signal-desktop/CONTRIBUTING.md

<!-- Copyright 2015 Signal Messenger, LLC -->
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only -->

# Contributor Guidelines

## Advice for new contributors

Start small. The PRs most likely to be merged are the ones that make small,
easily reviewed changes with clear and specific intentions. See below for more
[guidelines on pull requests](#pull-requests).

It's a good idea to gauge interest in your intended work by finding the current issue
for it or creating a new one yourself. You can use also that issue as a place to signal
your intentions and get feedback from the users most likely to appreciate your changes.

Once you've spent a little bit of time planning your solution, you can go
back to the issue and talk about your approach. We'd be happy to provide feedback. [An
ounce of prevention, as they say!](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/247269-an-ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure)

## Developer Setup

First, you'll need [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) which matches our current version.
You can check [`.nvmrc` in the `main` branch](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop/blob/main/.nvmrc)
to see what the current version is. If you have [nvm](https://github.com/creationix/nvm)
you can just run `nvm use` in the project directory and it will switch to the project's
desired Node.js version. [nvm for windows](https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows) is
still useful, but it doesn't support `.nvmrc` files.

Then you need [`git`](https://git-scm.com/), if you don't have it installed yet.

### macOS

Install the [Xcode Command-Line Tools](http://osxdaily.com/2014/02/12/install-command-line-tools-mac-os-x/).

### Windows

1.  **Windows 7 only:**
    - Install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1:
      https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40773
    - Install Windows SDK version 8.1: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/sdk-archive
2.  Download _Build Tools for Visual Studio_ from the [Visual Studio download page](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2019) and install it including the "Desktop development with C++" option.
3.  Download and install the latest Python 3 release from https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/ (3.6 or later required).

### Linux

1.  Pick your favorite package manager.
1.  Install `python` (Python 3.6+)
1.  Install `gcc`
1.  Install `g++`
1.  Install `make`

### All platforms

Now, run these commands in your preferred terminal in a good directory for development:

```
npm install --global yarn      # Make sure you have have `yarn`
git clone https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop.git
cd Signal-Desktop
yarn install --frozen-lockfile # Install and build dependencies (this will take a while)
yarn generate                  # Generate final JS and CSS assets
yarn build:webpack             # Build parts of the app that use webpack (Sticker Creator)
yarn test                      # A good idea to make sure tests run first
yarn start                     # Start Signal!
```

You'll need to restart the application regularly to see your changes, as there
is no automatic restart mechanism. Alternatively, keep the developer tools open
(`View > Toggle Developer Tools`), hover over them, and press
<kbd>Cmd</kbd> + <kbd>R</kbd> (macOS) or <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>R</kbd>
(Windows & Linux).

Also, note that the assets loaded by the application are not necessarily the same files
you’re touching. You may not see your changes until you run `yarn generate` on the
command-line like you did during setup. You can make it easier on yourself by generating
the latest built assets when you change a file. Run each of these in their own terminal
instance while you make changes - they'll run until you stop them:

```
yarn dev:transpile # recompiles when you change .ts files
yarn dev:sass      # recompiles when you change .scss files
```

### webpack

Some parts of the app (such as the Sticker Creator) have moved to webpack.
You can run a development server for these parts of the app with the
following command:

```
yarn dev
```

In order for the app to make requests to the development server you must set
the `SIGNAL_ENABLE_HTTP` environment variable to a truthy value. On Linux and
macOS, that simply looks like this:

```
SIGNAL_ENABLE_HTTP=1 yarn start
```

## Setting up standalone

By default the application will connect to the **staging** servers, which means that you
**will not** be able to link it with your primary mobile device.

Fear not! You don't have to link the app with your phone. On the QR code screen, you can
select 'Set Up as Standalone Device' from the File menu, which goes through the
registration process like you would on a phone.

Note: you won't be linked to a primary phone, which will make testing certain things very
difficult (contacts, profiles, and groups are all solely managed on your phone).

## The staging environment

Sadly, this default setup results in no contacts and no message history, an entirely
empty application. But you can use the information from your production install of Signal
Desktop to populate your testing application!

First, exit both production and development apps (In macOS - literally quit the apps).
Second, find your application data in the [appData](https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/api/app#appgetpathname) directory:

- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Signal`
- Linux: `~/.config/Signal`
- Windows 10: `C:\Users\<YourName>\AppData\Roaming\Signal`

Now make a copy of this production data directory in the same directory (a sibling of the Signal
directory), and call it `Signal-development`. Now start up the development version of the app as normal,
and you'll see all of your contacts and messages!

You'll notice a prompt to re-link, because your production credentials won't work on
staging. Click 'Relink', then 'Standalone', then verify the phone number and click
'Send SMS.'

Once you've entered the confirmation code sent to your phone, you are registered as a
standalone staging device with your normal phone number, and a copy of your production
message history and contact list.

Here's the catch: you can't message any of these contacts, since they haven't done the
same thing. Who can you message for testing?

