From 3e9646e694a28a52187964f9d89befb44dae1f6d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tei Roberts <ten3roberts@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2023 12:30:45 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] feat: `CONTRIBUTING.md`

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 CONTRIBUTING.md | 58 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

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+# Contributing
+
+Contributions and Pull Requests are very welcome. If you are planning to implement a larger feature please open an issue
+prior to minimize the risk of multiple people working on the same thing simultaneously; or to discuss some specifics of
+the feature.
+
+Neogit draws heavy inspiration from [Magit](https://magit.vc/), but aims to be its own thing. Many of our features are
+inspired by Magit, such as the branch keybindings.
+
+
+## Architecture
+
+- [`./lua/neogit/`]
+  - [`./lua/neogit/lib/`] Contains various git and filesystem abtractions
+  - [`./lua/neogit/lib/git/`] High level git wrappers for commont commands such as branches, fetch. These are also used to
+    supply the status buffer
+  - [`./lua/neogit/lib/git/cli.lua`] Builder like pattern for constructing git cli invocations
+  - [`./lua/neogit/lib/git/repository.lua`] Modules from `git/` for updating the statusbuffer
+  - [`./lua/neogit.lua`]
+
+Neogit uses its own UI drawing library for drawing columns and rows of text.
+
+### Making a new view
+
+Neogit's views, such as the `commit` buffer, `log` graph buffer, etc are located in [`./lua/neogit/buffers/`]. They
+are split in a `init.lua` for creating the buffer and setting up keymaps and actions, and `ui.lua` for rendering the
+buffer. The split is such that it is easier to get an overview of how the buffer will *look* without the clutter of git
+commands and actions.
+
+Opening a view is typically done through a *popup* which allows you to configure options before invoking the view.
+
+These reside inside [`./lua/neogit/popups/`], and are split into `init.lua` and `actions.lua` for the setup and keybindings, and the git commands to execute, likewise intended to get an overview of the options and keybindings for the popup in `init.lua` without concerning yourself with the git commands and parsing in `actions.lua`.
+
+## Code Standards
+
+### Testing
+
+Neogit is tested using [Plenary](https://github.com/nvim-lua/plenary.nvim#plenarytest_harness).
+
+A [Makefile](./Makefile) is set up to run tests.
+
+```sh
+make test
+```
+
+### Linting
+
+Additionally, linting is enforced using `selene` to catch common errors, most of which are also caught by
+`lua-language-server`.
+
+```sh
+make lint
+```
+
+### Formatting
+
+`stylua` is used for formatting. This formatting is slightly different from the built in formatting for
+`lua-language-server`.