This project is governed by the https://github.com/spring-projects/.github/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md[Spring code of conduct].
By participating you are expected to uphold this code.
Please report unacceptable behavior to spring-code-of-conduct@pivotal.io.
[[how-to-contribute]]
== How to Contribute
[[ask-questions]]
=== Ask Questions
If you have a question, check Stack Overflow using
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/spring-security+or+spring-ldap+or+spring-authorization-server+or+spring-session?tab=Newest[this list of tags].
Find an existing discussion, or start a new one if necessary.
If you believe there is an issue, search through https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/issues[existing issues] trying a few different ways to find discussions, past or current, that are related to the issue.
Reading those discussions helps you to learn about the issue, and helps us to make a decision.
[[find-an-issue]]
=== Find an Existing Issue
There are many issues in Spring Security with the labels https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22status%3A+ideal-for-contribution%22[`ideal-for-contribution`] or https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22status%3A+first-timers-only%22[`first-timers-only`] that are a great way to contribute to a discussion or <<submit-a-pull-request,to a PR>>.
You can volunteer by commenting on these tickets, and we will assign them to you.
Many issues are caused by subtle behavior, typos, and unintended configuration.
Creating a https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example[Minimal Reproducible Example] (starting with https://start.spring.io for example) of the problem helps the team quickly triage your issue and get to the core of the problem.
When an issue is first created, it is flagged `waiting-for-triage` waiting for a team member to triage it.
Once the issue has been reviewed, the team may ask for further information if needed, and based on the findings, the issue is either assigned a target branch (or no branch if a feature) or is closed with a specific status.
The target branch is https://spring.io/projects/spring-security#support[the earliest supported branch] where <<choose-a-branch,the change will be applied>>.
See https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/tree/main#building-from-source[Build from Source] for instructions on how to check out, build, and import the Spring Security source code into your IDE.
The wiki pages https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/wiki/Code-Style[Code Style] and https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/wiki/IntelliJ-IDEA-Editor-Settings[IntelliJ IDEA Editor Settings] define the source file coding standards we use along with some IDEA editor settings we customize.
1. If you have not previously done so, please sign the https://cla.spring.io/sign/spring[Contributor License Agreement].
You will be reminded automatically when you submit the PR.
[[create-an-issue]]
1. Must you https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/issues/new/choose[create an issue] first? No, but it is recommended for features and larger bug fixes. It's easier discuss with the team first to determine the right fix or enhancement.
For typos and straightforward bug fixes, starting with a pull request is encouraged.
Please include a description for context and motivation.
Note that the team may close your pull request if it's not a fit for the project.
[[choose-a-branch]]
1. Always check out the branch indicated in the milestone and submit pull requests against it (for example, for milestone `5.8.3` use the `5.8.x` branch).
If there is no milestone, choose `main`.
Once merged, the fix will be forwarded-ported to applicable branches including `main`.
[[create-a-local-branch]]
1. Create a local branch
If this is for an issue, consider a branch name with the issue number, like `gh-22276`.
1. In all files you edited, if the copyright header is of the form 2002-20xx, update the final copyright year to the current year.
[[add-since]]
1. If on `main`, add `@since` JavaDoc attributes to new public APIs that your PR adds
[[change-rnc]]
1. If you are updating the XSD, please instead update the RNC file and then run `./gradlew :spring-security-config:rncToXsd`.
[[format-code]]
1. For each commit, build the code using `./gradlew format check`.
This command ensures the code meets most of <<code-style,the style guide>>; a notable exception is import order.
[[commit-atomically]]
1. Choose the granularity of your commits consciously and squash commits that represent
multiple edits or corrections of the same logical change.
See https://git-scm.com/book/en/Git-Tools-Rewriting-History[Rewriting History section of Pro Git] for an overview of streamlining the commit history.
[[format-commit-messages]]
1. Format commit messages using 55 characters for the subject line, 72 characters per line
for the description, followed by the issue fixed, for example, `Closes gh-22276`.
See the https://git-scm.com/book/en/Distributed-Git-Contributing-to-a-Project#Commit-Guidelines[Commit Guidelines section of Pro Git] for best practices around commit messages, and use `git log` to see some examples.
