Contributing and Issue Workflow

Purpose and Scope

This section outlines the contribution workflows, issue reporting standards, commit message conventions, licensing details, and repository file exclusion rules for the APIJSON project. Adhering to these guidelines ensures consistent project governance, clean commit histories, and reliable automated tooling integration.

1. Fork and Pull Request Workflow

For minor edits such as documentation corrections or small code tweaks, contributors can use the GitHub web interface by clicking the edit icon on the specific file and committing directly via Commit Change CONTRIBUTING.md:113-122.

For substantial modifications, contributors must follow a standard Fork-and-Rebase workflow:

1. Fork the Repository: Navigate to the upstream repository and create a personal fork CONTRIBUTING.md:128-130.
2. Clone Locally: Clone the forked repository to the local environment CONTRIBUTING.md:132-138.
3. Add Upstream Remote: Bind the upstream APIJSON repository to the local git configuration CONTRIBUTING.md:140-148.
4. Sync with Upstream: Keep the local working branch updated via rebase before submitting changes CONTRIBUTING.md:150-158.

Sources: CONTRIBUTING.md113-158

2. Commit Message Conventions

APIJSON follows an Angular-inspired commit message specification. Every commit message consists of a Header, an optional Body, and an optional Footer CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:1-15.

Header Structure

The header is a single line containing a mandatory type and a concise subject CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:19-25.

• Types:
  • feat: New feature CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:31-31
  • fix: Bug fix CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:32-32
  • doc: Documentation updates CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:33-33
  • style: Code style formatting without logic changes CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:34-34
  • refactor: Code refactoring CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:35-35
  • test: Adding or updating unit tests CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:36-36
  • chore: Build process or tooling changes CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:37-37

Body and Footer

• Body: Provides contextual motivation for the change and contrasts it with previous behavior, wrapped to approximately 72 characters CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:46-61.
• Footer: Tracks breaking changes using BREAKING CHANGE or associates/closes issues using keywords like closes #1 or issue #2 CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md:62-87.

Sources: CONTRIBUTING_COMMIT.md1-102

3. GitHub Issue Templates and Project Governance

APIJSON enforces strict issue reporting schemas using YAML templates under .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ to maintain high-quality bug triage and feature tracking. Blank issues are disabled globally [.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml1].

• Bug Reports (bug_report.yml): Mandates APIJSON version, database type and version, environment specs, APIAuto request/response screenshots, and clear current vs. expected behaviors [.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml1-83].
• Feature Requests (feature_request.yml): Guides users through describing the functional scope, target use case, and rationale [.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml1-17].
• Other Issues (other_issues.yml): Handles general questions and non-bug inquiries [.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/other_issues.yml1-16].

Sources: .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml1-83 .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml1-17 .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/other_issues.yml1-16 .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml1

4. Licensing and Repository Exclusion Rules

Licensing

APIJSON is distributed under the Apache License Version 2.0 [LICENSE1-10]. The project recognizes past corporate sponsorship and outlines legal terms regarding copyright grants, patent licenses, and redistribution obligations [LICENSE1-125].

Gitignore Exclusions

The .gitignore configuration suppresses build artifacts, IDE-specific directories, and OS metadata files while explicitly preserving source trees and test suites [.gitignore1-38]. Key exclusions include:

• Build output directories: target/, build/ [.gitignore7-33]
• IDE configurations: .idea/, *.iml, .settings/, .vscode/ [.gitignore12-36]
• OS files: .DS_Store [.gitignore1]

Sources: LICENSE1-125 .gitignore1-38