CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to ProofChain (Industrial Evidence Chain)

Thank you for your interest in contributing to ProofChain! This project provides a tamper-evident, dual-layer industrial evidence tracking and audit management platform.

We welcome contributions of all kinds: bug reports, documentation improvements, architectural proposals, and pull requests.

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Code of Conduct

All contributors and participants are expected to adhere to our Code of Conduct. Please treat all community members with respect.

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Development Setup

Prerequisites

• .NET 10.0 SDK
• Node.js 18+ LTS & npm 9+
• Python 3.10+ with requests library (for verification scripts)
• (Optional) Docker Desktop if running the multi-peer Hyperledger Fabric consortium

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Fork the Repository to your own GitHub account.
2. Clone the Fork:

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/ProofChain.git
   cd ProofChain

3. Run 1-Click Dev Launcher (Windows):

   .\start.bat

   Or launch services individually:
   • Backend:

     cd backend
     dotnet restore IndustrialEvidenceChain.slnx
     dotnet run --project src/IndustrialEvidenceChain.API/IndustrialEvidenceChain.API.csproj

   • Frontend:

     cd frontend
     npm install
     npm run dev -- --port 3000

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Branching and Commit Strategy

• main: Production-ready, stable codebase.
• Feature branches: feature/<feature-name> or fix/<issue-name>.
• Commit messages should follow the Conventional Commits specification:
  • feat: add RFC-8785 canonicalization for telemetry arrays
  • fix: correct digest mismatch on null timestamp fields
  • docs: update verification protocol diagrams
  • test: add unit test for asset registration state transitions

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Pull Request Checklist

Before submitting a PR, ensure that:

1. All unit tests pass cleanly:

   dotnet test backend/tests/IndustrialEvidenceChain.UnitTests/IndustrialEvidenceChain.UnitTests.csproj

2. Frontend code lints and builds with zero errors:

   cd frontend
   npm run build

3. End-to-end verification script passes:

   python tests/verify_api.py

4. No sensitive information, temporary databases (*.db), or local credentials are committed.
5. All documentation is updated to reflect any new features or API changes.

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Reporting Issues

If you encounter bugs, inconsistencies, or unexpected behavior:

1. Search Issues to verify it has not already been reported.
2. Open a new issue with detailed reproduction steps, environment info, and relevant log snippets.