profilarr/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Profilarr

• Getting Started
• Development Model
  • Feature Branches
  • Develop
  • Stable
• Making a Change
  • Starting Your Branch
  • Staying Up to Date
  • Submitting a Pull Request
  • PR Scope
• Guidelines
  • Naming
  • Code Conventions
  • Off-Limits
  • Reporting Issues
  • Closing Issues
• Examples
  • Adding a settings page
  • Bug found during testing
  • Hotfix while mid-feature
  • Multiple features in progress
  • Community contribution
  • Contributor needs to rebase
• Reference

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Tool	Version	Required	Description
Git	2.x+	Yes	Version control; also used at runtime for PCD operations
Deno	2.7+	Yes	Runtime, task runner, and package manager
Node.js	20.19+	Yes	Required by Vite and svelte-check
.NET SDK	8.0+	No	Only needed for the parser service (CF/QP testing)

git clone https://github.com/Dictionarry-Hub/profilarr.git
cd profilarr
deno task dev

Development Model

Changes flow through three stages:

• Feature branches: where work gets built
• develop (:develop): where work gets tested
• Stable (:latest): where work gets released

feature branches → develop (:develop) → tagged release (:latest)

Feature Branches

All new work happens on feature branches created off develop. There can be multiple in progress at once, both internal and community contributions. Each branch is independent and gets deleted after merging.

When a feature branch is ready, it gets squash merged into develop for testing. Squash merging collapses all the commits on the branch into a single commit on develop. This keeps develop's history clean: one feature, one commit, regardless of how many "wip" or "fix typo" commits happened on the branch. The squashed commit message is the PR title, so develop reads as a list of conventional commit entries.

The maintainer decides which branches go in and when; if there's contention, it's discussed with testers. Smaller batches are preferred to avoid overloading beta testers and to keep the gap between :develop and :latest short.

Develop

develop is the default branch, but it's not where day-to-day work happens. It's the testing branch: it always contains the next minor version being evaluated by beta testers. Every push to develop builds the :develop Docker image.

:develop is not guaranteed to be stable. Expect untested features and minor issues. It won't have major breaking changes, but things may not work perfectly. Don't run it on a setup you depend on.

Nothing is committed directly to develop. Bug fixes found during testing go through the same feature branch → PR → squash merge flow as everything else. This ensures all changes run through CI before landing. Active feature branches rebase onto develop to pick up these fixes.

Stable

A release needs either 1 week on develop with no issues reported, or sign-off from the maintainer + 2 testers, whichever comes first. Automated tests must pass in both cases. Once the criteria are met, develop gets tagged (e.g. v2.3.0) which builds the :latest and :v2.3.0 Docker images.

Then the cycle repeats: the next batch of complete feature branches is merged into develop for testing.

Hotfixes

If a core feature is broken in a stable release and it can't wait for the next minor version, a hotfix is applied against the stable tag. The bar for this is high; a core feature must be broken, not a cosmetic issue or minor annoyance. Small issues wait for the next minor release.

develop:  A — B — C — D — E — F — G  (HEAD, testing v2.3.0)
                      ↑
                  v2.2.0 (broken)

# Branch from the stable tag
git checkout -b hotfix/v2.2.0-sync-crash v2.2.0

# Fix the bug, verify locally
git commit -m "fix: crash when syncing empty profiles"

# Tag the patch release
git tag v2.2.1
git push origin hotfix/v2.2.0-sync-crash --tags

This builds :latest from the fix without including any untested work. The maintainer tests the fix locally before tagging; hotfixes don't go through the full beta testing cycle. If the fix isn't something you can confidently verify yourself, it's not a hotfix.

Then the fix is brought into develop:

git checkout develop
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
# If the cherry-pick conflicts, resolve and continue:
#   git add <resolved-file>
#   git cherry-pick --continue
git push

# Clean up
git branch -d hotfix/v2.2.0-sync-crash

Making a Change

Starting Your Branch

Branch off develop with a descriptive name:

git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout -b feat/settings-redesign

Work on your branch, committing as you go. Your branch is yours; commit as often as you like.

Staying Up to Date

While you work, develop keeps moving: bug fixes land, other things get merged. Your branch falls behind. You need to pull those changes in.

We use rebase for this, not merge. Rebase takes your commits and replays them on top of the latest develop, as if you started your branch today:

Before rebase:

develop:  A — B — C — D — E
               \
feat:           X — Y — Z

After rebase:

develop:  A — B — C — D — E
                             \
feat:                         X' — Y' — Z'

X', Y', Z' are the same changes but with new commit hashes; they have a different starting point now. This keeps history clean and linear instead of creating a web of merge commits.

