# Collaboration Guide

Welcome to the DeepH-dock community! We believe that groundbreaking tools are built together. This guide outlines how you can contribute, whether through code, documentation, ideas, or community support.

## Ways to Contribute

There are many ways to contribute, all of which are highly valued:

* **Code & Features**: Implement new functionalities, fix bugs, or improve performance.
* **Documentation & Examples**: Improve guides, fix typos, or add tutorials and use cases.
* **Community Help**: Answer questions on discussions, report bugs, or suggest features.
* **Spread the Word**: Star our [GitHub repository](https://github.com/kYangLi/DeepH-dock) to show your support.

For major new features, please open a **GitHub Discussion** or **Issue** first to align with the project's direction and architecture.

## Development Workflow Overview

To maintain a clean and modular codebase, please follow this high-level workflow when contributing code:

1. **Fork & Clone**: Fork the official repository and clone your fork locally.
2. **Architectural Alignment**: Understand the module your feature belongs to (`analyze`, `compute`, `convert`, `design`). For technical details on the modular architecture and CLI registration, please see the [Development Guide](./development_guide.md).
3. **Implement & Test**: Develop your feature in a dedicated branch, following our coding standards and including tests.
4. **Submit Pull Request**: Push your branch and open a PR against the main repository's `main` branch.

## Fork and Pull Request Process

1. **Fork the Repository**: Click the 'Fork' button on the [DeepH-dock GitHub page](https://github.com/kYangLi/DeepH-dock).
2. **Create a Feature Branch**:

    ```bash
    git checkout -b feature/YourFeatureName
    ```

3. **Commit Your Changes**: Use clear, descriptive commit messages.

    ```bash
    git commit -m "feat(module): add a concise description of the change"
    ```

4. **Push to Your Fork**:

    ```bash
    git push origin feature/YourFeatureName
    ```

5. **Open a Pull Request**: Navigate to your fork on GitHub and click "Compare & pull request". Fill in the PR template describing your changes.

**Quality Checklist for PRs:**

* Code follows the existing style.
* New features include relevant tests and, if applicable, a Jupyter notebook in the `examples/` directory that demonstrates the usage of your module. These notebooks serve as both documentation and functional tests, and will be automatically integrated into the documentation by our CI/CD pipeline. For more details, see [Documentation with Jupyter Notebooks in the Development Guide](./development_guide.md).
* All tests pass.

## Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

To accept your contributions, we require a Contributor License Agreement. This agreement confirms that you have the right to grant us permission to use your contribution. It protects you, the maintainers, and all users of the project.

## Getting Help

If you have questions during the process:

* Check the [Development Guide](./development_guide.md) for technical concepts.
* Start a **GitHub Discussion**.
* Review existing **Issues** and **Pull Requests**.

Thank you for your interest in making DeepH-dock better!