CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing

The process for contributing code to Kubernetes via the sig-cli community.

TL;DR

• The sig-cli community page lists sig-cli leads, channels of communication, and group meeting times.
• New contributors: please start by adopting an existing issue.
• Request a feature by making an issue and mentioning @kubernetes/sig-cli-feature-requests.
• Write a design proposal before starting work on a new feature.
• Write tests!

Before You Begin

Welcome to the Kubernetes sig-cli contributing guide. We are excited about the prospect of you joining our community!

Please understand that all contributions to Kubernetes require time and commitment from the project maintainers to review the ux, software design, and code. Mentoring and on-boarding new contributors is done in addition to many other responsibilities.

Understand the big picture

• Complete the Kubernetes Basics Tutorial.
• Be familiar with kubectl user facing documentation .
• Read the concept guides starting with the management overview.

Modify your own kubectl fork

Make sure you are ready to immediately get started once you have been assigned a piece of work. Do this right away.

• Setup your development environment.
• Look at code:
  • kubernetes/cmd/kubectl is the entry point
  • kubernetes/pkg/kubectl is the implementation
  • Look at how some of the other commands are implemented
• Add a new command to do something simple:
  • Add kubectl hello-world: print "Hello World"
  • Add kubectl hello-kubernetes -f file: Print "Hello <kind of resource> <name of resource>"
  • Add kubectl hello-kubernetes type/name: Print "Hello <kind of resource> <name of resource> <creation time>"

Agree to contribution rules

Follow the CLA signup instructions.

Adopt an issue

New contributors can try the following to work on an existing bug or approved design:

• In slack (signup here), @mention a lead and ask if there are any issues you could pick up. Leads can recommend issues that have enough priority to receive PR review bandwidth. We also maintain a list of CLI issues where help is wanted. Most of them are not very complex, so that's probably a good starting point.

• Send an email to the [email protected] group

  Subject: New sig-cli contributor ${yourName}

  Body: Hello, my name is ${yourName}. I would like to get involved in contributing to the Kubernetes project. I have read all of the user documentation listed on the community contributing page. What should I do next to get started?

• Attend a sig-cli meeting and introduce yourself as looking to get started.

Bug lifecycle

1. An issue is filed that

• includes steps to reproduce the issue including client / server version,
• mentions @kubernetes/sig-cli-bugs.

2. A PR fixing the issue is implemented that

• includes unit and test-cmd tests,
• incorporates review feedback,
• description includes Closes #<Issue Number> or Fixes #<Issue Number>,
• description or comment @mentions @kubernetes/sig-cli-pr-reviews.

3. Fix appears in the next Kubernetes release!

Feature requests

New contributors: Please start by adopting an existing issue.

A feature request is an issue mentioning @kubernetes/sig-cli-feature-requests.

To encourage readership, the issue description should concisely (2-4 sentence) describe the problem that the feature addresses.

Feature lifecycle

Working on a feature without getting approval for the user experience and software design often results in wasted time and effort due to decisions around flag-names, command names, and specific command behavior.

To minimize wasted work and improve communication across efforts, the user experience and software design must be agreed upon before any PRs are sent for code review.

1. Identify a problem by filing an issue (mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-feature-requests).
2. Submit a design proposal and get it approved by a lead.
3. Announce the proposal as an agenda item for the sig-cli meeting.

• Ensures awareness and feedback.
• Should be included in meeting notes sent to the sig-cli group.

4. Merge the proposal PR after approval and announcement.
5. A lead adds the associated feature to the feature repo, ensuring that
   • release-related decisions are properly made and communicated,
   • API changes are vetted,
   • testing is completed,
   • docs are completed,
   • feature is designated alpha, beta or GA.
6. Implement the code per discussion in bug lifecycle.
7. Update kubectl concept docs.
8. Wait for your feature to appear in the next Kubernetes release!

Design Proposals

New contributors: Please start by adopting an existing issue.

A design proposal is a single markdown document in the design repo that follows the design template.

