Contributing to Hermes-DM

First off, thank you for considering contributing to Hermes-DM!

This project is open-source, meaning it is built and maintained by people just like you. Whether you are a seasoned hardware engineer, a Python expert, or a beginner just learning how to use Git, your help is deeply appreciated.

You Don’t Need to Write Code to Help!

Code contributions are wonderful, but they are only one part of maintaining a healthy project. We highly value non-code contributions, such as:

  • Improving Documentation: Did you find a typo? Was a sentence in this documentation confusing? Did you figure out a clever way to use the library that isn’t documented yet? Please submit a Pull Request! Keeping documentation clear and up-to-date is incredibly valuable.

  • Reporting Bugs: If something isn’t working as expected, open an Issue on GitHub. Please include your OS, the version of Hermes-DM you are using, and the traceback if applicable.

  • Suggesting Features: Have an idea for a new instrument driver or a core feature? Open an Issue so we can discuss it!

How to Submit a Pull Request (PR)

If you want to contribute code or documentation changes, please follow these steps:

  1. Fork the Repository: Click the “Fork” button on GitHub to create your own copy of the project.

  2. Clone Locally: Clone your fork to your local machine.

  3. Set Up the Environment: Follow the steps in the Installation guide to set up your virtual environment, install the development dependencies, and activate the pre-commit hooks.

  4. Create a Branch: Create a branch for your feature or fix:

    git checkout -b feature/my-new-idea

  5. Make Your Changes: Write your code, update the tests, and modify the documentation if necessary.

  6. Commit and Push: Commit your changes. Our pre-commit hooks will automatically check your formatting and linting before the commit succeeds.

  7. Open a PR: Go to the original Hermes-DM repository on GitHub and open a Pull Request against the main branch.

Code Quality and Testing Standards

To keep the codebase clean and stable, we enforce a few automated checks on all Pull Requests:

  • Formatting and Linting: We use ruff. Your code will automatically be formatted when you commit if you have installed the pre-commit hooks.

  • Testing: We use pytest. If you add a new feature, please add a test for it. Ensure all existing tests pass before submitting your PR by running pytest -v locally.

  • Continuous Integration: When you open a PR, GitHub Actions will automatically run our test suite and linting checks across multiple operating systems. Don’t worry if it fails the first time—you can just push a fix to your branch and it will run again!

We look forward to seeing your contributions!