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1# How to contribute
2
3We'd love to accept your patches and contributions to this project. There are
4just a few small guidelines you need to follow.
5
6## Getting started
7
8Before we can work on the code, we need to get a copy of it and setup some
9local environment and tools.
10
11First, fork the code to your user and clone your fork. This gives you a private
12playground where you can do any edits you'd like. For this guide, we'll use
13the [GitHub `gh` tool](https://github.com/cli/cli)
14([Linux install](https://github.com/cli/cli/blob/trunk/docs/install_linux.md)).
15(More advanced users may prefer the GitHub UI and raw `git` commands).
16
17```shell
18gh repo fork bazelbuild/rules_python --clone --remote
19```
20
21Next, make sure you have a new enough version of Python installed that supports the
22various code formatters and other devtools. For a quick start,
23[install pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv-installer) and
24at least Python 3.9.15:
25
26```shell
27curl https://pyenv.run | bash
28pyenv install 3.9.15
29pyenv shell 3.9.15
30```
31
32## Development workflow
33
34It's suggested that you create what is called a "feature/topic branch" in your
35fork when you begin working on code you want to eventually send or code review.
36
37```
38git checkout main # Start our branch from the latest code
39git checkout -b my-feature # Create and switch to our feature branch
40git push origin my-feature # Cause the branch to be created in your fork.
41```
42
43From here, you then edit code and commit to your local branch. If you want to
44save your work to github, you use `git push` to do so:
45
46```
47git push origin my-feature
48```
49
50Once the code is in your github repo, you can then turn it into a Pull Request
51to the actual rules_python project and begin the code review process.
52
53
54## Running tests
55
56Running tests is particularly easy thanks to Bazel, simply run:
57
58```
59bazel test //...
60```
61
62And it will run all the tests it can find. The first time you do this, it will
63probably take long time because various dependencies will need to be downloaded
64and setup. Subsequent runs will be faster, but there are many tests, and some of
65them are slow. If you're working on a particular area of code, you can run just
66the tests in those directories instead, which can speed up your edit-run cycle.
67
68## Updating tool dependencies
69
70It's suggested to routinely update the tool versions within our repo - some of the
71tools are using requirement files compiled by `uv` and others use other means. In order
72to have everything self-documented, we have a special target -
73`//private:requirements.update`, which uses `rules_multirun` to run in sequence all
74of the requirement updating scripts in one go. This can be done once per release as
75we prepare for releases.
76
77## Formatting
78
79Starlark files should be formatted by
80[buildifier](https://github.com/bazelbuild/buildtools/blob/master/buildifier/README.md).
81Otherwise the Buildkite CI will fail with formatting/linting violations.
82We suggest using a pre-commit hook to automate this.
83First [install pre-commit](https://pre-commit.com/#installation),
84then run
85
86```shell
87pre-commit install
88```
89
90### Running buildifer manually
91
92You can also run buildifier manually. To do this,
93[install buildifier](https://github.com/bazelbuild/buildtools/blob/master/buildifier/README.md),
94and run the following command:
95
96```shell
97$ buildifier --lint=fix --warnings=native-py -warnings=all WORKSPACE
98```
99
100Replace the argument "WORKSPACE" with the file that you are linting.
101
102## Contributor License Agreement
103
104Contributions to this project must be accompanied by a Contributor License
105Agreement. You (or your employer) retain the copyright to your contribution,
106this simply gives us permission to use and redistribute your contributions as
107part of the project. Head over to <https://cla.developers.google.com/> to see
108your current agreements on file or to sign a new one.
109
110You generally only need to submit a CLA once, so if you've already submitted one
111(even if it was for a different project), you probably don't need to do it
112again.
113
114## Code reviews
115
116All submissions, including submissions by project members, require review. We
117use GitHub pull requests for this purpose. Consult [GitHub Help] for more
118information on using pull requests.
119
120[GitHub Help]: https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/
121
122### Commit messages
123
124Commit messages (upon merging) and PR messages should follow the [Conventional
125Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) style:
126
127```
128type(scope)!: <summary>
129
130<body>
131
132BREAKING CHANGE: <summary>
133```
134
135Where `(scope)` is optional, and `!` is only required if there is a breaking change.
136If a breaking change is introduced, then `BREAKING CHANGE:` is required; see
137the [Breaking Changes](#breaking-changes) section for how to introduce breaking
138changes.
139
140Common `type`s:
141
142* `build:` means it affects the building or development workflow.
143* `docs:` means only documentation is being added, updated, or fixed.
144* `feat:` means a user-visible feature is being added.
145* `fix:` means a user-visible behavior is being fixed.
146* `refactor:` means some sort of code cleanup that doesn't change user-visible behavior.
147* `revert:` means a prior change is being reverted in some way.
148* `test:` means only tests are being added.
149
150For the full details of types, see
151[Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/).
152
153## Generated files
154
155Some checked-in files are generated and need to be updated when a new PR is
156merged:
157
158* **requirements lock files**: These are usually generated by a
159  `compile_pip_requirements` update target, which is usually in the same directory.
