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Getting Started

Welcome to Gouda! We're excited that you're interested in contributing to our project. This guide will help you set up your development environment and understand the project's licensing.

License​

Gouda is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). By submitting contributions to this project, you acknowledge and agree that your work will be distributed under the terms of the GPL-3.0 license. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in our repository.

Development Prerequisites​

Before you begin contributing, please ensure you have the following tools installed:

Required Technologies​

  • Go v1.24 and above

  • Flutter v3.27.1 and above

  • Node.js and NPM

  • Just 1.38.0 and above

    • Just is a command runner to save and run project-specific commands.
    • Think of it as an alternative to npm run commands or Makefiles
    • Installation Guide

Please install and configure all these dependencies before proceeding with Gouda development. For version-specific installation instructions, refer to each tool's official documentation.

Cloning​

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Clone your fork onto your machine.

Components​

  1. The main Go app - located at /src
  2. The flutter/dart frontend - located at /brie
  3. The browser extension - located at /parmesan

Building​

Gouda can be built in 2 modes depending on your target,

  1. Server mode - This compiles the project as a server binary, intended to run in a server/seedbox environments 
    •   go build
  2. Desktop mode - This compiles the project as a desktop binary, enabling systray and adds a flutter native build 
    •      go build -tags systray -ldflags "-X github.com/RA341/gouda/service.BinaryType=desktop"

Development Workflow​

Branch Management​

  • Always create branches from main
  • Keep your local main branch synced with upstream: 
    git checkout main
    git pull upstream main
  • Create feature branches with descriptive names: 
    git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Making Changes​

  1. Make commits with clear messages: 
    git commit -m "feat: add new functionality"
  2. Push your changes: 
    git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Pull Requests​

Opening a PR​

  1. Create PR targeting the main branch
  2. Use the PR template if provided
  3. Include:
    • Clear title describing the change
    • Detailed description of changes
    • Link to related issues using GitHub keywords (Fixes #123, Closes #456)
    • Add appropriate labels/tags

PR Guidelines​

  • Keep changes focused and atomic
  • Update documentation if needed
  • Add tests for new features
  • Ensure CI checks pass
  • Respond to review feedback promptly

Labels​

Common labels used in the project:

  • bug: Bug fixes
  • feature: New features
  • documentation: Documentation updates
  • breaking: Breaking changes
  • dependencies: Dependency updates
  • UI: If working on the frontend

Questions?​

Open a discussion for any questions about contributing here.