# How to contribute Note: contributing implies licensing those contributions under the terms of [COPYING](../COPYING), which is an MIT-like license. ## Opening issues * Make sure you have a [GitHub account](https://github.com/signup/free) * [Submit an issue](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues) - assuming one does not already exist. * Clearly describe the issue including steps to reproduce when it is a bug. * Include information what version of nixpkgs and Nix are you using (nixos-version or git revision). ## Submitting changes * Format the commit messages in the following way: ``` (pkg-name | nixos/<module>): (from -> to | init at version | refactor | etc) (Motivation for change. Additional information.) ``` For consistency, there should not be a period at the end of the commit message's summary line (the first line of the commit message). Examples: * nginx: init at 2.0.1 * firefox: 54.0.1 -> 55.0 * nixos/hydra: add bazBaz option Dual baz behavior is needed to do foo. * nixos/nginx: refactor config generation The old config generation system used impure shell scripts and could break in specific circumstances (see #1234). * `meta.description` should: * Be capitalized. * Not start with the package name. * Not have a period at the end. * `meta.license` must be set and fit the upstream license. * If there is no upstream license, `meta.license` should default to `stdenv.lib.licenses.unfree`. * `meta.maintainers` must be set. See the nixpkgs manual for more details on [standard meta-attributes](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#sec-standard-meta-attributes) and on how to [submit changes to nixpkgs](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#chap-submitting-changes). ## Writing good commit messages In addition to writing properly formatted commit messages, it's important to include relevant information so other developers can later understand *why* a change was made. While this information usually can be found by digging code, mailing list/Discourse archives, pull request discussions or upstream changes, it may require a lot of work. For package version upgrades and such a one-line commit message is usually sufficient. ## Reviewing contributions See the nixpkgs manual for more details on how to [Review contributions](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#sec-reviewing-contributions).