160  e.g. `bazel run //docs:requirements.update`
161
162## Core rules
163
164The bulk of this repo is owned and maintained by the Bazel Python community.
165However, since the core Python rules (`py_binary` and friends) are still
166bundled with Bazel itself, the Bazel team retains ownership of their stubs in
167this repository. This will be the case at least until the Python rules are
168fully migrated to Starlark code.
169
170Practically, this means that a Bazel team member should approve any PR
171concerning the core Python logic. This includes everything under the `python/`
172directory except for `pip.bzl` and `requirements.txt`.
173
174Issues should be triaged as follows:
175
176- Anything concerning the way Bazel implements the core Python rules should be
177  filed under [bazelbuild/bazel](https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel), using
178  the label `team-Rules-python`.
179
180- If the issue specifically concerns the rules_python stubs, it should be filed
181  here in this repository and use the label `core-rules`.
182
183- Anything else, such as feature requests not related to existing core rules
184  functionality, should also be filed in this repository but without the
185  `core-rules` label.
186
187(breaking-changes)=
188## Breaking Changes
189
190Breaking changes are generally permitted, but we follow a 3-step process for
191introducing them. The intent behind this process is to balance the difficulty of
192version upgrades for users, maintaining multiple code paths, and being able to
193introduce modern functionality.
194
195The general process is:
196
1971. In version `N`, introduce the new behavior, but it must be disabled by
198   default. Users can opt into the new functionality when they upgrade to
199   version `N`, which lets them try it and verify functionality.
2002. In version `N+1`, the new behavior can be enabled by default. Users can
201   opt out if necessary, but doing so causes a warning to be issued.
2023. In version `N+2`, the new behavior is always enabled and cannot be opted out
203   of. The API for the control mechanism can be removed in this release.
204
205Note that the `+1` and `+2` releases are just examples; the steps are not
206required to happen in immediately subsequent releases.
207
208Once The first major version is released, the process will be:
2091. In `N.M.0` we introduce the new behaviour, but it is disabled by a feature flag.
2102. In `N.M+1.0` we may choose the behaviour to become the default if it is not too
211   disruptive.
2123. In `N+1.0.0` we get rid of the old behaviour.
213
214### How to control breaking changes
215
216The details of the control mechanism will depend on the situation. Below is
217a summary of some different options.
218
219* Environment variables are best for repository rule behavior. Environment
220  variables can be propagated to rules and macros using the generated
221  `@rules_python_internal//:config.bzl` file.
222* Attributes are applicable to macros and regular rules, especially when the
223  behavior is likely to vary on a per-target basis.
224* [User defined build settings](https://bazel.build/extending/config#user-defined-build-settings)
225  (aka custom build flags) are applicable for rules when the behavior change
226  generally wouldn't vary on a per-target basis. They also have the benefit that
227  an entire code base can have them easily enabled by a bazel command line flag.
228* Allowlists allow a project to centrally control if something is
229  enabled/disabled. Under the hood, they are basically a specialized custom
230  build flag.
231
232Note that attributes and flags can seamlessly interoperate by having the default
233controlled by a flag, and an attribute can override the flag setting. This
234allows a project to enable the new behavior by default while they work to fix
235problematic cases to prepare for the next upgrade.
236
237### What is considered a breaking change?
238
239Precisely defining what constitutes a breaking change is hard because it's
240easy for _someone, somewhere_ to depend on _some_ observable behavior, despite
241our best efforts to thoroughly document what is or isn't supported and hiding
242any internal details.
243
244In general, something is considered a breaking change when it changes the
245direct behavior of a supported public API. Simply being able to observe a
246behavior change doesn't necessarily mean it's a breaking change.
247
248Long standing undocumented behavior is a large grey area and really depends on
249how load-bearing it has become and what sort of reasonable expectation of
250behavior there is.
251
252Here's some examples of what would or wouldn't be considered a breaking change.
253
254Breaking changes:
255  * Renaming an function argument for public functions.
256  * Enforcing stricter validation than was previously required when there's a
257    sensible reason users would run afoul of it.
258  * Changing the name of a public rule.
259
260Not breaking changes:
261  * Upgrading dependencies
262  * Changing internal details, such as renaming an internal file.
263  * Changing a rule to a macro.
264
265## FAQ
266
267### Installation errors when during `git commit`
268
269If you did `pre-commit install`, various tools are run when you do `git commit`.
270This might show as an error such as:
271
272```
273[INFO] Installing environment for https://github.com/psf/black.
274[INFO] Once installed this environment will be reused.
275[INFO] This may take a few minutes...
276An unexpected error has occurred: CalledProcessError: command: ...
277```
278
279To fix, you'll need to figure out what command is failing and why. Because these
280are tools that run locally, its likely you'll need to fix something with your
281environment or the installation of the tools. For Python tools (e.g. black or
282isort), you can try using a different Python version in your shell by using
283tools such as [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv).
284