# Contribution Process

1. File an issue (to track your contribution):
   - Create an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/NervanaSystems/nlp-architect/issues
2. Fork NLP Architect and/or update your checked out copy of nlp-architect to ensure you have the most recent commits from the master branch, for example:

>     git clone https://github.com/NervanaSystems/nlp-architect.git
>     cd nlp-architect
>     git fetch origin
>     git checkout master
>     git pull

3. Create a new feature branch for your work and switch to it. Give it a meaningful name related to the task(s) at hand:

>     git checkout -b my_new_feature_branch

4. Ideally you’d start by creating one or more unit tests with the functionality you expect your new feature to perform. These should reside under the appropriate tests subdirectory of whatever you are changing. Then hack away at the code until you feel your feature is complete. Once satisfied, run the code through the following checks:

>     ./scripts/run_tests.sh    # ensure all are OK
>     ./scripts/check_style.sh  # ensure there are no style related issues

5. If necessary you may want to update and/or rebuild the documentation. This all exists under docs-source/source and is in Sphinx reStructuredText format:

>     ./scripts/create_docs.sh   # builds the doc and starts a local server directly

6. Commit your changes and push your feature branch to your GitHub fork. Be sure to add a descriptive message and reference the GitHub issue associated with your task (ex. #1). You will also want to rebase your commits down to a single sensible commit to make things clean for the merge process:

>     git add my_updated_files
>     git commit -m "Added new awesome functionality.  Closes issue #1"
>     git push origin my_new_feature_branch

7. Create a new pull request to get your feature branch merged into master for others to use. You’ll first need to ensure your feature branch contains the latest changes from master.
8. If there are issues you can continue to push commits to your feature branch by following step 6. They will automatically be added to this same merge request.
9. Once your change has been successfully merged, you can remove the source branch and ensure your local copy is up to date:

>     git fetch origin
>     git checkout master
>     git pull
>     git branch -d my_new_feature_branch
>     git branch -d -r origin/my_new_feature_branch

10. Give yourself a high five for a job well done!