neovim/CONTRIBUTING.md

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Contributing to Neovim
======================
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Getting started
---------------
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If you want to help but don't know where to start, here are some
low-risk/isolated tasks:
- Try a [complexity:low] issue.
- Fix bugs found by [Clang](#clang-scan-build) or [Coverity](#coverity).
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- [Merge a Vim patch] (requires strong familiarity with Vim)
- NOTE: read the above link before sending improvements to "runtime files" (anything in `runtime/`).
- Vimscript and documentation files are (mostly) maintained by [Vim](https://github.com/vim/vim), not Nvim.
- Lua files are maintained by Nvim.
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Reporting problems
------------------
- [Check the FAQ][wiki-faq].
- [Search existing issues][github-issues] (including closed!)
- Update Neovim to the latest version to see if your problem persists.
- Try to reproduce with `nvim --clean` ("factory defaults").
- If a specific configuration or plugin is necessary to recreate the problem, use the minimal template in `contrib/minimal.lua` with `nvim --clean -u contrib/minimal.lua` after making the necessary changes.
- [Bisect](https://neovim.io/doc/user/starting.html#bisect) your config: disable plugins incrementally, to narrow down the cause of the issue.
- [Bisect][git-bisect] Neovim's source code to find the cause of a regression, if you can. This is _extremely_ helpful.
- When reporting a crash, [include a stacktrace](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ#backtrace-linux).
- Use [ASAN/UBSAN](#clang-sanitizers-asan-and-ubsan) to get detailed errors for segfaults and undefined behavior.
- Check the logs. `:edit $NVIM_LOG_FILE`
- Include `cmake --system-information` for build-related issues.
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Developer guidelines
--------------------
- Read [:help dev](https://neovim.io/doc/user/develop.html#dev) and [:help dev-doc][dev-doc-guide] if you are working on Nvim core.
- Read [:help dev-ui](https://neovim.io/doc/user/develop.html#dev-ui) if you are developing a UI.
- Read [:help dev-api-client](https://neovim.io/doc/user/develop.html#dev-api-client) if you are developing an API client.
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- Install `ninja` for faster builds of Nvim.
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```bash
sudo apt-get install ninja-build
make distclean
make # Nvim build system uses ninja automatically, if available.
```
- Install `ccache` for faster rebuilds of Nvim. Nvim will use it automatically
if it's found. To disable caching use:
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```bash
CCACHE_DISABLE=true make
```
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Pull requests (PRs)
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---------------------
- To avoid duplicate work, create a draft pull request.
- Your PR must include [test coverage][run-tests].
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- Avoid cosmetic changes to unrelated files in the same commit.
- Use a [feature branch][git-feature-branch] instead of the master branch.
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- Use a _rebase workflow_ for all PRs.
- After addressing review comments, it's fine to force-push.
### Merging to master
For maintainers: when a PR is ready to merge to master,
- prefer _Squash Merge_ for "single-commit PRs" (when the PR has only one meaningful commit).
- prefer _Merge_ for "multi-commit PRs" (when the PR has multiple meaningful commits).
### Stages: Draft and Ready for review
Pull requests have two stages: Draft and Ready for review.
1. [Create a Draft PR][pr-draft] while you are _not_ requesting feedback as
you are still working on the PR.
- You can skip this if your PR is ready for review.
2. [Change your PR to ready][pr-ready] when the PR is ready for review.
- You can convert back to Draft at any time.
Do __not__ add labels like `[RFC]` or `[WIP]` in the title to indicate the
state of your PR: this just adds noise. Non-Draft PRs are assumed to be open
for comments; if you want feedback from specific people, `@`-mention them in
a comment.
### Commit messages
Follow the [conventional commits guidelines][conventional_commits] to *make reviews easier* and to make
the VCS/git logs more valuable. The general structure of a commit message is:
```
<type>([optional scope]): <description>
[optional body]
[optional footer(s)]
```
- Prefix the commit subject with one of these [_types_](https://github.com/commitizen/conventional-commit-types/blob/master/index.json):
- `build`, `ci`, `docs`, `feat`, `fix`, `perf`, `refactor`, `revert`, `test`, `vim-patch`
- You can **ignore this for "fixup" commits** or any commits you expect to be squashed.
- Append optional scope to _type_ such as `(lsp)`, `(treesitter)`, `(float)`, …
- _Description_ shouldn't start with a capital letter or end in a period.
- Use the _imperative voice_: "Fix bug" rather than "Fixed bug" or "Fixes bug."
- Try to keep the first line under 72 characters.
