CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to RAG Command Center

Thanks for your interest in contributing. This document covers the basics.

Getting Started

1. Fork the repository
2. Clone your fork locally
3. Open index.html in a browser to verify everything works
4. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature

Development

This is a zero-dependency static project. No build tools, no bundlers, no npm.

• HTML pages — each page is self-contained with inline styles where page-specific
• JavaScript — vanilla JS in assets/js/. No frameworks.
• CSS — shared styles in assets/css/styles.css
• Python tools — stdlib only, Python 3.8+

Before Submitting

1. Syntax check all JS files:

   for f in assets/js/*.js; do node --check "$f"; done

2. Run the data pipeline:

   python3 tools/populate_public_data.py --seed-mode off --no-existing-manual

3. Run the integrity audit:

   python3 tools/audit_release_integrity.py

4. Verify pages load without console errors in Chrome/Firefox/Safari

Data Policy

• No synthetic data. Every listing must trace to a real source.
• No hardcoded credentials. Auth uses client-side SHA-256 hashing.
• All user-facing strings must pass through escapeHtml() or equivalent.

Pull Requests

• Keep PRs focused on a single change
• Include a clear description of what changed and why
• Reference any related issues
• Ensure all existing functionality still works

Issues

Use the issue templates when available. Label your issues appropriately:

• feature — new functionality
• bug — something broken
• data-pipeline — resolver, compiler, or tooling changes
• ui — visual or interaction changes
• security — vulnerability reports (see SECURITY.md for private reporting)

Code Style

• 2-space indentation in JS/HTML
• Single quotes in JS
• camelCase for functions and variables
• No semicolons are fine — match existing file style
• Comment non-obvious logic