# Contributing to Pinchflat

## Background

Pinchflat was created by [@kieraneglin](https://github.com/kieraneglin) and grew a dedicated community of self-hosters. When the original project became unmaintained, a fork has been created to keep it alive — applying backlogged PRs, fixing bugs, and perhaps continuing development.

This repo is community-run. There is no single owner; contributions from anyone are welcome.

## How to contribute

### Reporting bugs and requesting features

Open an issue. Check for duplicates first. For bugs, include your Docker version, logs, and steps to reproduce.

### Submitting code

1. Fork the repo and create a branch from `master`.
2. Make your changes. If you're adding a feature, consider opening an issue first to discuss it.
3. Commit using [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) — this drives automatic versioning:
   - `fix: ...` → patch release
   - `feat: ...` → minor release
   - `chore: ...` / `docs: ...` → no release bump
4. Open a PR against `master`. CI will run tests and build a Docker image tagged `pr-<number>-<sha>` for testing.
5. A maintainer will review and merge.

### Development setup

See the [Development and Contributing wiki page](https://github.com/CommunityMaintained/pinchflat/wiki/Development-and-Contributing) for local setup instructions.

## Release process

Releases are managed automatically by [release-please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please). When PRs are merged to `master`, release-please maintains a running Release PR that tracks the next version. Merging that PR cuts a release, publishes a GitHub Release, and pushes versioned Docker images to GHCR and Docker Hub.