To make one,

• Prepare the markdown document as a PR to that repo.
  • Avoid Work In Progress (WIP) PRs (send it only after you consider it complete).
  • For early feedback, use the email discussion group.
• Mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-proposals in the description.
• Mention the related feature request.

Expect feedback from 2-3 different sig-cli community members.

Incorporate feedback and comment PTAL.

Once a lead has agreed (via review commentary) that design and code review resources can be allocated to tackle the proposal, the details of the user experience and design should be discussed in the community.

This step is important; it prevents code churn and thrashing around issues like flag names, command names, etc.

It is normal for sig-cli community members to push back on feature proposals. sig-cli development and review resources are extremely constrained. Community members are free to say

• No, not this release (or year).
• This is desirable but we need help on these other existing issues before tackling this.
• No, this problem should be solved in another way.

The proposal can be merged into the design repo after lead approval and discussion as a meeting agenda item.

Then coding can begin.

Implementation

Contributors can begin implementing a feature before any of the above steps have been completed, but should not send a PR until the design proposal has been merged.

See the development guide for instructions on setting up the Kubernetes development environment.

Implementation PRs should

• mention the issue of the associated design proposal,
• mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-pr-reviews,
• include tests.

Small features and flag changes require only unit/integration tests, while larger changes require both unit/integration tests and e2e tests.

Report progress

Leads need your help to ensure that progress is made to get the feature into a release.

While working on the issue, leave a weekly update on the issue including:

1. What's finished?
2. What's part is being worked on now?
3. Anything blocking?

Documentation

Let users know about cool new features by updating user facing documentation.

Depending on the contributor and size of the feature, this may be done either by the same contributor that implemented the feature, or another contributor who is more familiar with the existing docs templates.

Release

Several weeks before a Kubernetes release, development enters a stabilization period where no new features are merged. For a feature to be accepted into a release, it must be fully merged and tested by this time. If your feature is not fully complete, including tests, it will have to wait until the next release.

Merge state meanings

• Merged:
  • Ready to be implemented.
• Unmerged:
  • Experience and design still being worked out.
  • Not a high priority issue but may implement in the future: revisit in 6 months.
  • Unintentionally dropped.
• Closed:
  • Not something we plan to implement in the proposed manner.
  • Not something we plan to revisit in the next 12 months.

Escalation

If your bug issue is stuck

If an issue isn't getting any attention and is unresolved, mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-bugs.

Highlight the severity and urgency of the issue. For severe issues escalate by contacting sig leads and attending the meeting.

If your feature request issue is stuck

If an issue isn't getting any attention and is unresolved, mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-feature-requests.

If a particular issue has a high impact for you or your business, make sure this is clear on the bug, and reach out to the sig leads directly. Consider attending the sig meeting to discuss over video conference.

If your PR is stuck

It may happen that your PR seems to be stuck without clear actionable feedback for a week or longer. A PR associated with a bug or design proposal is much less likely to be stuck than a dangling PR.

However, if it happens do the following:

• If your PR is stuck for a week or more because it has never gotten any comments, mention @kubernetes/sig-cli-pr-reviews and ask for attention.
• If your PR is stuck for a week or more after it got comments, but the attention has died down. Mention the reviewer and comment with PTAL.

If you are still not able to get any attention after a couple days, escalate to sig leads by mentioning them.

If your design proposal issue is stuck

It may happen that your design doc gets stuck without getting merged or additional feedback. If you believe that your design is important and has been dropped, or it is not moving forward, please add it to the sig cli bi-weekly meeting agenda and mail the group saying you'd like to discuss it.

General escalation instructions

See the sig-cli community page for points of contact and meeting times:

• attend the sig-cli meeting
• message one of the sig leads on slack (signup here)
• send an email to the [email protected] group.

Use of @mentions

• @{any lead} solicit opinion or advice from leads.
• @kubernetes/sig-cli-bugs sig-cli centric bugs.
• @kubernetes/sig-cli-pr-reviews triggers review of code fix PR.
• @kubernetes/sig-cli-feature-requests flags a feature request.
• @kubernetes/sig-cli-proposals flags a design proposal.