- A blank line must follow the subject.
- Breaking API changes must be indicated by
1. "!" after the type/scope, and
2. a "BREAKING CHANGE" footer describing the change.
Example:
```
refactor(provider)!: drop support for Python 2
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BREAKING CHANGE: refactor to use Python 3 features since Python 2 is no longer supported.
```
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### News
High level release notes are maintained in [news.txt](runtime/doc/news.txt). A PR is not required to add a news item
but is generally recommended.
### Automated builds (CI)
Each pull request must pass the automated builds on [Cirrus CI] and [GitHub Actions].
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- CI builds are compiled with [`-Werror`][gcc-warnings], so compiler warnings
will fail the build.
- If any tests fail, the build will fail. See [test/README.md#running-tests][run-tests] to run tests locally.
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- CI runs [ASan] and other analyzers.
- To run valgrind locally: `VALGRIND=1 make test`
- To run ASan/UBSan locally: `CC=clang make CMAKE_FLAGS="-DENABLE_ASAN_UBSAN=ON"`.
Note that MSVC requires Release or RelWithDebInfo build type to work properly.
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- The [lint](#lint) build checks that the code is formatted correctly and
passes various linter checks.
- CI for FreeBSD runs on [Cirrus CI].
- To see CI results faster in your PR, you can temporarily set `TEST_FILE` in
[test.yml](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/e35b9020b16985eee26e942f9a3f6b045bc3809b/.github/workflows/test.yml#L29).
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### Clang scan-build
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View the [Clang report] to see potential bugs found by the Clang
[scan-build](https://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/scan-build.html) analyzer.
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- Search the Neovim commit history to find examples:
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```bash
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git log --oneline --no-merges --grep clang
```
- To verify a fix locally, run `scan-build` like this:
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```bash
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rm -rf build/
scan-build --use-analyzer=/usr/bin/clang make
```
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### Coverity
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[Coverity](https://scan.coverity.com/projects/neovim-neovim) runs against the
master build. To view the defects, just request access; you will be approved.
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- Use this format for commit messages (where `{id}` is the CID (Coverity ID);
([example](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/804))):
```
fix(coverity/{id}): {description}
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```
- Search the Neovim commit history to find examples:
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```bash
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git log --oneline --no-merges --grep coverity
```
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### Sanitizers (ASAN and UBSAN)
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ASAN/UBSAN can be used to detect memory errors and other common forms of undefined behavior at runtime in debug builds.
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- To build Neovim with sanitizers enabled, use
```
rm -rf build && CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DENABLE_ASAN_UBSAN=1" make
```
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- When running Neovim, use
```
ASAN_OPTIONS=log_path=/tmp/nvim_asan nvim args...
```
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- If Neovim exits unexpectedly, check `/tmp/nvim_asan.{PID}` (or your preferred `log_path`) for log files with error messages.
Coding
------
### Lint
You can run the linter locally by:
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```bash
make lint
```
### Style
- You can format files by using:
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```bash
make format # or formatc, formatlua
```
This will format changed Lua and C files with all appropriate flags set.
- Style rules are (mostly) defined by `src/uncrustify.cfg` which tries to match
the [style-guide]. To use the Nvim `gq` command with `uncrustify`:
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```vim
if !empty(findfile('src/uncrustify.cfg', ';'))
setlocal formatprg=uncrustify\ -q\ -l\ C\ -c\ src/uncrustify.cfg\ --no-backup
endif
```
- There is also `.clang-format` which has drifted from the [style-guide], but
is available for reference. To use the Nvim `gq` command with `clang-format`:
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```vim
if !empty(findfile('.clang-format', ';'))
setlocal formatprg=clang-format\ -style=file
endif
```
### Navigate
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- Set `blame.ignoreRevsFile` to ignore [noisy commits](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/commit/2d240024acbd68c2d3f82bc72cb12b1a4928c6bf) in git blame:
```bash
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git config blame.ignoreRevsFile .git-blame-ignore-revs
```
- Recommendation is to use **[clangd]**.
Can use the maintained config in [nvim-lspconfig/clangd].
- Explore the source code [on the web](https://sourcegraph.com/github.com/neovim/neovim).
### Includes
For managing includes in C files, use [include-what-you-use].
- [Install include-what-you-use][include-what-you-use-install]
- To see which includes needs fixing use the cmake preset `iwyu`:
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```bash
cmake --preset iwyu
cmake --build build
```
- There's also a make target that automatically fixes the suggestions from
IWYU:
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```bash
make iwyu
```
See [#549][549] for more details.