## Additional storage profiles

What you need for proper testing is additional phone numbers, to register additional
standalone devices. You can get them via
[Twilio ($1/mo. per number + $0.0075 per SMS)](https://www.twilio.com/), or via
[Google Voice (one number per Google Account, free SMS)](https://voice.google.com/).

Once you have the additional numbers, you can setup additional storage profiles and switch
between them using the `NODE_APP_INSTANCE` environment variable.

For example, to create an 'alice' profile, put a file called `local-alice.json` in the
`config` directory, a child of the Signal directory, not `appData` from above:

```
{
  "storageProfile": "aliceProfile"
}
```

Then you can start up the application a little differently to load the profile:

```
NODE_APP_INSTANCE=alice yarn run start
```

This changes the `userData` directory from `%appData%/Signal` to `%appData%/Signal-aliceProfile`.

# Making changes

So you're in the process of preparing that pull request. Here's how to make that go
smoothly.

## Tests

Please write tests! Our testing framework is
[mocha](http://mochajs.org/) and our assertion library is
[chai](http://chaijs.com/api/assert/).

The easiest way to run all tests at once is `yarn test`, which will run them on the
command line. You can run the client-side tests in an interactive session with
`NODE_ENV=test yarn run start`.

## Pull requests

So you wanna make a pull request? Please observe the following guidelines.

- First, make sure that your `yarn ready` run passes - it's very similar to what our
  Continuous Integration servers do to test the app.
- Please do not submit pull requests for translation fixes.
- Never use plain strings right in the source code - pull them from `messages.json`!
  You **only** need to modify the default locale
  [`_locales/en/messages.json`](_locales/en/messages.json). Other locales are generated
  automatically based on that file and then periodically translated.
- [Rebase](https://nathanleclaire.com/blog/2014/09/14/dont-be-scared-of-git-rebase/) your
  changes on the latest `main` branch, resolving any conflicts.
  This ensures that your changes will merge cleanly when you open your PR.
- Be sure to add and run tests!
- Make sure the diff between the development branch and your branch contains only the
  minimal set of changes needed to implement your feature or bugfix. This will
  make it easier for the person reviewing your code to approve the changes.
  Please do not submit a PR with commented out code or unfinished features.
- Avoid meaningless or too-granular commits. If your branch contains commits like
  the lines of "Oops, reverted this change" or "Just experimenting, will
  delete this later", please [squash or rebase those changes away](https://robots.thoughtbot.com/git-interactive-rebase-squash-amend-rewriting-history).
- Don't have too few commits. If you have a complicated or long lived feature
  branch, it may make sense to break the changes up into logical atomic chunks
  to aid in the review process.
- Provide a well written and nicely formatted commit message. See [this
  link](http://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/)
  for some tips on formatting. As far as content, try to include in your
  summary
  1.  What you changed
  2.  Why this change was made (including git issue # if appropriate)
  3.  Any relevant technical details or motivations for your implementation
      choices that may be helpful to someone reviewing or auditing the commit
      history in the future. When in doubt, err on the side of a longer
      commit message.

Above all, spend some time with the repository. Follow the pull request template added to
your pull request description automatically. Take a look at recent approved pull requests,
see how they did things.

## Linking to a staging mobile device

Multiple standalone desktop devices are great for testing of a lot of scenarios. But a lot
of the Signal experience requires a primary mobile device: contact management,
synchronizing read and verification states among all linked devices, etc.

This presents a problem - even if you had another phone, the production versions of the
iOS and Android apps are locked to the production servers. To test all scenarios in
staging, your best bet is to pull down the development version of the iOS or Android app,
and register it with one of your extra phone numbers:

First, build Signal for Android or iOS from source, and point its service URL to `chat.staging.signal.org`:

**on Android:** Replace the `SIGNAL_URL` value in [build.gradle](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/blob/master/build.gradle)

**on iOS:** Replace the `textSecureServerURL` value in `TSConstants.h`(located in the SignalServiceKit pod)

This task is 1% search and replace, 99% setting up your build environment. Instructions are available for both
the [Android](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/blob/master/BUILDING.md)
and [iOS](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS/blob/master/BUILDING.md) projects.

Then you can set up your development build of Signal Desktop as normal. If you've already
set up as a standalone install, you can switch by opening the DevTools (View -> Toggle
Developer Tools) and entering this into the Console and pressing enter: `window.reduxActions.app.openInstaller();`

## Changing to production

If you're completely sure that your changes will have no impact to the production servers,
you can connect your development build to the production server by putting a file called
`local-development.json` in the `config` directory. It should be a copy of
`production.json`, but you should set `updatesEnabled` to `false` so that the auto-update
infrastructure doesn't kick in while you're developing.

**Beware:** Setting up standalone with your primary phone number when connected to the
production servers will _unregister_ your mobile device! All messages from your contacts
will go to your new development desktop app instead of your phone.

## Testing Production Builds

To test changes to the build system, build a release using

```
yarn generate
yarn build
```

Then, run the tests using `yarn test-release`.