Contributing to Physical AI Studio

February 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

Getting Started

This is a monorepo with three main components:

Component	Location	Documentation	Description
Library (VLA framework)	`library/`	library/README.md	Core vision-language-action policy framework
Backend (FastAPI server)	`application/backend/`	application/README.md	API server built on top of the library
Frontend (React UI)	`application/ui/`	application/README.md	Web interface for interacting with the backend

The library is standalone, while the application (backend + frontend) provides a GUI on top of it.

Each project has its own virtual environment, dependencies, and setup instructions.

Code Quality

We use prek (Rust-based pre-commit) for code quality hooks.

Install prek

# Using cargo
cargo install prek

# Or using the install script
curl -fsSL https://prek.j178.dev/install.sh | sh

Install Git Hooks

prek install

Run Hooks Manually

# All files
prek run --all-files

# Library only
prek run --all-files library/

# Backend only
prek run --all-files application/backend/

# Staged files (default)
prek run

Commit Messages

Use conventional commits:

feat: - new features
fix: - bug fixes
docs: - documentation changes
refactor: - code refactoring
test: - adding tests
chore: - maintenance tasks

Write clear, concise messages. Reference issue numbers when applicable.

Pull Requests

Follow conventional commit format for PR title
Fill out the PR template completely
Provide usage examples for new features
Note any breaking changes

Coding Standards

See .github/copilot-instructions.md for detailed coding standards, style guides, and best practices.

License

Physical AI Studio is licensed under the terms in LICENSE. By contributing to the project, you agree to the license and copyright terms therein and release your contribution under these terms.

Please use the sign-off line at the end of the patch. Your signature certifies that you wrote the patch or otherwise have the right to pass it on as an open-source patch. The rules are pretty simple: if you can certify the below (from developercertificate.org):

Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1

Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
660 York Street, Suite 102,
San Francisco, CA 94110 USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
    have the right to submit it under the open source license
    indicated in the file; or

(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
    of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
    license and I have the right under that license to submit that
    work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
    by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
    permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
    in the file; or

(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
    person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
    it.

(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
    are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
    personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
    maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
    this project or the open source license(s) involved.

Then you just add a line to every git commit message:

Signed-off-by: Joe Smith <joe.smith@email.com>

Use your real name (sorry, no pseudonyms or anonymous contributions.)

If you set your user.name and user.email git configs, you can sign your commit automatically with git commit -s.