Contributing to Turtle Tracer

May 9, 2026 · View on GitHub

First off—thank you for your interest in contributing to Turtle Tracer. This project exists to help FIRST Robotics teams build better autonomous routines, and community involvement is what keeps it improving.

Whether you’re fixing a bug, adding a feature, improving performance, or just tightening up documentation, your help is appreciated.

Project Status

This project is under active and rapid development. Expect:

  • Frequent commits
  • Breaking changes between releases
  • Ongoing refactors as systems mature

If you encounter issues, please:

  1. Check existing Issues
  2. Try the latest release
  3. If needed, revert to a previous release and report the problem

Ways to Contribute

You can contribute in many ways:

  • Bug reports and fixes
  • New features or tools
  • Performance improvements
  • UI/UX polish
  • Testing and validation
  • Documentation improvements
  • Plugins and extensions

No contribution is too small.

Reporting Bugs

Before opening an issue, please check if it already exists.

When reporting a bug, include:

  • App version
  • Operating system
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Expected vs actual behavior
  • Screenshots or logs (if applicable)

Open issues here:
https://github.com/Mallen220/TurtleTracer/issues

Feature Requests

Feature ideas are welcome. When proposing one:

  • Clearly describe the problem it solves
  • Explain why it benefits FTC teams
  • Include mockups or examples if possible

Keep in mind:

  • Simplicity > complexity
  • Performance and stability are top priorities
  • Features should align with real competition workflows

Development Setup

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+
  • Git

Local Setup

git clone https://github.com/Mallen220/TurtleTracer.git
cd TurtleTracer
npm install
npm run dev

Building

npm run dist

Project Structure (High-Level)

  • src/ – Svelte UI and core application logic
  • electron/ – Electron main and preload processes
  • public/ – Static assets
  • scripts/ – Build and utility scripts

Try to keep changes scoped and modular.

Testing & Validation

  • Test your changes on at least one platform (macOS, Windows, or Linux)
  • Verify paths load, save, and export correctly
  • Avoid introducing UI lag or frame drops
  • If adding simulation logic, validate against known robot constraints

Automated testing is evolving—manual validation is currently important.

UI & UX Guidelines

  • Maintain the existing color semantics:

    • Green = Paths
    • Amber = Waits
    • Pink = Rotations

  • Prefer clarity over visual novelty

  • Avoid unnecessary dialogs or modal overload

  • Keep workflows keyboard-friendly where possible

Coding Standards

  • Favor readability and maintainability
  • Avoid premature optimization
  • Use descriptive variable and function names
  • Keep commits focused and meaningful

Commit messages should be clear and concise:

Add path optimizer boundary check
Fix telemetry desync on timeline scrub

Pull Request Process

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch git checkout -b feature/YourFeatureName
  3. Commit your changes git commit -m "Describe your change"
  4. Push to your fork git push origin feature/YourFeatureName
  5. Open a Pull Request against main

Please include:

  • What the PR changes
  • Why it’s needed
  • Any known limitations or follow-ups

Plugins

If contributing a plugin:

  • Keep it self-contained
  • Avoid hard dependencies on internal state where possible
  • Document installation and usage
  • Follow the same quality and UX standards as core features

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the Apache 2.0 License, consistent with the rest of the project.

Thanks

Every contribution helps make this tool better for teams at competitions, in the shop, and during those late-night build sessions.

Thanks for helping improve Turtle Tracer.