Contributing to TimeScribe

January 23, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Thank you for considering contributing to TimeScribe! This document provides guidelines and instructions to help you contribute effectively to the project.

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Development Environment Setup

  1. Prerequisites:

    • PHP 8.4 or higher
    • Composer
    • Node.js (LTS version recommended)
    • npm
    • Git

  2. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/WINBIGFOX/timescribe.git
cd timescribe

  3. Install dependencies:

    composer install
npm install

  4. Environment setup:

    cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate

  5. Database configuration and setup: Update the .env file with your database credentials.

    For local development, we use SQLite. Follow the steps below:

    touch database/database.sqlite

    You need run migrations to set up the database schema:

    php artisan migrate

Running the Application

For local development, you can use the following commands:

  • Web development mode:

    composer dev

    This runs the Laravel server, queue worker, log viewer, and Vite development server concurrently.

  • Native app development mode:

    composer native:dev

    This runs the NativePHP/Electron app with hot reloading.

Development Workflow

Branching Strategy

  • main - Production-ready code
  • develop - Development branch for integrating features
  • Feature branches - Create from develop with the format: feature/your-feature-name
  • Bug fix branches - Create from develop with the format: fix/bug-description

Commit Messages

Write clear, concise commit messages that explain the changes made. Follow this format:

type: Short description (50 chars or less)

More detailed explanation if necessary

Types:

  • feat: A new feature
  • fix: A bug fix
  • docs: Documentation changes
  • style: Code style changes (formatting, missing semicolons, etc.)
  • refactor: Code changes that neither fix bugs nor add features
  • test: Adding or modifying tests
  • chore: Changes to the build process or auxiliary tools

Pull Request Process

  1. Create a branch from main for your changes
  2. Make your changes and commit them with descriptive messages
  3. Push your branch to your fork
  4. Submit a pull request to the main branch
  5. Ensure all tests pass and code style checks are successful
  6. Update documentation if necessary
  7. Request a review from maintainers

Coding Standards

PHP Code Style and Rector

We follow the Laravel coding standards. Use Laravel Pint for code formatting and Rector for code refactoring.

./vendor/bin/rector
./vendor/bin/pint

TypeScript/Vue Code Style

We use ESLint and Prettier for TypeScript and Vue files:

# Check code style
npm run style
npm run lint

# Fix code style issues
npm run style:fix
npm run lint:fix

# Type checking
npm run typecheck

Translations

TimeScribe supports multiple languages. If you're adding new text strings:

  1. Add them to the appropriate language files in the lang directory
  2. Ensure they're properly translated in all supported languages (English, German, Chinese)

Reporting Bugs

When reporting bugs, please include:

  1. A clear, descriptive title
  2. Steps to reproduce the issue
  3. Expected behavior
  4. Actual behavior
  5. Screenshots if applicable
  6. Your environment (OS, app version, etc.)

Use the GitHub issue tracker to report bugs.

Feature Requests

Feature requests are welcome. Please provide:

  1. A clear description of the feature
  2. The problem it solves
  3. How it benefits users
  4. Any implementation ideas you have

Communication

  • GitHub Issues: For bug reports and feature requests
  • Pull Requests: For code contributions
  • GitHub Discussions: For general questions and discussions

Thank you for contributing to TimeScribe!