link org wide CONTRIBUTING.md

Update CONTRIBUTING.md to add a link to the new org wide document which
has some more details and then remove the duplicated sections between
that and the file here.

While at it update the Table of Contents at the top and also add a link
to the podman-dev channel to actually reach the maintainers compared to
the generic support channels.

Signed-off-by: Paul Holzinger <pholzing@redhat.com>
This commit is contained in:
Paul Holzinger 2026-09-16 19:28:16 +02:00
parent d12801967c
commit c4e80b8c2b
No known key found for this signature in database
GPG key ID: EB145DD938A3CAF2

View file

@ -1,58 +1,20 @@
![PODMAN logo](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/containers/container-libs/main/common/logos/podman-logo-full-vert.png)
# Contributing to Podman
# Podman Contributing Guide
We'd love to have you join the community!
Below summarizes the processes that we follow.
Please first read our organization wide contributing guide: https://github.com/podman-container-tools/community/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md.
It contains all the general recommendations on how to work with issues and how to create proper commits and PRs for the Project.
Below you find helpful advice specific to only the Podman repository.
## Topics
* [LLM ("AI") Policy](#llm-ai-policy)
* [Reporting Issues](#reporting-issues)
* [Working On Issues](#working-on-issues)
* [Contributing to Podman](#contributing-to-podman)
* [Libraries](#libraries)
* [Codebase structure](#codebase-structure)
* [Testing](#testing)
* [Documentation](#documentation)
* [Continuous Integration](#continuous-integration) [![Build Status](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/actions/workflows/ci.yml?query=branch%3Amain)
* [Submitting Pull Requests](#submitting-pull-requests)
* [Communications](#communications)
## LLM ("AI") Policy
If your contribution is aided by LLMs or other AI tools, please read the [LLM Policy](LLM_POLICY.md).
This includes comments, issues, PRs and any other interactions with the Podman team.
## Reporting Issues
Before reporting an issue, check our backlog of [open issues](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/issues) to see if someone else has already reported it.
If so, feel free to add your scenario, or additional information, to the discussion.
Or simply "subscribe" to it to be notified when it is updated.
Please do not add comments like "+1" or "I have this issue as well" without adding any new information.
Instead, please add a thumbs-up emoji to the original report.
Note: Older closed issues/PRs are automatically locked.
If you have a similar problem please open a new issue instead of commenting.
If you find a new issue with the project we'd love to hear about it!
The most important aspect of a bug report is that it includes enough information for us to reproduce it.
To make this easier, there are three types of issue templates you can use.
* If you have a bug to report, please use *Bug Report* template.
* If you have an idea to propose, please use the *Feature Request* template.
* If your issue is something else, please use the default *Blank issue* template.
Please include as much detail as possible, including all requested fields in the template.
Not having all requested information - for example, a full `podman info` - makes it much harder to find and fix issues.
A reproducer is the best thing you can include.
Reproducers make finding and fixing issues much easier for maintainers.
The easier it is for us to reproduce a bug, the faster it'll be fixed!
Please don't include any private/sensitive information in your issue!
Security issues should NOT be reported via Github and should instead be reported via the process described [here](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/container-libs/blob/main/SECURITY.md).
## Working On Issues
Once you have decided to contribute to Podman by working on an issue, check our backlog of [open issues](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/issues) looking for any that are unassigned.
If you want to work on a specific issue that is already assigned but does not appear to be actively being worked on, please ping the assignee in the issue and ask if you can take over.
If they do not respond after several days, you can notify a maintainer to have the issue reassigned.
When working on an issue, please assign it to yourself.
You can use the `/assign` bot command in a comment on an issue to assign it to yourself.
If you are a maintainer of Podman project, please following the [instructions](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/blob/main/TRIAGE.md) to triage new issues.
## Contributing to Podman
@ -107,8 +69,6 @@ To build Podman binaries, you can run `make binaries`.
Built binaries will be placed in the `bin/` directory.
You can manually test to verify that Podman is working by running the binaries.
For further reading about branching [you can read this document](https://herve.beraud.io/containers/linux/podman/isolate/environment/2019/02/06/how-to-hack-on-podman.html).
