Contributing to Aether

Author

First off, thank you for considering contributing to Aether! 🎉

This project is in its early stages, and every contribution matters — whether it's code, documentation, ideas, or bug reports.

How to contribute

Reporting bugs

Open an issue with:

A clear title
Steps to reproduce
Expected vs actual behavior
Your environment (OS, Node.js version)

Suggesting features

Open an issue with the enhancement label. Describe:

What problem it solves
How you imagine it working
Any alternatives you considered

Submitting code

Fork the repository
Create a branch from main: git checkout -b feat/your-feature
Make your changes
Run the build: npm run build
Run type checking: npm run typecheck
Commit with a clear message (see below)
Push and open a Pull Request

Branch naming

Prefix	Use
`feat/`	New features
`fix/`	Bug fixes
`docs/`	Documentation only
`refactor/`	Code changes that don't fix bugs or add features
`test/`	Adding or updating tests

Commit messages

Use clear, descriptive commit messages:

feat: add dependency detection for Python projects
 fix: handle empty directories in scanner
 docs: update roadmap with new commands
 refactor: extract technology detection into separate module

Project structure

aether/
 ├── src/
 │   ├── cli/            ← CLI entry point, flags, startup
 │   ├── commands/       ← Slash commands (/genesis, /sync, /config, /help, ...)
 │   ├── config/         ← AetherConfig type, load/save/validate, provider detection
 │   ├── genesis/        ← Project scanner + AI planner that decides which docs to generate
 │   ├── prompts/        ← All LLM prompt text, kept out of the generation logic
 │   ├── providers/      ← LLMProvider interface + OpenAI-compatible implementation
 │   └── ui/             ← Terminal UI (prompt loop, animation, step runner)
 ├── package.json
 ├── tsconfig.json
 └── README.md

Development setup

# Clone your fork
 git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/aether.git
 cd aether
 
 # Install dependencies
 npm install
 
 # Run in development mode
 npm run dev
 
 # Build
 npm run build
 
 # Type check without emitting
 npm run typecheck

Guidelines

Write TypeScript, not JavaScript
Keep functions small and focused
Add types — avoid any
Follow the existing code style
Test your changes before submitting

Code of conduct

Be respectful, be constructive, be kind. We're all here to build something great together.

Questions?

Open an issue or start a discussion. No question is too small.