# Contributing

Radius is in an early phase of development right now. We welcome feedback in the form of issues that comes from usage and is aligned with the current scope and goals of the project.

> **Using an AI agent?** Start with [AGENTS.md](./AGENTS.md), the single entry point that orients GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and other agents working in this repository.

## Ways to contribute

There are many ways to get involved and make a meaningful impact on the Radius project:

- **Learn the codebase.** Browse the [contributor documentation](./docs/contributing/) for guides on prerequisites, building, testing, debugging, schema changes, design documents, and more.
- **Tackle small tasks.** Start with a ["good first issue"](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues?q=is:issue+is:open+label:%22good+first+issue%22) to familiarize yourself with the project without a steep learning curve.
- **Take on bigger projects.** Issues that are groomed and ready to be picked up are labeled ["triaged"](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Atriaged).
- **Contribute to designs.** Larger features need a design review before implementation; design proposals are created in the [design-notes repository](https://github.com/radius-project/design-notes).
- **Submit pull requests.** Fork the repository, make your changes, and open a pull request with a clear description of the purpose and benefits of your changes.
- **Help with code reviews.** Give feedback and help with changes made by others.
- **Engage with the community.** Participate in discussions, forums, and chat channels related to Radius — seek guidance, offer help, and build connections.
- **Test and report bugs.** Detailed bug reports help us address issues promptly and improve quality.
- **Improve documentation.** Enhance the [Radius documentation](https://github.com/radius-project/docs) by updating content, adding guides, or adding examples.
- **Spread the word.** Share your experiences through blog posts, talks, or social media, and star the project on GitHub!

For all contributor guides and conventions, see the **[contributor documentation](./docs/contributing/)**.

## Reporting bugs and security vulnerabilities

For ordinary bugs, search the existing [issues](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues) first. If the problem has not been reported, use the [Bug Report form](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues/new?template=bug.yaml). Include your Radius version, steps to reproduce, expected and observed behavior, and relevant logs with credentials and sensitive information removed.

**Do not report suspected security vulnerabilities in public GitHub issues.** Follow our [security policy](./SECURITY.md) to report them privately. If the listed channel is unavailable, ask maintainers for a working private reporting channel without posting vulnerability details publicly.

## Current status

We welcome small pull request contributions from anyone (docs improvements, bug fixes, minor features.) as long as they follow a few guidelines:

- For very minor changes like correcting a typo, human contributors may send a pull request without first opening an issue.
- For other changes, start by [choosing an existing issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues) or [opening an issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues/new/choose).
- External contributors using an AI agent, coding bot, or other automation must restrict their contributions to open issues labeled `triaged` and either `help wanted` or `good first issue`. The issue must not be assigned to another contributor or already have an open pull request. Re-check the issue's status, labels, assignment, and linked pull requests immediately before opening a pull request. The exception for minor changes does not apply to automated contributions.
- Creating an issue or applying a label other than the required labels is not authorization to open an automated pull request.
- If you have any doubt whether a contribution would be valuable, feel free to ask.

## Developer Certificate of Origin

The Radius project follows the [Developer Certificate of Origin](https://developercertificate.org/). This is a lightweight way for contributors to certify that they wrote or otherwise have the right to submit the code they are contributing to the project.

Contributors sign-off that they adhere to these requirements by adding a Signed-off-by line to commit messages.

```text
This is my commit message

Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <random@developer.example.org>
```

Git even has a -s command line option to append this automatically to your commit message:

```text
git commit -s -m 'This is my commit message'
```

Visual Studio Code has a setting, `git.alwaysSignOff` to automatically add a Signed-off-by line to commit messages. Search for "sign-off" in VS Code settings to find it and enable it.

Every commit must also be cryptographically signed so that GitHub displays a **Verified** badge. Cryptographic signing is separate from the DCO `Signed-off-by` line; both are required. See [Signing your commits](docs/contributing/contributing-code/contributing-code-first-commit/first-commit-06-creating-a-pr/index.md#signing-your-commits) for setup and remediation guidance.

## Code of conduct

This project has adopted the [Contributor Covenant](http://contributor-covenant.org/).
For more information see [CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md](https://github.com/radius-project/community/blob/main/CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md)