boshu2__agentops/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to AgentOps

AgentOps is the operational layer for coding agents. Contributions are welcome across docs, runtime behavior, CLI reliability, tests, and skills.

If you want the fastest path to a meaningful first contribution, start here:

• Create Your First Skill
• SKILL-API.md
• testing-skills.md

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• GitHub account
• Git
• A supported runtime if you want to test installs end to end (Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, or another skill-install target)
• Comfort editing Markdown and YAML frontmatter

Fork and Clone

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/agentops.git
cd agentops

High-Leverage Ways To Contribute

You do not need to add a brand-new skill to make a good contribution.

Useful contribution paths:

• Docs clarity: tighten README, guides, examples, or onboarding
• Skill quality: improve an existing SKILL.md, references, or validation scripts
• Runtime reliability: hooks, install paths, and lifecycle behavior
• CLI ergonomics: help text, JSON output, workflow plumbing
• Validation and CI: tests, parity checks, and failure-proofing

First Contribution In 30 Minutes

1. Pick one narrow improvement: a typo, broken link, unclear instruction, or stale command example.
2. Create a branch: git checkout -b docs/first-contribution-fix
3. Make the change.
4. Run the narrowest relevant check.
5. Open a PR with before/after context.

Adding A Skill

Use Create Your First Skill for the full walk-through.

The short version:

1. Create skills/your-skill-name/.
2. Add a current SKILL.md with skill_api_version: 1.
3. Keep the entry point lean; put deeper material in references/ only when needed.
4. Link every references/*.md file from SKILL.md.
5. Run the local gates before opening the PR.

Local Validation

At minimum, run:

# Skill structure and reference integrity
bash skills/skill-builder/scripts/heal.sh --strict

# Docs, links, and skill-count consistency
bash tests/docs/validate-doc-release.sh

If you add or remove a skill directory, you must run:

python3 scripts/generate-skill-mesh.py

This updates the skill count across SKILL-TIERS.md, PRODUCT.md, README.md, docs/SKILLS.md, docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, and using-agentops/SKILL.md. The doc-release-gate CI job fails if counts drift, so skipping this step will block your PR. If you're unsure whether your change affects counts, run the script anyway — it's idempotent when counts are already in sync.

If you touched Codex-facing behavior or checked-in Codex artifacts, also run:

bash scripts/audit-codex-parity.sh --skill your-skill-name
bash scripts/validate-codex-generated-artifacts.sh --scope worktree

For a fast changed-surface check, run:

ao gate check --fast --scope worktree

Working On The Docs Site

The published site at boshu2.github.io/agentops is built with MkDocs Material, not Jekyll. If your change touches anything under docs/, the top-level README.md, CHANGELOG.md, or skills/**/SKILL.md, verify the site still builds:

# Strict build (what CI runs). First run creates .venv-docs/ and installs
# the pinned toolchain from requirements-docs.txt (uv preferred, pip fallback).
scripts/docs-build.sh --check

# Live-reload dev server at http://127.0.0.1:8000
scripts/docs-build.sh --serve

MkDocs-specific expectations:

• Every internal link must resolve. mkdocs build --strict fails on unresolved relative links; tests/docs/validate-links.sh catches the same class without a Python toolchain. --check tolerates only the enumerated, intentional cross-references in tests/docs/mkdocs-strict-allowlist.txt (docs pages linking to real repo artifacts outside the site) — see Docs-Build Dispositions; any other strict warning fails the build, so fix the link rather than silencing it.
• Skill pages and the CLI reference are generated at build time from skills/**/SKILL.md and cli/docs/COMMANDS.md respectively — do not hand-author docs/skills/*.md or docs/cli/commands.md.
• Navigation is declared in mkdocs.yml under nav:. New top-level docs need an entry there.

Python tooling is required only for local preview and the strict build. If it is unavailable, report that the docs build was not checked; do not treat another green check as equivalent evidence.

Opening The PR

Make the PR easy to review. Include:

• what changed
• why the existing behavior or docs were not enough
• what checks you ran locally
• any follow-up work you intentionally did not include

Good PR titles:

• docs: clarify first skill contribution path
• feat: add <skill-name> skill
• fix: tighten codex lifecycle guidance

Review Expectations

Maintainers will look for:

• current frontmatter and taxonomy usage
• linked references and working docs paths
• matching runtime/story across docs and shipped artifacts
• validation evidence
• no secrets, symlinks, or dangerous shell patterns

Release Timing

AgentOps ships when the repo state justifies it. There is no fixed cadence.

Maintainer notes:

• Keep [Unreleased] in CHANGELOG.md current.
• Prefer coherent release bundles over random patch piles.
• Draft releases are acceptable for validating packaging before public promotion.

Code of Conduct

Our Standards

Positive behavior:

• Be respectful and inclusive
• Provide constructive feedback
• Collaborate openly
• Welcome newcomers
• Share knowledge generously

Unacceptable behavior:

• Harassment or discrimination
• Trolling or insulting comments
• Personal or political attacks
• Publishing others' private information
• Other unprofessional conduct

Enforcement

Violations may result in:

1. Warning from maintainers
2. Temporary ban from contributing
3. Permanent ban from project

Report issues to: fullerbt@users.noreply.github.com

Getting Help

Useful places to orient:

• README.md
• docs/documentation-index.md
• docs/SKILLS.md
• docs/SKILL-API.md
• docs/testing-skills.md
• AGENTS.md

For examples, browse existing skills under skills/.

License

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

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Questions? Open an issue or email fullerbt@users.noreply.github.com