CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing To Absurdity Index

Thanks for contributing.

Development Setup

1. Install dependencies:

npm install
npm ci --prefix cli

1. Start the site:

npm run dev

1. Optional CLI development:

npm run cli:dev -- status --json

Before Opening A PR

Run the same checks CI runs:

npm run verify
npm run validate:ci
npm run security:ci
npm run build
npm run build --prefix cli
npm test --prefix cli

Release process and changelog expectations are documented in RELEASING.md and CHANGELOG.md.

Content Contributions (Bills)

1. Start from templates in src/data/bills/_templates/.
2. Follow filename conventions in AGENTS.md.
3. Run npm run validate and address errors.

Note: CI treats bill validation warnings as failures.

Code Guidelines

• Keep changes scoped and reviewable.
• Do not commit secrets (.env, API tokens, browser session data).
• Prefer explicit, deterministic behavior over hidden side effects.
• Add or update tests when changing CLI behavior.

Pull Request Expectations

• Explain user-visible behavior changes.
• Include test coverage or explain why tests were not added.
• Call out any follow-up work clearly.

Commit Signing

• Use signed commits for all changes merged to main.
• Any GitHub-verified signature format is acceptable (GPG, SSH, or S/MIME).
• Maintainers should enforce "Require signed commits" in branch protection or rulesets.

Maintainer Policy

• CODEOWNERS is defined in .github/CODEOWNERS.
• Protect main and require PR approval from code owners.
• Require signed commits on main (GitHub verified signatures).
• Require these status checks before merge:
  • security-audit
  • secret-scan
  • validate-content
  • build-site
  • test-cli

Licensing

By contributing, you agree that your contributions are licensed under the MIT License in LICENSE.