### Lua runtime files
Most of the Lua core [`runtime/`](./runtime) modules are precompiled to
bytecode, so changes to those files won't get used unless you rebuild Nvim or
by passing `--luamod-dev` and `$VIMRUNTIME`. For example, try adding a function
to `runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua` then:
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```bash
VIMRUNTIME=./runtime ./build/bin/nvim --luamod-dev
```
Documentation
-------------
Read [:help dev-doc][dev-doc-guide] to understand the expected documentation style and conventions.
### Generating :help
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Many `:help` docs are autogenerated from (C or Lua) docstrings. To generate the documentation run:
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```bash
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make doc
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```
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If you need to modify or debug the documentation flow, these are the main files:
- `./scripts/gen_vimdoc.py`:
Main doc generator. Drives doxygen to generate xml files, and scrapes those
xml files to render vimdoc files.
- `./scripts/lua2dox.lua`:
Used by `gen_vimdoc.py` to transform Lua files into a format compatible with doxygen.
- `./scripts/gen_eval_files.lua`:
Generates documentation and Lua type files from metadata files:
```
runtime/lua/vim/* => runtime/doc/lua.txt
runtime/lua/vim/* => runtime/doc/lua.txt
runtime/lua/vim/lsp/ => runtime/doc/lsp.txt
src/nvim/api/* => runtime/doc/api.txt
src/nvim/eval.lua => runtime/doc/builtin.txt
src/nvim/options.lua => runtime/doc/options.txt
```
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### Lua docstrings
Use [LuaLS] annotations in Lua docstrings to annotate parameter types, return
types, etc. See [:help dev-doc-lua][dev-doc-lua].
- The template for function documentation is:
```lua
--- {Brief}
---
--- {Long explanation}
---
--- @param arg1 type {description}
--- @param arg2 type {description}
--- ...
---
--- @return type {description}
```
- If possible, add type information (`table`, `string`, `number`, ...). Multiple valid types are separated by a bar (`string|table`). Indicate optional parameters via `type|nil`.
- If a function in your Lua module should _not_ be documented, add `@nodoc`.
- If the function is internal or otherwise non-public add `@private`.
- Private functions usually should be underscore-prefixed (named "_foo", not "foo").
- Mark deprecated functions with `@deprecated`.
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Reviewing
---------
Reviewing can be done on GitHub, but you may find it easier to do locally.
Using [GitHub CLI][gh], you can create a new branch with the contents of a pull
request, e.g. [#1820][1820]:
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```bash
gh pr checkout https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/1820
```
Use [`git log -p master..FETCH_HEAD`][git-history-filtering] to list all
commits in the feature branch which aren't in the `master` branch; `-p`
shows each commit's diff. To show the whole surrounding function of a change
as context, use the `-W` argument as well.
[549]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/549
[1820]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/1820
[3174]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/3174
[ASan]: http://clang.llvm.org/docs/AddressSanitizer.html
[Cirrus CI]: https://cirrus-ci.com/github/neovim/neovim
[Clang report]: https://neovim.io/doc/reports/clang/
[GitHub Actions]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/actions
[clangd]: https://clangd.llvm.org
[Merge a Vim patch]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/Merging-patches-from-upstream-Vim
[complexity:low]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Acomplexity%3Alow
[conventional_commits]: https://www.conventionalcommits.org
[dev-doc-guide]: https://neovim.io/doc/user/develop.html#dev-doc
[dev-doc-lua]: https://neovim.io/doc/user/develop.html#dev-lua-doc
[LuaLS]: https://github.com/LuaLS/lua-language-server/wiki/Annotations
[gcc-warnings]: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Warning-Options.html
[gh]: https://cli.github.com/
[git-bisect]: http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Debugging-with-Git
[git-feature-branch]: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows
[git-history-filtering]: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/git-log/filtering-the-commit-history
[github-issues]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues
[include-what-you-use-install]: https://github.com/include-what-you-use/include-what-you-use#how-to-install
[include-what-you-use]: https://github.com/include-what-you-use/include-what-you-use#using-with-cmake
[lua-language-server]: https://github.com/sumneko/lua-language-server/
[nvim-lspconfig/clangd]: https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig/blob/master/doc/server_configurations.md#clangd
[pr-draft]: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request
[pr-ready]: https://docs.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/changing-the-stage-of-a-pull-request
[run-tests]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/master/test/README.md#running-tests
[style-guide]: https://neovim.io/doc/user/dev_style.html#dev-style
[wiki-faq]: https://github.com/neovim/neovim/wiki/FAQ