Contributing to OpenNHP

January 7, 2026 · View on GitHub

Thank you for your interest in contributing to OpenNHP! This document provides guidelines and information for contributors.

Code of Conduct

Please read and follow our Code of Conduct to maintain a welcoming and inclusive community.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.24+ - Required for building the project
  • Make - Build automation
  • Git - Version control
  • golangci-lint (optional) - For code linting

Clone and Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/OpenNHP/opennhp.git
cd opennhp

# Initialize dependencies
make init

# Build all binaries
make

Project Structure

opennhp/
├── nhp/                 # Core NHP protocol library
│   ├── core/            # Protocol implementation
│   ├── common/          # Shared types and utilities
│   ├── utils/           # Helper functions
│   ├── plugins/         # Plugin system
│   └── test/            # Unit tests
├── endpoints/           # Network daemon implementations
│   ├── agent/           # NHP Agent (client)
│   ├── server/          # NHP Server
│   ├── ac/              # Access Controller
│   ├── db/              # Database component
│   └── kgc/             # Key Generation Center
├── examples/            # Example implementations
│   ├── server_plugin/   # Example server plugin
│   └── client_sdk/      # SDK usage examples
├── docs/                # Documentation
├── docker/              # Docker configurations
└── release/             # Build outputs

Running Tests

# Run all tests
make test

# Run tests with race detection
make test-race

# Run tests with coverage
make coverage

Code Style

  • Use gofmt for code formatting: make fmt
  • Follow Go Code Review Comments
  • Write clear, descriptive commit messages
  • Add tests for new functionality
  • Document exported functions and types

Development Workflow

Making Changes

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub
  2. Clone your fork locally
  3. Create a branch for your changes: 
    git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
  4. Make your changes and commit them
  5. Test your changes: 
    make test
make fmt
  6. Push to your fork: 
    git push origin feature/your-feature-name
  7. Open a Pull Request on GitHub

Commit Messages

Write clear, concise commit messages that explain the "why" behind your changes:

feat(server): add health check endpoint

Add /health and /ready endpoints for Kubernetes liveness
and readiness probes.

Use conventional commit prefixes:

  • feat: - New features
  • fix: - Bug fixes
  • docs: - Documentation changes
  • test: - Test additions or modifications
  • refactor: - Code refactoring
  • ci: - CI/CD changes
  • build: - Build system changes

Pull Request Guidelines

  • Keep PRs focused on a single change
  • Update documentation if needed
  • Add tests for new functionality
  • Ensure all tests pass
  • Request review from maintainers

Reporting Issues

Bug Reports

When reporting bugs, please include:

  • Go version (go version)
  • Operating system and version
  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Expected vs actual behavior
  • Relevant logs or error messages

Feature Requests

For feature requests, please:

  • Check existing issues to avoid duplicates
  • Clearly describe the use case
  • Explain the proposed solution

Security Issues

For security vulnerabilities, please see our Security Policy and report issues privately.

Getting Help

  • GitHub Issues - For bugs and feature requests
  • Discussions - For questions and community support
  • Documentation - See the docs/ directory

License

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