Contributing

Local Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Create a local environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Set JWT_SECRET, then run:

npm start

The app builds before it starts. During frontend work, rerun npm run build after changing React or Tailwind files.

Build Commands

Command	Purpose
npm run build:css	Build Tailwind CSS into static/tailwind.css
npm run build:js	Bundle React into static/bundle.js
npm run build:version	Update version.txt
npm run build	Run all app build steps
npm run docs:dev	Start the VitePress docs dev server
npm run docs:build	Build the static docs site
npm run docs:preview	Preview the built docs site

Pull Request Checklist

• Keep runtime secrets out of git.
• Avoid committing generated runtime data from config/ or backup/.
• Run the relevant build command before opening a pull request.
• Update docs when behavior, setup, configuration, or deployment changes.
• Add focused tests or manual verification notes when touching shared flows.

Release Notes

User-facing changes belong in CHANGELOG.md.