Getting started
Contributing to Checkmate
How to contribute code, report bugs, and participate in the project.
Overview
Checkmate is open source and welcomes contributions from developers of all experience levels. The project follows a gitflow workflow with pull request reviews.
Before you start
- Read through the Checkmate repository to understand the codebase
- Join the Discord community to connect with other contributors
- Check open issues for tasks labeled
good first issue
Contribution workflow
- Fork the repository — create your own copy on GitHub
- Create a feature branch from the main branch with your changes
- Push the branch to your fork on GitHub
- Open a pull request for the team to review
- Respond to feedback — the team may approve or request revisions
- Make adjustments if needed and push updates to the same branch
- Maintainer merge — once approved, a maintainer will merge your branch
If you're new to Git or need a refresher, check out the Git Quick Start Guide maintained by the Bluewave team.
Getting the development environment running
See the installation guide for developer setup instructions with hot-reload support.
Guidelines
- Follow existing code conventions and patterns in the codebase
- Write clear commit messages describing what changed and why
- Keep pull requests focused — one feature or fix per PR
- Test your changes locally before submitting
- Be respectful and constructive in code reviews
Other ways to contribute
- Report bugs — open an issue on GitHub
- Suggest features — start a discussion on GitHub Discussions
- Translate — help translate Checkmate into your language on POEditor
- Improve docs — submit PRs to improve documentation
- Share — star the repo, write about Checkmate, or recommend it to others