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Contributing to Booklore

Thanks for your interest in contributing to Booklore! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, improving documentation, or asking questions, every contribution helps.

What is Booklore?

Booklore is a self-hostable digital library platform for managing and reading books and comics.

Tech Stack:

  • Frontend: Angular 20, TypeScript, PrimeNG 19
  • Backend: Java 21, Spring Boot 3.5
  • Authentication: Local JWT + optional OIDC (e.g., Authentik)
  • Database: MariaDB
  • Deployment: Docker-compatible, reverse proxy-ready

Table of Contents

Where to Start

Not sure where to begin? Look for issues labeled:

You can also check the project roadmap for larger initiatives.

Getting Started

Fork and Clone

First, fork the repository on GitHub, then clone your fork locally:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/booklore.git
cd booklore
git remote add upstream https://github.com/booklore-app/booklore.git

Keep Your Fork in Sync

Before starting new work, pull the latest changes from upstream:

git fetch upstream
git checkout develop
git merge upstream/develop
git push origin develop

Note: All work should be based on the develop branch, not main.

Development Setup

Project Structure

booklore/
├── booklore-ui/             # Angular frontend (TypeScript, PrimeNG)
├── booklore-api/            # Spring Boot backend (Java 21, Gradle)
├── dev.docker-compose.yml   # Development Docker stack
├── assets/                  # Shared assets (logos, icons)
└── local/                   # Local development helpers

Option 1: Docker Development Stack (Recommended)

The fastest way to get a working environment. No local toolchain required.

docker compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml up

This starts:

Service URL / Port
Frontend http://localhost:4200
Backend http://localhost:8080
MariaDB localhost:3366
Debug port localhost:5005

All ports are configurable via environment variables (FRONTEND_PORT, BACKEND_PORT, DB_PORT, REMOTE_DEBUG_PORT) in the compose file.

# To stop
docker compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml down

Option 2: Manual Setup

For full control over each component or IDE integration (debugging, hot-reload, etc.).

Prerequisites

Tool Version Download
Java 21+ Adoptium
Node.js + npm 18+ nodejs.org
MariaDB 10.6+ mariadb.org
Git latest git-scm.com

1. Database

Start MariaDB and create the database:

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS booklore;
CREATE USER 'booklore_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON booklore.* TO 'booklore_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Tip: You can also spin up MariaDB via Docker: docker compose -f local/docker-compose-maria.yml up -d

2. Backend

Create a dev config at booklore-api/src/main/resources/application-dev.yml:

app:
  path-book: '/path/to/booklore-data/books'
  path-config: '/path/to/booklore-data/config'

spring:
  datasource:
    driver-class-name: org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver
    url: jdbc:mariadb://localhost:3306/booklore?createDatabaseIfNotExist=true
    username: booklore_user
    password: your_password

Replace the paths with actual directories on your system and ensure they exist with read/write permissions.

cd booklore-api
./gradlew bootRun --args='--spring.profiles.active=dev'

# Verify
curl http://localhost:8080/actuator/health

3. Frontend

cd booklore-ui
npm install
ng serve

The UI will be available at http://localhost:4200 with hot-reload enabled.

If you hit dependency issues, try npm install --legacy-peer-deps.

Running Tests

Always run tests before submitting a pull request.

Frontend (Vitest):

cd booklore-ui
ng test               # Run all tests
ng test --coverage    # With coverage report (output: coverage/)

Backend (JUnit + Gradle):

cd booklore-api
./gradlew test                                                        # Run all tests
./gradlew test --tests "com.booklore.api.service.BookServiceTest"     # Specific class
./gradlew test jacocoTestReport                                       # Coverage report

Making Changes

Branch Naming

Create branches from develop using these prefixes:

Prefix Use for Example
feat/ New features feat/epub-reader-support
fix/ Bug fixes fix/book-import-validation
refactor/ Code restructuring refactor/auth-flow
docs/ Documentation docs/update-install-guide 
git checkout develop
git checkout -b feat/your-feature-name

Commit Messages

We follow Conventional Commits:

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore, perf

Examples:

feat(reader): add keyboard navigation for page turning
fix(api): resolve memory leak in book scanning service
feat(auth)!: migrate to OAuth 2.1

BREAKING CHANGE: OAuth 2.0 is no longer supported

Workflow

  1. Create a branch from develop
  2. Make your changes in small, logical commits
  3. Run both frontend and backend tests
  4. Update documentation if your changes affect usage
  5. Run the linter and fix any issues
  6. Push to your fork and open a PR targeting develop

Submitting a Pull Request

Before opening your PR:

  • All tests pass (./gradlew test and ng test)
  • Code follows project conventions (see Code Style)
  • IntelliJ linter shows no errors
  • Branch is up-to-date with develop
  • PR description explains what changed and why
  • PR is linked to a related issue (if applicable)
  • PR is reasonably sized. PRs with 1000+ changed lines will be closed without review. Break large changes into small, focused PRs.
  • For user-facing features: submit a companion docs PR at booklore-docs

AI-Assisted Contributions

Contributions using AI tools (Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) are welcome, but the quality bar is the same as human-written code. If you ship it, you own it.

  • Review every line. You must be able to explain any part of your change during review.
  • Keep PRs focused. One feature, one fix, or one refactor per PR.
  • Scrutinize AI-generated tests. They often pass trivially without asserting anything meaningful.
  • Clean up. Remove dead code, placeholder comments, empty catch blocks, and unnecessary boilerplate.

Code Style

Area Convention
Angular Follow the official style guide
Java Modern Java 21 features, clean structure
Formatting Use IntelliJ IDEA's built-in linter
UI SCSS with PrimeNG components

Reporting Bugs

  1. Search existing issues to avoid duplicates.
  2. Open a new issue with the bug label including:
    • Clear, descriptive title (e.g., "Book import fails with PDF files over 100MB")
    • Steps to reproduce
    • Expected vs. actual behavior
    • Screenshots or error logs (if applicable)
    • Environment details (OS, browser, Booklore version)

Example:

Title: Book metadata not updating after manual edit

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Navigate to any book detail page
2. Click "Edit Metadata"
3. Change the title and click "Save"
4. Refresh the page

Expected: Title should persist after refresh
Actual: Title reverts to original value

Environment: Chrome 120, macOS 14.2, Booklore 1.2.0

Community & Support

Code of Conduct

We're committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone.

Do:

  • Be respectful and considerate
  • Welcome newcomers and help them learn
  • Accept constructive criticism gracefully
  • Focus on what's best for the community

Don't:

  • Harass, troll, or discriminate
  • Make personal attacks or insults
  • Publish others' private information

Instances of unacceptable behavior may result in temporary or permanent ban from the project.

License

Booklore is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 License. By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the same terms.

Thank you for being part of the Booklore community!