netbox/CONTRIBUTING.md

Getting Help

If you encounter any issues installing or using NetBox, try one of the following resources to get assistance. Please do not open a GitHub issue except to report bugs or request features.

GitHub Discussions

GitHub's discussions are the best place to get help or propose rough ideas for new functionality. Their integration with GitHub allows for easily cross- referencing and converting posts to issues as needed. There are several categories for discussions:

• General - General community discussion
• Ideas - Ideas for new functionality that isn't yet ready for a formal feature request
• Q&A - Request help with installing or using NetBox

Slack

For real-time chat, you can join the #netbox Slack channel on NetDev Community. Unfortunately, the Slack channel does not provide long-term retention of chat history, so try to avoid it for any discussions would benefit from being preserved for future reference.

Reporting Bugs

• First, ensure that you're running the latest stable version of NetBox. If you're running an older version, it's possible that the bug has already been fixed.

• Next, check the GitHub issues list to see if the bug you've found has already been reported. If you think you may be experiencing a reported issue that hasn't already been resolved, please click "add a reaction" in the top right corner of the issue and add a thumbs up (+1). You might also want to add a comment describing how it's affecting your installation. This will allow us to prioritize bugs based on how many users are affected.

• When submitting an issue, please be as descriptive as possible. Be sure to provide all information request in the issue template, including:

  • The environment in which NetBox is running
  • The exact steps that can be taken to reproduce the issue
  • Expected and observed behavior
  • Any error messages generated
  • Screenshots (if applicable)

• Please avoid prepending any sort of tag (e.g. "[Bug]") to the issue title. The issue will be reviewed by a maintainer after submission and the appropriate labels will be applied for categorization.

• Keep in mind that we prioritize bugs based on their severity and how much work is required to resolve them. It may take some time for someone to address your issue.

• For more information on how bug reports are handled, please see our issue intake policy.

Feature Requests

• First, check the GitHub issues list to see if the feature you're requesting is already listed. (Be sure to search closed issues as well, since some feature requests have been rejected.) If the feature you'd like to see has already been requested and is open, click "add a reaction" in the top right corner of the issue and add a thumbs up (+1). This ensures that the issue has a better chance of receiving attention. Also feel free to add a comment with any additional justification for the feature. (However, note that comments with no substance other than a "+1" will be deleted. Please use GitHub's reactions feature to indicate your support.)

• Before filing a new feature request, consider raising your idea in a GitHub discussion first. Feedback you receive there will help validate and shape the proposed feature before filing a formal issue.

• Good feature requests are very narrowly defined. Be sure to thoroughly describe the functionality and data model(s) being proposed. The more effort you put into writing a feature request, the better its chance is of being implemented. Overly broad feature requests will be closed.

• When submitting a feature request on GitHub, be sure to include all information requested by the issue template, including:

  • A detailed description of the proposed functionality
  • A use case for the feature; who would use it and what value it would add to NetBox
  • A rough description of changes necessary to the database schema (if applicable)
  • Any third-party libraries or other resources which would be involved

• Please avoid prepending any sort of tag (e.g. "[Feature]") to the issue title. The issue will be reviewed by a moderator after submission and the appropriate labels will be applied for categorization.

• For more information on how feature requests are handled, please see our issue intake policy.

Submitting Pull Requests

• If you're interested in contributing to NetBox, be sure to check out our getting started documentation for tips on setting up your development environment.

• Be sure to open an issue before starting work on a pull request, and discuss your idea with the NetBox maintainers before beginning work. This will help prevent wasting time on something that might we might not be able to implement. When suggesting a new feature, also make sure it won't conflict with any work that's already in progress.

• Once you've opened or identified an issue you'd like to work on, ask that it be assigned to you so that others are aware it's being worked on. A maintainer will then mark the issue as "accepted."

• Any pull request which does not relate to an accepted issue will be closed.

• All new functionality must include relevant tests where applicable.

• When submitting a pull request, please be sure to work off of the develop branch, rather than master. The develop branch is used for ongoing development, while master is used for tagging stable releases.

• In most cases, it is not necessary to add a changelog entry: A maintainer will take care of this when the PR is merged. (This helps avoid merge conflicts resulting from multiple PRs being submitted simultaneously.)

• All code submissions should meet the following criteria (CI will enforce these checks):

  • Python syntax is valid
  • All tests pass when run with ./manage.py test
  • PEP 8 compliance is enforced, with the exception that lines may be greater than 80 characters in length

Commenting

Only comment on an issue if you are sharing a relevant idea or constructive feedback. Do not comment on an issue just to show your support (give the top post a 👍 instead) or ask for an ETA. These comments will be deleted to reduce noise in the discussion.

Issue Lifecycle

New issues are handled according to our issue intake policy. Maintainers will assign label(s) and/or close new issues as the policy dictates. This helps ensure a productive development environment and avoid accumulating a large backlog of work.

The core maintainers group has chosen to make use of GitHub's Stale bot to aid in issue management.

• Issues will be marked as stale after 60 days of no activity.
• If the stable label is not removed in the following 30 days, the issue will be closed automatically.
• Any issue bearing one of the following labels will be exempt from all Stale bot actions:
  • status: accepted
  • status: blocked
  • status: needs milestone

It is natural that some new issues get more attention than others. The stale bot helps bring renewed attention to potentially valuable issues that may have been overlooked. Do not comment on an issue that has been marked stale in an effort to circumvent the bot: Doing so will not remove the stale label. (Stale labels can be removed only by maintainers.)

Maintainer Guidance

• Maintainers are expected to contribute at least four hours per week to the project on average. This can be employer-sponsored or individual time, with the understanding that all contributions are submitted under the Apache 2.0 license and that your employer may not make claim to any contributions. Contributions include code work, issue management, and community support. All development must be in accordance with our development guidance.

• Maintainers are expected to attend (where feasible) our biweekly ~30-minute sync to review agenda items. This meeting provides opportunity to present and discuss pressing topics. Meetings are held as virtual audio/video conferences.

• Maintainers with no substantial recorded activity in a 60-day period will be removed from the project.