Contributing to glmpynet

First off, thank you for considering contributing to glmpynet! We welcome any help, from reporting a bug to suggesting a new feature. This project is maintained by volunteers, so your contributions are highly valued.

To ensure a smooth and effective process for everyone, please read through these guidelines before you start.

How Can I Contribute?

There are many ways to contribute, and all of them are appreciated.

1. Reporting Bugs

This is one of the most valuable ways to contribute. If you find a bug, please open an issue on our GitHub repository. A great bug report is one that can be reproduced. Please include:

A clear and descriptive title.
A description of the steps to reproduce the bug.
What you expected to happen vs. what actually happened.
Your environment: OS, Python version, and package versions.

2. Suggesting Enhancements or New Features

If you have an idea for an improvement, we’d love to hear it. Please open an issue to start a discussion first. This allows us to make sure the feature aligns with the project’s goals before any work is done.

3. Improving Documentation

Clear documentation is essential. If you find a typo, think a section is unclear, or believe something is missing, please open an issue or submit a pull request with your suggested improvements.

Submitting Code Changes (Pull Requests)

We welcome pull requests for bug fixes and approved features. Please ensure there is an open issue discussing the change before you submit a pull request.

The Development Workflow

To maintain a stable main branch, all new work must be done on a feature branch.

Create a Feature Branch: Before you start working, create a new branch from the main branch. A good branch name is descriptive, like feat/config-command or fix/reconciler-bug.
```
git checkout -b feat/my-new-feature
```
Commit Your Changes: Make small, logical commits. Each commit should represent one self-contained change. All commit messages must follow the Conventional Commits specification (e.g., feat(cli): ..., fix(core): ..., docs(guide): ...).

Code Quality and Style

To ensure a consistent codebase, we use standard Python code formatters and linters. Before committing, please run these tools from the project’s root.

Black (Formatter):
```
pip install black
black .
```
Ruff (Linter):
```
pip install ruff
ruff check . --fix
```

Testing

All contributions that change code must be accompanied by tests.

New Features: Must include unit tests that verify correctness.
Bug Fixes: Must include a “regression test” that fails before the fix is applied and passes after.
To run the full test suite, use pytest:
```
pytest
```

Submitting the Pull Request

Once your feature is complete and tested, please follow these steps:

Push your feature branch to GitHub.
Open a Pull Request (PR) against the main branch.
Provide a clear description of the changes in your PR and link it to the relevant issue.
Ensure that all automated checks (like CircleCI) pass.