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Contributing to TagStudio

Last Updated: September 8th, 2024

Thank you so much for showing interest in contributing to TagStudio! Here are a set of instructions and guidelines for contributing code or documentation to the project. This document will change over time, so make sure that your contributions still line up with the requirements here before submitting a pull request.

Caution

As of Pull Request #332 (SQLite Migration) the main branch will be an open test bed to get full JSON to SQL parity operational. Existing TagStudio libraries are not yet compatible with this change, however they will NOT be corrupted or deleted if opened with these versions. Once parity is reached and a stable conversion tool in place, this notice will be removed.

For the most recent stable feature release branch, see the Alpha-v9.4 branch. These v9.4 specific features are currently being backported to the SQL-ized main branch. (Feel free to help!)

Getting Started

  • Check the Planned Features page, FAQ, as well as the open Issues and Pull Requests.
  • If you'd like to add a feature that isn't on the roadmap or doesn't have an open issue, PLEASE create a feature request issue for it discussing your intentions so any feedback or important information can be given by the team first.
    • We don't want you wasting time developing a feature or making a change that can't/won't be added for any reason ranging from pre-existing refactors to design philosophy differences.
  • If you wish to discuss TagStudio further, feel free to join the Discord server

Contribution Checklist

Creating a Development Environment

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.12
  • Ruff (Included in requirements-dev.txt)
  • Mypy (Included in requirements-dev.txt)
  • PyTest (Included in requirements-dev.txt)

Creating a Python Virtual Environment

If you wish to launch the source version of TagStudio outside of your IDE:

Important

Depending on your system, Python may be called python, py, python3, or py3. These instructions use the alias python3 for consistency. You can check to see which alias your system uses and if it's for the correct Python version by typing python3 --version (or whichever alias) into your terminal.

Tip

On Linux and macOS, you can launch the tagstudio.sh script to skip the following process, minus the requirements-dev.txt installation step. Using the script is fine if you just want to launch the program from source.

  1. In the root repository directory, create a python virtual environment:
    python3 -m venv .venv
  2. Activate your environment:
  • Windows w/Powershell: .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
  • Windows w/Command Prompt: .venv\Scripts\activate.bat
  • Linux/macOS: source .venv/bin/activate
  1. Install the required packages:
  • pip install -r requirements.txt
  • If developing (includes Ruff and Mypy): pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Learn more about setting up a virtual environment here.

Manually Launching (Outside of an IDE)

  • Windows (start_win.bat)

    • To launch TagStudio, launch the start_win.bat file. You can modify this .bat file or create a shortcut and add one or more additional arguments if desired.

  • Linux/macOS (TagStudio.sh)

    • Run the "TagStudio.sh" script and the program should launch! (Make sure that the script is marked as executable if on Linux). Note that launching from the script from outside of a terminal will not launch a terminal window with any debug or crash information. If you wish to see this information, just launch the shell script directly from your terminal with ./TagStudio.sh.

    • NixOS (Nix Flake)

      [!WARNING] Support for NixOS is still a work in progress.

      • Use the provided Flake to create and enter a working environment by running nix develop. Then, run the program via python3 tagstudio/tag_studio.py from the root directory.

  • Any (No Scripts)

    • Alternatively, with the virtual environment loaded, run the python file at tagstudio\tag_studio.py from your terminal. If you're in the project's root directory, simply run python3 tagstudio/tag_studio.py.

Workflow Checks

When pushing your code, several automated workflows will check it against predefined tests and style checks. It's highly recommended that you run these checks locally beforehand to avoid having to fight back-and-forth with the workflow checks inside your pull requests.

Tip

To format the code automatically before each commit, there's a configured action available for the pre-commit hook. Install it by running pre-commit install. The hook will be executed each time on running git commit.

Ruff

A Python linter and code formatter. Ruff uses the pyproject.toml as its config file and runs whenever code is pushed or pulled into the project.

Running Locally

  • Lint code by moving into the /tagstudio directory with cd tagstudio and running ruff --config ../pyproject.toml.
  • Format code with ruff format inside the repository directory

Ruff is also available as a VS Code extension, PyCharm plugin, and more.

Mypy

Mypy is a static type checker for Python. It sure has a lot to say sometimes, but we recommend you take its advice when possible. Mypy also uses the pyproject.toml as its config file and runs whenever code is pushed or pulled into the project.

Running Locally

  • First time only: Move into the /tagstudio directory with cd tagstudio and run the following:
    • mkdir -p .mypy_cache
    • mypy --install-types --non-interactive
  • Check code by moving into the /tagstudio directory with cd tagstudio (if you aren't already inside) and running mypy --config-file ../pyproject.toml .. (Don't forget the . at the end!)

Caution

There's a known issue between PySide v6.6.3 and Mypy where Mypy will detect issues with the .pyi files inside of PySide and prematurely stop checking files. This issue is not present in PySide v6.6.2, which should be compatible with everything else if you wish to try using that version in the meantime.

Mypy is also available as a VS Code extension, PyCharm plugin, and more.

PyTest

  • Run all tests by moving into the /tagstudio directory with cd tagstudio and running pytest tests/.

Code Guidelines

Style

Most of the style guidelines can be checked, fixed, and enforced via Ruff. Older code may not be adhering to all of these guidelines, in which case "do as I say, not as I do"...

  • Do your best to write clear, concise, and modular code.
  • Try to keep a maximum column with of no more than 100 characters.
  • Code comments should be used to help describe sections of code that don't speak for themselves.
  • Use Google style docstrings for any classes and functions you add.
    • If you're modifying an existing function that does not have docstrings, you don't have to add docstrings to it... but it would be pretty cool if you did ;)
  • Imports should be ordered alphabetically (in newly created python files).
  • When writing text for window titles, form titles, or dropdown options, use "Title Case" capitalization. Your IDE may have a command to format this for you automatically, although some may incorrectly capitalize short prepositions. In a pinch you can use a website such as capitalizemytitle.com to check.
  • If it wasn't mentioned above, then stick to PEP-8!

    [!WARNING] Column width limits, docstring formatting, and import sorting aren't currently checked in the Ruff workflow but likely will be in the near future.

Implementations

  • Avoid direct calls to os
    • Use Pathlib library instead of os.path
    • Use sys.platform instead of os.name
  • Don't prepend local imports with tagstudio, stick to src
  • Use logging instead of print statements
  • Avoid nested f-strings

Runtime

  • Code must function on supported versions of Windows, macOS, and Linux:
    • Windows: 10, 11
    • macOS: 12.0+
    • Linux: TBD
  • Avoid use of unnecessary logging statements in final submitted code.
  • Code should not cause unreasonable slowdowns to the program outside of a progress-indicated task.

Git/GitHub Specifics

  • Conventional Commits is used as a guideline for commit messages. This allows us to easily generate changelogs for releases.
    • See some examples of what this looks like in practice.
  • Use clear and concise commit messages. If your commit does too much, either consider breaking it up into smaller commits or providing extra detail in the commit description.
  • Pull Requests should have an adequate title and description which clearly outline your intentions and changes/additions. Feel free to provide screenshots, GIFs, or videos, especially for UI changes.

Documentation Guidelines

Documentation contributions include anything inside of the doc/ folder, as well as the README.md and CONTRIBUTING.md files.

  • Use "snake_case" for file and folder names
  • Follow the folder structure pattern
  • Don't add images or other media with excessively large file sizes
  • Provide alt text for all embedded media
  • Use "Title Case" for title capitalization

Translation Guidelines

TBA