1Contributing
2============
3We gratefully accept bug reports and contributions from the community. All PRs are reviewed by the project team / community, and may need some modifications to
4be accepted.
5
6Quick Checklist for PR contributors
7-----------------------------------
8More details on all of these points may be found in the sections below.
9
10- [Sign-off](#license-and-copyright): all commits must be signed off.
11- [Tests](#tests): please ensure the PR includes adequate tests.
12- [Changelog](#documentation): if needed, please provide a changelog entry.
13- [Backports](#long-term-support-branches): provide a backport if needed (it's fine to wait until the main PR is accepted).
14
15Coding Standards
16----------------
17- Contributions should include tests, as mentioned in the [Tests](#tests) and [Continuous Integration](#continuous-integration-tests) sections. Please check that your contribution passes basic tests before submission, and check the CI results after making a pull request.
18- The code should be written in a clean and readable style, and must follow [our coding standards](https://mbed-tls.readthedocs.io/en/latest/kb/development/mbedtls-coding-standards/).
19- The code should be written in a portable generic way, that will benefit the whole community, and not only your own needs.
20- The code should be secure, and will be reviewed from a security point of view as well.
21
22Making a Contribution
23---------------------
241. [Check for open issues](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls/issues) or [start a discussion](https://lists.trustedfirmware.org/mailman3/lists/mbed-tls.lists.trustedfirmware.org) around a feature idea or a bug.
251. Fork the [Mbed TLS repository on GitHub](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls) to start making your changes. As a general rule, you should use the ["development" branch](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls/tree/development) as a basis.
261. Write a test which shows that the bug was fixed or that the feature works as expected.
271. Send a pull request (PR) and work with us until it gets merged and published. Contributions may need some modifications, so a few rounds of review and fixing may be necessary. See our [review process guidelines](https://mbed-tls.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reviews/review-for-contributors/).
281. For quick merging, the contribution should be short, and concentrated on a single feature or topic. The larger the contribution is, the longer it would take to review it and merge it.
29
30Backwards Compatibility
31-----------------------
32
33The project aims to minimise the impact on users upgrading to newer versions of the library and it should not be necessary for a user to make any changes to their own code to work with a newer version of the library. Unless the user has made an active decision to use newer features, a newer generation of the library or a change has been necessary due to a security issue or other significant software defect, no modifications to their own code should be necessary. To achieve this, API compatibility is maintained between different versions of Mbed TLS on the main development branch and in LTS (Long Term Support) branches, as described in [BRANCHES.md](BRANCHES.md).
34
35To minimise such disruption to users, where a change to the interface is required, all changes to the ABI or API, even on the main development branch where new features are added, need to be justifiable by either being a significant enhancement, new feature or bug fix which is best resolved by an interface change. If there is an API change, the contribution, if accepted, will be merged only when there is a major release.
36
37No changes are permitted to the definition of functions in the public interface which will change the API. Instead the interface can only be changed by its extension. Where changes to an existing interface are necessary, functions in the public interface which need to be changed are marked as 'deprecated'. If there is a strong reason to replace an existing function with one that has a slightly different interface (different prototype, or different documented behavior), create a new function with a new name with the desired interface. Keep the old function, but mark it as deprecated.
38
39Periodically, the library will remove deprecated functions from the library which will be a breaking change in the API, but such changes will be made only in a planned, structured way that gives sufficient notice to users of the library.
40
41Long Term Support Branches
42--------------------------
43Mbed TLS maintains several LTS (Long Term Support) branches, which are maintained continuously for a given period. The LTS branches are provided to allow users of the library to have a maintained, stable version of the library which contains only security fixes and fixes for other defects, without encountering additional features or API extensions which may introduce issues or change the code size or RAM usage, which can be significant considerations on some platforms. To allow users to take advantage of the LTS branches, these branches maintain backwards compatibility for both the public API and ABI.
