branch `release/v$vmaj.$vmin` and wait till it is reviewed and merged.
- Add a tag as `git tag -s -F release.notes v$vmaj.$vmin.$`, release.notes file could be a temporary file to only include the changelog this version which you added to `CHANGELOG.md`.
- And then push the tag as `git push origin v$vmaj.$vmin.$`. Drone CI will automatically create a release and upload all the compiled binary. (But currently it doesn't add the release notes automatically. Maybe we should fix that.)
- If needed send a frontport PR for the changelog to branch `main` and update the version in `docs/config.yaml` to refer to the new version.
- Send PR to [blog repository](https://gitea.com/gitea/blog) announcing the release.