### Building docs
To build Podman's manpages, you can run `make docs`.
@ -121,7 +81,7 @@ Files suffixed with `.in` are preliminary versions that are compiled into the fi
Podman uses a large amount of vendored library code, contained in the `vendor/` directory.
This code is included in the Podman repository, but is actually maintained elsewhere.
Pull requests that change the vendor/ directory directly will not be accepted.
Instead, changes should be submitted to the original package (defined by the path in `vendor/`; for example, `vendor/github.com/containers/storage` is the [containers/storage library](https://github.com/containers/storage/).
Instead, changes should be submitted to the original package (defined by the path in `vendor/`; for example, `vendor/go.podman.io/storage/` is the [container-libs storage library](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/container-libs/tree/main/storage).
Once the changes have been merged into the original package, Podman's vendor directory can be updated by using `go get` on the appropriate version of the package, then running `make vendor` or `make vendor-in-container`.
## Codebase structure
@ -186,166 +146,7 @@ Podman also provides Swagger documentation for the REST API.
Swagger is generated from comments on registered handlers located in the `pkg/api/server/` directory.
All API changes should update these Swagger comments to ensure the documentation remains accurate.
## Submitting Pull Requests
No Pull Request (PR) is too small!
Typos, additional comments in the code, new test cases, bug fixes, new features, more documentation, ... it's all welcome!
If you are a new contributor to the project, please do not create more than two open Pull Requests. If the existing PRs
have not been reviewed yet, please wait before opening more PRs; this may be enforced via a GitHub setting depending
on the repository activity. Do not spam-ping maintainers for reviews. If the PR has not been reviewed after several
weeks, you can try to ping a maintainer and ask nicely or use our [communication channels](#communications).
While bug fixes can first be identified via an "issue" in Github, that is not required.
It's ok to just open up a PR with the fix, but make sure you include the same information you would have included in an issue - like how to reproduce it.
PRs for new features should include some background on what use cases the new code is trying to address.
When possible and when it makes sense, try to break-up larger PRs into smaller ones - it's easier to review smaller code changes.
But only if those smaller ones make sense as stand-alone PRs.
Pull requests should be submitted to the main branch of the Podman repository. Bug fixes may be cherry-picked or back-ported
to Podman release branches but must first be merged upstream. Maintainers reserve the right to not accept any pull requests
to any release branches.
Regardless of the type of PR, all PRs should include:
* Well-documented code changes, both through comments in the code itself and high-quality commit messages.
* Additional tests. Ideally, they should fail w/o your code change applied.
(With a few exceptions, CI hooks will block your PR unless your change
includes files named `*_test.go` or under the `test/` subdirectory. Repo
admins may bypass this restriction by setting the 'No New Tests' GitHub
label on the PR).
* Documentation updates to reflect the changes made in the pull request.
Squash your commits into logical pieces of work that might want to be reviewed separate from the rest of the PRs.
Squashing down to just one commit is also acceptable since in the end the entire PR will be reviewed anyway.
When in doubt, squash.
When your PR fixes an issue, please note that by including `Fixes: #00000` in the commit description.
More details on this are below, in the "Describe your changes in Commit Messages" section.
The Podman repo follows a two-ack policy for merges.
PRs will be approved and merged by a Maintainer listed in [`MAINTAINERS.md`](MAINTAINERS.md).
Two reviews are required normally for a pull request to merge.
### Describe your Changes in Commit Messages
Describe your problem.
Whether your patch is a one-line bug fix or 5000 lines of a new feature, there must be an underlying problem that motivated you to do this work.
Convince the reviewer that there is a problem worth fixing and that it makes sense for them to read past the first paragraph.
Describe user-visible impact.
Straight up crashes and lockups are pretty convincing, but not all bugs are that blatant.
Even if the problem was spotted during code review, describe the impact you think it can have on users.
Keep in mind that the majority of users run packages provided by distributions, so include anything that could help route your change downstream.
Quantify optimizations and trade-offs.
If you claim improvements in performance, memory consumption, stack footprint, or binary size, include
