Contributing to CannaNote

Welcome to the CannaNote community! We're building the future of privacy-first cannabis wellness tracking, and we'd love your help.

Our Mission

CannaNote exists to help people develop a healthier relationship with cannabis through:

Privacy by design - Your data belongs to you
Evidence-based features - Backed by research and user needs
Harm reduction focus - Supporting mindful consumption
Radical transparency - Open source and honest practices

How to Contribute

Code Contributions

Prerequisites

Go 1.21+ for backend development
Flutter/Dart for mobile development
Git for version control
Make for development commands

Getting Started

Fork the repository on GitHub

Clone your fork locally:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/cannanote.git
cd cannanote

Set up development environment:
```
make dev
```

Create a feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Development Workflow

Write tests first - We practice test-driven development
Follow existing patterns - Check similar features for consistency
Keep privacy first - Never log or expose personal data
Document your changes - Update relevant docs and comments
Test thoroughly - Run the full test suite before submitting

Code Standards

Go: Follow gofmt and golint conventions
Flutter: Use dart format and follow Flutter best practices
Commit messages: Use conventional commits format
Privacy: Never commit secrets or personal data

Submitting Changes

Push your branch to your fork
Open a pull request against the main branch
Describe your changes clearly in the PR description
Link any related issues using GitHub keywords
Wait for review - We'll provide feedback within 48 hours

Documentation Contributions

Content Guidelines

Clear and concise - Help users accomplish their goals quickly
Privacy-focused - Emphasize user control and data ownership
Evidence-based - Include research links where relevant
Inclusive language - Welcoming to all cannabis users

How to Add Documentation

Follow the Content Workflow guide
Use proper frontmatter with all required fields
Test locally before submitting
Create related page links to improve navigation

Feature Requests

Before Submitting

Search existing issues to avoid duplicates
Consider privacy implications of your request
Think about harm reduction impact
Provide use case examples from real experience

Creating Good Feature Requests

Use the issue template on GitHub
Describe the problem you're trying to solve
Explain your proposed solution with specific details
Consider alternative approaches and their tradeoffs
Estimate impact on user privacy and data security

Bug Reports

Information to Include

Steps to reproduce the issue
Expected behavior vs actual behavior
Platform details (web, iOS, Android)
App version and device information
Screenshots or screen recordings if helpful

Privacy in Bug Reports

Never include personal consumption data
Redact any personal information from screenshots
Use example data instead of your actual entries
Report security issues privately to security@cannanote.com

Community Guidelines

Our Values

Respect - Treat all community members with kindness
Privacy - Respect others' personal information and choices
Evidence - Base discussions on research and facts
Harm Reduction - Support safer cannabis use practices
Inclusivity - Welcome all responsible cannabis users

Code of Conduct

We follow a zero-tolerance policy for:

Harassment or discrimination
Sharing others' personal information
Promoting unsafe cannabis practices
Commercial spam or self-promotion

Recognition

Contributors are recognized in several ways:

Hall of Fame

Outstanding contributors are featured in our documentation and app credits.

Community Roles

Active contributors may be invited to become:

Maintainers - Help review and merge contributions
Moderators - Assist with community management
Advisors - Provide guidance on product direction

Beta Access

All contributors receive early access to new features and beta releases.

Development Resources

Architecture Overview

CannaNote uses hexagonal architecture with these key components:

Domain Layer - Core business logic (Go)
Application Layer - Use cases and services (Go)
Adapters - External interfaces (HTTP, database, etc.)
Mobile App - Flutter with Drift for local storage
Web Frontend - Server-side rendering with HTMX

Key Principles

Privacy by Design - Encrypt sensitive data client-side
Offline First - Full functionality without network
Performance - Sub-30-second logging experience
Accessibility - Support screen readers and keyboard navigation

Testing Strategy

Unit tests for domain logic (85%+ coverage required)
Integration tests for API endpoints
Widget tests for Flutter UI components
End-to-end tests for critical user journeys

Getting Help

Documentation

Content Workflow - Adding/editing documentation
README.md - Quick start development guide
Architecture docs - Technical implementation details

Community Support

GitHub Discussions - Ask questions and share ideas
Issue tracker - Report bugs and request features
Email - Contact maintainers at hello@cannanote.com

Office Hours

Core maintainers host virtual office hours:

When: Every other Wednesday at 7 PM EST
Where: Announced in GitHub Discussions
Format: Casual Q&A and pair programming

License and Legal

Open Source License

CannaNote is released under the MIT License, which means:

✅ Use for any purpose (personal, commercial, etc.)
✅ Modify and distribute freely
✅ Include in proprietary software
❗ Must include original license notice
❗ No warranty provided

Contributor License Agreement

By contributing, you agree that:

You have the right to license your contribution
Your contribution will be licensed under MIT
You grant permission for your code to be used in CannaNote
You understand this is a cannabis-related project

Privacy Commitment

All contributors must commit to:

Never accessing or storing user consumption data
Reporting security vulnerabilities responsibly
Following privacy-by-design principles in all code
Respecting user autonomy and data ownership

Thank you for contributing to CannaNote! Together, we're building a better future for cannabis wellness tracking.

Questions? Reach out to us at hello@cannanote.com or start a discussion on GitHub.