To rebase:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop

If there are conflicts, git pauses on each one:

# Open the conflicted files, resolve the markers (<<<<, ====, >>>>)
git add <resolved-file>
git rebase --continue

If it goes badly wrong:

git rebase --abort

After rebasing, the remote still has the old commits, so you need to force push:

git push --force-with-lease

--force-with-lease is safer than --force; it refuses to push if someone else has pushed to the branch since you last fetched.

Submitting a Pull Request

Before opening a PR, rebase one final time to make sure your branch is current:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop
git push --force-with-lease

Then open a PR on GitHub targeting develop. A template will pre-fill the description: fill in what the PR does, link any related issues, and check off the checklist items.

The PR title is the commit message. Since we squash merge, the PR title becomes the single commit on develop. It must follow conventional commit format:

feat: add regex filter type
fix: sync status not updating after save
refactor: extract profile compilation logic

One feature or fix per PR. Keep changes focused and update docs when behavior changes. Tests are written by the maintainer; contributors don't need to include them.

Community PRs follow the same process as internal feature branches: they sit in the queue until develop is free, then get included in the next batch for testing. Community contributions are prioritised for testing over internal work where possible.

PR Scope

One feature or fix per PR. If you spot something small while working (a typo, a missing null check, a wrong label) and it's in code you're already touching, it's fine to include it. If you'd describe the PR as doing two things, split it.

The reason is squash merging: everything collapses into one commit. If a bundled change causes a regression, you can't revert just that part; you revert the whole PR. Keeping unrelated changes separate preserves that option.

Doc-only changes (comments, wording, formatting) are always fine to bundle.

Guidelines

Naming

Branches:

Prefix	Use	Example
feat/	New features	feat/settings-redesign
fix/	Bug fixes (non-critical)	fix/sync-status-display
hotfix/	Critical fixes against a tag	hotfix/v2.2.0-sync-crash
refactor/	Code restructuring	refactor/db-query-layer
chore/	Maintenance, deps, CI	chore/update-dependencies
docs/	Documentation changes	docs/contributing-guide

Commits - Conventional Commits:

feat: add regex filter type
fix: sync status not updating after save
docs: update contributing guide
refactor: extract profile compilation logic
chore: update Deno to 2.x

The message after the colon is imperative: what the commit does when applied, not what you did.

Tags - Semantic Versioning:

Change	Example
Bug fix	v2.1.0 → v2.1.1
New feature	v2.1.0 → v2.2.0
Breaking change	v2.1.0 → v3.0.0

Code Conventions

• Svelte 5, no runes. Use onclick, no $state / $derived.
• Alerts for feedback. Use alertStore.add(type, message).
• Dirty tracking. Use the dirty store to block saves + warn on navigation.
• Routes > modals. Only use modals for confirmations or rare one-off forms.
• API: extend /api/v1/* only; legacy routes are migration targets.

Off-Limits

The PCD module (Profilarr Compliant Database system) is complex and tightly coupled. Don't modify it without discussing with the maintainer first. This includes the op replay system, the compile pipeline, and the export flow. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for how it works.

Reporting Issues

Use the GitHub issue templates. There are templates for bugs, feature requests, and general feedback.

Closing Issues

Close an issue when the fixing PR merges into develop. There's no need to wait for a stable release. The work is done and in the pipeline. Leave a short comment so the reporter knows what to expect:

Fixed in develop, will ship with the next release.

Duplicates, out-of-scope requests, and won't-fix decisions should be closed immediately with a brief explanation.

Examples

Adding a settings page

You want to add a settings page. There's nothing currently being tested on develop; the last release was tagged.

# Start your feature branch
git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout -b feat/settings-page

You work on it over a few days. Commits don't matter much since they'll be squashed:

git commit -m "wip: settings page layout"
git commit -m "feat: wire up settings form"
git commit -m "fix: form validation"
git push origin feat/settings-page

It's ready. You open a PR on GitHub targeting develop. The PR title is your commit message:

feat: add settings page

You squash merge the PR. develop now has one clean commit: feat: add settings page. The :develop image rebuilds. Beta testers start testing.

A week goes by with no issues. Automated tests pass. You tag it:

git checkout develop
git pull
git tag v2.4.0
git push --tags

:latest and :v2.4.0 build. Stable users get the update. You delete the feature branch.

