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Thanks for taking the time to contribute to Chatwoot! We’re excited to have you as part of our community.

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How to Contribute

There are many ways to contribute to Chatwoot:
  • Report bugs: Found a bug? Open an issue on GitHub
  • Suggest features: Have an idea? Share it with the community
  • Write code: Fix bugs, add features, or improve existing code
  • Improve documentation: Help make our docs clearer and more comprehensive
  • Translate: Help translate Chatwoot to your language at translate.chatwoot.com

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Getting Started

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub
  2. Clone your fork locally
  3. Set up your development environment (see Setup Guide)
  4. Create a branch for your changes
  5. Make your changes following our Code Style Guide
  6. Test your changes using our Testing Guide
  7. Submit a pull request

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Branching Model

Chatwoot uses the git-flow branching model:
  • develop: The base branch for development
  • master: Stable releases only
  • Feature branches: Create from develop, name them descriptively (e.g., feature/add-user-authentication)
  • Tags: Stable versions are tagged as v1.x.x
Always create your pull requests against the develop branch.

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Commit Messages

We prefer Conventional Commits format: 
type(scope): subject
Types:
  • feat: A new feature
  • fix: A bug fix
  • docs: Documentation changes
  • style: Code style changes (formatting, no logic change)
  • refactor: Code refactoring
  • test: Adding or updating tests
  • chore: Maintenance tasks
Examples: 
feat(auth): add user authentication
fix(inbox): resolve conversation loading issue
docs(api): update webhook documentation

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Pull Request Process

  1. Ensure your code follows our code style guidelines
  2. Update documentation if needed
  3. Add tests for new functionality
  4. Ensure all tests pass
  5. Keep your PR focused on a single feature or fix
  6. Provide a clear description of the changes
  7. Link any related issues

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Translation Guidelines

The translation process is managed at translate.chatwoot.com using Crowdin. Important:
  • Only update en.yml and en.json in your code contributions
  • Backend translations → en.yml
  • Frontend translations → en.json
  • Community contributors handle other languages through Crowdin
Read the full translation guide for more details.

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Enterprise Edition Considerations

Chatwoot has an Enterprise overlay under enterprise/ that extends the open-source code. When contributing:
  • Check for corresponding files in enterprise/ before modifying core functionality
  • Keep behavior compatible across OSS and Enterprise
  • Avoid hardcoding instance- or plan-specific behavior in OSS
  • Prefer configuration, feature flags, or extension points
Checklist for changes impacting core logic:
  • Search for related files in both trees: rg -n "FooService|ControllerName|ModelName" app enterprise
  • Consider if Enterprise needs overrides or extension points
  • Keep request/response contracts stable
  • Mirror renames/moves in enterprise/ to prevent drift
  • Add Enterprise-specific specs under spec/enterprise
Read more: Enterprise Development Guide

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Code of Conduct

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Our Pledge

We pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation. We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.

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Our Standards

Positive behavior includes:
  • Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
  • Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
  • Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
  • Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes
  • Focusing on what is best for the overall community
Unacceptable behavior includes:
  • The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances
  • Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
  • Public or private harassment
  • Publishing others’ private information without explicit permission
  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

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Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the community leaders at [email protected]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.

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Enforcement Guidelines

Community leaders will follow these guidelines:
  1. Correction: Private warning for inappropriate language or behavior
  2. Warning: Consequences for continued behavior, temporary interaction restrictions
  3. Temporary Ban: Temporary ban from community interaction
  4. Permanent Ban: Permanent ban from the community
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0.

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Getting Help

If you need help or want to discuss your contribution:

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Security Issues

Please refer to SECURITY.md for reporting security vulnerabilities. Do not open public issues for security concerns.

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License

By contributing to Chatwoot, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.

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