numbers that back them up.
But also describe non-obvious costs.
Optimizations usually aren’t free but trade-offs between CPU, memory, and readability; or, when it comes to heuristics, between different workloads.
Describe the expected downsides of your optimization so that the reviewer can weigh costs against
benefits.
Once the problem is established, describe what you are actually doing about it in technical detail.
It’s important to describe the change in plain English for the reviewer to verify that the code is behaving as you intend it to.
Solve only one problem per patch.
If your description starts to get long, that’s a sign that you probably need to split up your patch.
If the patch fixes a logged bug entry, refer to that bug entry by number or URL.
If the patch follows from a mailing list discussion, give a URL to the mailing list archive.
Please format these lines as `Fixes:` followed by the URL or, for Github bugs, the bug number preceded by a #.
For example:
```
Fixes: #00000
Fixes: https://github.com/containers/container-libs/issues/00000
Fixes: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/RHEL-00000
Fixes: RHEL-00000
```
However, try to make your explanation understandable without external resources.
In addition to giving a URL to a mailing list archive or bug, summarize the relevant points of the discussion that led to the patch as submitted.
If you want to refer to a specific commit, don’t just refer to the SHA-1 ID of the commit.
Please also include the oneline summary of the commit, to make it easier for reviewers to know what it is about. If the commit was merged in Github, referring to a Github PR number is also a good option, as that will retain all discussion from development, and makes including a summary less critical.
Examples:
```
Commit f641c2d9384e ("fix bug in rm -fa parallel deletes") [...]
PR #00000
```
When referring to a commit by SHA, you should also be sure to use at least the first twelve characters of the SHA-1 ID.
The Podman repository holds a lot of objects, making collisions with shorter IDs a real possibility.
Bear in mind that, even if there is no collision with your six-character ID now, that condition may change five years from now.
The following git config settings can be used to add a pretty format for outputting the above style in the git log or git show commands:
```
[core]
abbrev = 12
[pretty]
fixes = Fixes: %h (\"%s\")
```
### Sign your PRs
The sign-off is a line at the end of the explanation for 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 simple: if you can certify the below (from [developercertificate.org](https://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`.
### Reviewing PRs
If you are a maintainer of Podman project, please following the [guidelines](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/blob/main/REVIEWING.md) on how to review a PR.
### Continuous Integration
## Continuous Integration
All pull requests automatically run Podman's test suite.
The tests have been configured such that only tests relevant to the code changed will be run.
@ -373,30 +174,20 @@ Alternating red/green bars is indicative of a testing "flake", and should be exa
repository outage), a re-run should be attempted.
* *All tasks are failing*: If a common element is **not** identifiable as
temporary (i.e. container registry outage), please seek assistance via
[the methods below](#communications) as this may be early indication of
a more serious problem.
temporary (i.e. container registry outage), please try to contact a Podman Maintainer,
see below for the Matrix channel.
In the (hopefully) rare case there are multiple, contiguous red bars, this is
a ***very bad*** sign. It means additional merges are occurring despite an uncorrected
or persistently faulty condition. This risks additional bugs being introduced
and further complication of necessary corrective measures. Most likely people
are aware and working on this, but it doesn't hurt [to confirm and/or try and help
if possible.](#communications).
are aware and working on this, but it doesn't hurt to confirm and/or try and help
if possible by asking on our Podman developer Matrix channel
[#podman-dev:matrix.org](https://matrix.to/#/#podman-dev:matrix.org).
NOTE: Jobs triggered by Packit are not merge blockers and should be considered of secondary importance.
Contributors and maintainers should feel free to ignore failure status on such jobs.
## Communications
If you need help, you can contact the maintainers using the channels mentioned in Podman's [communications](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/blob/main/README.md#communications) document.
For discussions around issues/bugs and features, you can use the GitHub
[issues](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/issues)
and
[PRs](https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/pulls)
tracking system.
### PR Approval and Merging
The Podman project uses GitHub's native review system for PR approval and merging.