44
45When backporting to these branches please observe the following rules:
46
471. Any change to the library which changes the API or ABI cannot be backported.
481. All bug fixes that correct a defect that is also present in an LTS branch must be backported to that LTS branch. If a bug fix introduces a change to the API such as a new function, the fix should be reworked to avoid the API change. API changes without very strong justification are unlikely to be accepted.
491. If a contribution is a new feature or enhancement, no backporting is required. Exceptions to this may be additional test cases or quality improvements such as changes to build or test scripts.
50
51It would be highly appreciated if contributions are backported to LTS branches in addition to the [development branch](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls/tree/development) by contributors.
52
53The list of maintained branches can be found in the [Current Branches section
54of BRANCHES.md](BRANCHES.md#current-branches).
55
56Tests
57-----
58As mentioned, tests that show the correctness of the feature or bug fix should be added to the pull request, if no such tests exist.
59
60Mbed TLS includes a comprehensive set of test suites in the `tests/` directory that are dynamically generated to produce the actual test source files (e.g. `test_suite_rsa.c`). These files are generated from a `function file` (e.g. `suites/test_suite_rsa.function`) and a `data file` (e.g. `suites/test_suite_rsa.data`). The function file contains the test functions. The data file contains the test cases, specified as parameters that will be passed to the test function.
61
62[A Knowledge Base article describing how to add additional tests is available on the Mbed TLS website](https://mbed-tls.readthedocs.io/en/latest/kb/development/test_suites/).
63
64A test script `tests/scripts/basic-build-test.sh` is available to show test coverage of the library. New code contributions should provide a similar level of code coverage to that which already exists for the library.
65
66Sample applications, if needed, should be modified as well.
67
68Continuous Integration Tests
69----------------------------
70Once a PR has been made, the Continuous Integration (CI) tests are triggered and run. You should follow the result of the CI tests, and fix failures.
71
72It is advised to enable the [githooks scripts](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls/tree/development/tests/git-scripts) prior to pushing your changes, for catching some of the issues as early as possible.
73
74Documentation
75-------------
76Mbed TLS is well documented, but if you think documentation is needed, speak out!
77
781. All interfaces should be documented through Doxygen. New APIs should introduce Doxygen documentation.
791. Complex parts in the code should include comments.
801. If needed, a Readme file is advised.
811. If a [Knowledge Base (KB)](https://mbed-tls.readthedocs.io/en/latest/kb/) article should be added, write this as a comment in the PR description.
821. A [ChangeLog](https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls/blob/development/ChangeLog.d/00README.md) entry should be added for this contribution.
83
84License and Copyright
85---------------------
86
87Unless specifically indicated otherwise in a file, Mbed TLS files are provided under a dual [Apache-2.0](https://spdx.org/licenses/Apache-2.0.html) OR [GPL-2.0-or-later](https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0-or-later.html) license. See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for the full text of these licenses. This means that users may choose which of these licenses they take the code under.
88
89Contributors must accept that their contributions are made under both the Apache-2.0 AND [GPL-2.0-or-later](https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0-or-later.html) licenses. This enables LTS (Long Term Support) branches of the software to be provided under either the Apache-2.0 or GPL-2.0-or-later licenses.
90
91All new files should include the standard SPDX license identifier where possible, i.e. "SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-or-later".
92
93The copyright on contributions is retained by the original authors of the code. Where possible for new files, this should be noted in a comment at the top of the file in the form: "Copyright The Mbed TLS Contributors".
94
95When contributing code to us, the committer and all authors are required to make the submission under the terms of the [Developer Certificate of Origin](dco.txt), confirming that the code submitted can (legally) become part of the project, and is submitted under both the Apache-2.0 AND GPL-2.0-or-later licenses.
96
97This is done by including the standard Git `Signed-off-by:` line in every commit message. If more than one person contributed to the commit, they should also add their own `Signed-off-by:` line.
98