Contributing to Goose

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Before You Start

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Quick Responsible AI Tips

• Boilerplate code and common patterns
• Test generation
• Docs and comments
• Refactoring for clarity
• Utility functions/helpers

• Security-critical logic
• Complex business rules you don’t understand
• Large architectural or schema changes

• Understand every line of code you submit
• All tests pass locally
• Code follows Goose’s patterns
• Document your changes
• Ask for review if security or core code is involved

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Getting Started

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Opening Issues

• The feature aligns with project goals
• No one else is already working on it
• You get early feedback on your approach

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Creating a Fork

1. Go to https://github.com/block/goose and click “Fork” (top-right corner)
2. Clone your fork (not the main repo):

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/goose.git
cd goose

3. Add the main repository as upstream:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/block/goose.git

4. Create a branch for your changes:

git checkout -b my-feature-branch

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Keeping Your Fork Up-to-Date

# Fetch latest changes
git fetch upstream

# Merge into your local branch
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main

# Push to your fork
git push origin main

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Making Changes

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Code Quality Standards

• Write self-documenting code - prefer clear names over comments
• Never add comments that restate what code does
• Only comment for complex algorithms, non-obvious business logic, or “why” not “what”
• No comments on self-evident operations, getters/setters, constructors, or standard Rust idioms

• Don’t make things optional that don’t need to be - the compiler will enforce
• Booleans should default to false, not be optional
• Avoid overly defensive code - trust Rust’s type system

• Use anyhow::Result for error handling
• Don’t add error context that doesn’t add useful information (e.g., .context("Failed to X") when error already says it failed)

• Clean up existing logs, don’t add more unless for errors or security events

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Before Submitting

cargo fmt                              # Format code
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings  # Run linter
cargo test                             # Run tests

just generate-openapi

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Submitting Your PR

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Commit Messages

• feat: New feature
• fix: Bug fix
• docs: Documentation changes
• refactor: Code refactoring
• test: Adding or updating tests
• chore: Maintenance tasks

• feat: add support for custom MCP servers
• fix: resolve token count estimation error
• docs: update provider configuration guide

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Developer Certificate of Origin

git commit --signoff -m "feat: add new feature"
# OR
git commit -s -m "feat: add new feature"

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Opening the Pull Request

1. Push your branch to your fork:

git push origin my-feature-branch

2. Go to https://github.com/block/goose and click “New Pull Request”
3. Select your fork and branch
4. Fill out the PR template with:
   • Clear description of changes
   • Motivation and context
   • How to test
   • Any breaking changes

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Other Ways to Contribute

• Stars on GitHub: Star the project if you find it valuable
• Ask Questions: Help others by answering questions on Discord
• Give Feedback: Open an issue or start a discussion
• Participate in Events: Join community events on Discord
• Improve Documentation: Enhance existing docs or add new pages
• Help Other Members: Answer questions, review PRs
• Showcase Your Work: Share projects in #share-your-work
• Spread the Word: Share Goose on social media

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Getting Help

• Join our Discord
• Open an issue
• Start a discussion