Bug found during testing

The settings page feature is on develop. A beta tester reports that saving settings clears the form instead of showing a success message.

Create a fix branch, just like any other change:

git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout -b fix/settings-save-message

Fix the bug, commit, and push:

git commit -m "fix: show success message after saving settings"
git push origin fix/settings-save-message

Open a PR targeting develop with the title fix: show success message after saving settings. CI runs. Once it passes, squash merge the PR. :develop rebuilds. The tester confirms the fix.

No other issues come up. Two testers and the maintainer sign off. You tag it:

git checkout develop
git pull
git tag v2.4.0
git push --tags

The bug fix shipped as part of the minor release. No separate patch needed.

If you have feature branches in progress, they rebase onto develop to pick up the fix:

git checkout feat/notifications
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop
git push --force-with-lease

Hotfix while mid-feature

You're halfway through building a notifications system on feat/notifications. A user reports that syncing crashes on the stable release (v2.4.0). It's a core feature, so it needs a hotfix.

# Stash or commit your in-progress work
git checkout feat/notifications
git commit -m "wip: notification preferences"

# Branch from the stable tag
git checkout -b hotfix/v2.4.0-sync-crash v2.4.0

# Fix the bug, verify locally
git commit -m "fix: crash when syncing empty profiles"

# Tag the patch release
git tag v2.4.1
git push origin hotfix/v2.4.0-sync-crash --tags

:latest rebuilds from the fix. Stable users get v2.4.1.

Now bring the fix into develop and clean up:

git checkout develop
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
git push
git branch -d hotfix/v2.4.0-sync-crash

Then go back to your feature and rebase to pick up the fix:

git checkout feat/notifications
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop
git push --force-with-lease

Your feature branch now includes the sync fix. You continue working where you left off.

Multiple features in progress

The settings page (feat/settings-page) is on develop being tested. While that happens, you finish a notifications system and start working on a dark mode feature.

feat/settings-page    → merged into develop, being tested
feat/notifications    → complete, waiting in queue
feat/dark-mode        → in progress

Testers sign off on the settings page. You tag it:

git checkout develop
git pull
git tag v2.4.0
git push --tags

Now develop is free. The notifications feature is next. You open a PR for feat/notifications targeting develop, rebase first:

git checkout feat/notifications
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop
git push --force-with-lease

Squash merge the PR. :develop rebuilds with the notifications feature. Beta testers start testing.

Meanwhile, you keep working on dark mode. When a bug fix lands on develop during notifications testing, you rebase to pick it up:

git checkout feat/dark-mode
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/develop
git push --force-with-lease

When notifications is tagged, dark mode is next in the queue.

Community contribution

A contributor wants to add a dark mode toggle. They fork the repo, clone it, and create a branch:

git clone https://github.com/their-username/profilarr.git
cd profilarr
git remote add upstream https://github.com/Dictionarry-Hub/profilarr.git
git checkout -b feat/dark-mode-toggle

They build the feature, commit, and push to their fork:

git commit -m "feat: dark mode toggle"
git push origin feat/dark-mode-toggle

They open a PR on GitHub targeting develop. The PR title follows conventional commits: feat: add dark mode toggle.

Right now, the notifications feature is being tested on develop. The PR waits. The maintainer reviews the code and leaves feedback. The contributor pushes updates.

Notifications testing finishes and gets tagged as v2.5.0. The maintainer decides to include the dark mode PR in the next batch. The contributor rebases first:

git fetch upstream
git rebase upstream/develop
git push --force-with-lease

The maintainer squash merges the PR. :develop rebuilds with the dark mode toggle. Beta testers start testing. The contributor's work goes through the same cycle as any internal feature.

Contributor needs to rebase

A contributor opened a PR for fix/sync-status-display two weeks ago. Since then, several bug fixes and a feature have landed on develop. Their PR now has merge conflicts.

The maintainer comments on the PR: "Please rebase from develop."

The contributor updates their branch:

git fetch upstream
git rebase upstream/develop

Git pauses on a conflict in src/lib/client/ui/SyncStatus.svelte:

const status = getSyncStatus(profile);

The contributor resolves it, keeping the correct version:

git add src/lib/client/ui/SyncStatus.svelte
git rebase --continue

No more conflicts. They force push to update the PR:

git push --force-with-lease

The PR is now clean and up to date. The maintainer can review and squash merge when develop is free.

Reference

• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md - full codebase encyclopedia (modules, data flow, PCD)
• deno task stats - per-module code stats (TS/JS/Svelte/CSS/SQL/C#)