Edit

Purpose: For contributors, shows how to contribute code, tests, and documentation to the openCenter-cli project.

Prerequisites

Before contributing, you need:

  • Git installed and configured

  • GitHub account with SSH key configured

  • Mise installed (see development-setup.md[Development Setup])

  • Familiarity with Go and Kubernetes concepts

Fork and Clone

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub:

       ```bash
   # Navigate to https://github.com/opencenter-cloud/openCenter-cli
   # Click "Fork" button
   ```
. Clone your fork:
       ```bash
   git clone git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/openCenter-cli.git
   cd openCenter-cli
   ```
. Add upstream remote:
       ```bash
   git remote add upstream git@github.com:opencenter-cloud/openCenter-cli.git
   ```
. Install development tools:
       ```bash
   mise install
   ```
. Build the project:
    ```bash
mise run build
```

Making Changes

Create a Branch

Always create a feature branch for your changes:

# Update your fork
git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main

# Create feature branch
git checkout -b feat/my-feature

Branch naming conventions:

  • feat/ - New features

  • fix/ - Bug fixes

  • docs/ - Documentation changes

  • refactor/ - Code refactoring

  • test/ - Test additions or fixes

Write Code

Follow the coding standards defined in .kiro/steering/tech.md:

  1. Formatting: Code must be formatted with gofmt

       ```bash
   mise run fmt
   ```
. *Import organization*: Standard library → External → Internal
    ```go
import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
    "github.com/spf13/cobra"
"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
           "github.com/opencenter-cloud/opencenter-cli/internal/config"
   )
   ```
. *Naming conventions*:
   * Exported: `CamelCase`
   * Unexported: `mixedCase`
   * Test functions: `TestXxx`
   * Commands: `newCluster<Action>Cmd()`
. *Error handling*: Always wrap errors with context
    ```go
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
}
```

Write Tests

All behavior changes require tests. See testing-guide.md[Testing Guide] for details.

Required tests:

  • Unit tests for new functions (*_test.go)

  • BDD tests for user-facing features (tests/features/*.feature)

  • Property tests for critical logic (*_property_test.go)

Run tests before committing:

# Unit tests
mise run test

# BDD tests
mise run godog

# All tests
mise run test && mise run godog

Update Documentation

Documentation changes are required for:

  • New commands or flags

  • Configuration schema changes

  • New features or workflows

  • Breaking changes

Update relevant files in docs/:

  • docs/getting-started/ - Learning-oriented guides

  • docs/operations/ - Task-oriented guides

  • docs/reference/ - Information-oriented specs

  • docs/concepts/ - Understanding-oriented concepts

Pre-Commit Checklist

Before committing, always run:

# 1. Build to verify compilation
mise run build

# 2. Format code
mise run fmt

# 3. Run tests
mise run test

# 4. Run BDD tests
mise run godog

# 5. Tidy dependencies (if you added/removed imports)
mise run tidy

If you modified configuration schema:

# Comprehensive schema verification
mise run schema-verify

Commit Messages

Use Conventional Commits format:

<type>: <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer]

Types:

  • feat: - New feature

  • fix: - Bug fix

  • docs: - Documentation changes

  • refactor: - Code refactoring

  • test: - Test additions or fixes

  • chore: - Build process or tooling changes

Examples:

feat: add support for AWS provider

Implements AWS provider with EC2 instance provisioning,
VPC configuration, and IAM role management.

Closes #123
fix: correct VRRP validation logic

When use_octavia=false and vrrp_enabled=true, vrrp_ip
must be set. Previous validation was too permissive.

Fixes #456
docs: add tutorial for VMware deployment

Adds step-by-step guide for deploying clusters on
pre-provisioned VMware VMs.

Submit Pull Request

  1. Push your branch to your fork:

       ```bash
   git push origin feat/my-feature
   ```
. Create pull request on GitHub:
   * Navigate to https://github.com/opencenter-cloud/openCenter-cli
   * Click "New Pull Request"
   * Select your fork and branch
   * Fill in PR template
. PR description must include:
   * What changed and why
   * Test commands run
   * Documentation updates
   * Breaking changes (if any)
   * Related issues

Example PR description:

## Changes

Adds support for AWS provider with EC2 provisioning.

## Testing

- `mise run test` - All unit tests pass
- `mise run godog` - All BDD tests pass
- Manual testing with AWS account in us-east-1

## Documentation

- Added `docs/getting-started/aws-deployment.md`
- Updated `docs/reference/providers.md`
- Updated `docs/reference/configuration-schema.md`

## Breaking Changes

None

## Related Issues

Closes #123

Code Review Process

  1. Automated checks: CI runs tests and linting

  2. Maintainer review: At least one maintainer approval required

  3. Address feedback: Make requested changes

  4. Merge: Maintainer merges when approved

Responding to feedback:

# Make requested changes
git add .
git commit -m "fix: address review feedback"
git push origin feat/my-feature

Common Contribution Types

Adding a New Command

See code-structure.md[Code Structure] for details.

  1. Create cmd/cluster_<action>.go

  2. Implement newCluster<Action>Cmd() function

  3. Register in cmd/cluster.go

  4. Add BDD tests in tests/features/

  5. Update docs/reference/cli-commands.md

Adding a New Provider

See adding-providers.md[Adding Providers] for details.

  1. Create internal/cloud/<provider>/ directory

  2. Implement preflight checks

  3. Add provider defaults in internal/config/defaults.go

  4. Add provider validation

  5. Update documentation

Adding a New Service

See adding-services.md[Adding Services] for details.

  1. Add service to internal/config/defaults.go

  2. Create templates in internal/gitops/gitops-base-dir/

  3. Add service validation

  4. Update docs/reference/platform-services.md

Fixing a Bug

  1. Create failing test that reproduces bug

  2. Fix the bug

  3. Verify test now passes

  4. Add regression test if needed

Improving Documentation

  1. Identify documentation gap or error

  2. Update relevant documentation files

  3. Follow Diátaxis framework (tutorial/how-to/reference/explanation)

  4. Include evidence citations where applicable

Getting Help

Questions about contributing:

  • Open a discussion on GitHub

  • Ask in pull request comments

  • Review existing issues and PRs

Found a bug:

  • Search existing issues first

  • Open new issue with reproduction steps

  • Include version: opencenter version

Feature requests:

  • Open issue with "enhancement" label

  • Describe use case and proposed solution

  • Discuss before implementing large features

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the same license as the project (check LICENSE file in repository root).

Evidence

This documentation is based on the following repository files:

  • Contributing guide: CONTRIBUTING.md:1-82

  • Development workflow: .kiro/steering/tech.md:103-118

  • Coding standards: .kiro/steering/tech.md:5-24

  • Commit conventions: .kiro/steering/tech.md:26-29

  • Project structure: .kiro/steering/structure.md:1-128

  • Build system: .mise.toml:1-961 (mise tasks)

  • Command structure: cmd/ directory (70+ command files)