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Add contribution guidance (CONTRIBUTING.md) - #211

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Add contribution guidance (CONTRIBUTING.md)#211
dgarske wants to merge 1 commit into
wolfSSL:masterfrom
dgarske:contributing_md

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@dgarske

@dgarske dgarske commented Aug 11, 2026

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Description

Adds a CONTRIBUTING.md to the repository root. None of the wolfSSL repositories had one, so our contributor agreement requirement was only discovered after someone had already done the work. See wolfSSL/wolfssh#1146, where an outside contributor withdrew a PR over it and asked us to document the requirement up front.

The same repo-agnostic file is being added to wolfSSL, wolfSSH, wolfMQTT, wolfTPM, wolfBoot, wolfPKCS11, wolfHSM, wolfProvider, wolfSentry and wolfCLU. It covers how to contribute, the contributor agreement and how to request one, our CI (GitHub Actions is public, Jenkins failures get pasted in by a maintainer), coding expectations, and where to report security issues. Please read the file itself rather than a summary here.

Testing

Documentation only - no code changes.

Copilot AI lite review requested due to automatic review settings August 11, 2026 23:00

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Pull request overview

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Adds a repository-root CONTRIBUTING.md to document contribution paths and set expectations up front (notably the required contributor agreement), reducing surprises for external contributors.

Changes:

  • Introduces a comprehensive contribution guide covering PRs/patches/issues and required contributor agreement steps
  • Documents CI visibility differences (GitHub Actions vs internal Jenkins) and coding expectations
  • Adds guidance for licensing and responsible security vulnerability reporting

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Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md

## Before You Start

- **Check `master` first.** The fix may already be in, or the surrounding code may have moved. Please base your work on the current `master`.
Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md
Comment on lines +47 to +49
1. Fork the repository and create a topic branch off `master`.
2. Keep commits focused; one logical change per commit, with a clear message.
3. Open the pull request against `master`.
Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md

1. **Open a pull request.** This is the preferred route and the easiest for us to review, test, and give you credit for.
2. **Email the patch to support@wolfssl.com.** If you would rather not work through GitHub, send us the diff directly and we will take it from there.
3. **File an issue.** Report a defect, ask a question, or propose a change. Apply whichever of the repository's labels fits - `bug` for a defect, `enhancement` or `Feature Request` for something new, and so on. Tell us what the problem is, how to reproduce it, and what you expected instead, and we can take it from there. This is also the route to use if you are unable to submit code at all (see "If You Cannot Sign the Contributor Agreement" below).
Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md

Some employers do not permit signing third-party agreements, and we understand that. You can still get the change in:

- Open a GitHub issue in the affected repository and apply the label that fits (`bug`, `enhancement`, and so on).
Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
# Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to wolfSSL. This guide applies to all wolfSSL Inc. repositories (wolfSSL, wolfSSH, wolfTPM, wolfBoot, wolfMQTT, wolfCLU, wolfPKCS11, wolfHSM, wolfProvider, wolfSentry, and the rest). Please read the "Contributor Agreement" section below - it is the one requirement that surprises people, and we would rather you know about it up front.
Comment thread CONTRIBUTING.md
- **Free what you allocate,** on every return path.
- **Tests.** Behavior changes and bug fixes should come with a test that fails before the change and passes after.
- **No new compiler warnings.**
- **Keep lines to 80 columns.** This is a hard limit in most wolfSSL repositories and is checked in CI. It applies to source, headers, and scripts.
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2 participants