how-to-open-a-pull-request.md

How to open a Pull Request (PR)

A pull request (PR), enables you to send changes from your fork on GitHub to freeCodeCamp.org's main repository. Once you are done making changes to the code, you can follow these guidelines to open a PR.

We expect our contributors to be aware of the process specific to this project. Following the guidelines carefully earns you the respect of fellow maintainers and saves everyone time.

Some examples of this are:

1. Do not edit files directly through GitHub – while you can, it's not a good idea.

2. Make sure you follow the PR checklist and not just tick things off; otherwise, we won't take you seriously.

3. Use the correct way to link issues in the description of the PR by updating the XXXXXX. Do not just add issue numbers everywhere and anywhere you feel like.

4. Do not "@mention" or request someone for reviews too many times.

   We understand you are excited about contributing. As much as a maintainer will love to get back to you, they are busy people looking after hundreds of requests just like yours. Be patient, someone will get to you sooner or later.

5. Do not work directly off your main branch - create a new branch for the changes you are working on.

Note

Your PR should be targeting changes to the English curriculum only. Read this guide instead for contributing to translations.

Prepare a Good PR Title

We recommend using conventional title and messages for commits and pull request. The convention has the following format:

<type>([optional scope(s)]): <description>

For example:

fix(learn): tests for the do...while loop challenge

Whenever you open a Pull Request(PR), you can use the below to determine the type, scope (optional), and description.

Type:

Type	When to select
fix	Changed or updated/improved functionality, tests, the wording of a lesson, etc.
feat	Only if you are adding new functionality, tests, etc.
chore	Changes that are not related to code, tests, or verbiage of a lesson.
docs	Changes to /docs directory or the contributing guidelines, etc.

Scope:

You can select a scope from this list of labels.

Description:

Keep it short (less than 30 characters) and simple; you can add more information in the PR description box and comments.

Some examples of good PR titles would be:

• fix(a11y): improved search bar contrast
• feat: add more tests to HTML and CSS challenges
• fix(api,client): prevent CORS errors on form submission
• docs(i18n): fix links to be relative instead of absolute

Proposing a Pull Request

1. Once the edits have been committed, you will be prompted to create a pull request on your fork's GitHub Page.

   See screenshot

   

2. By default, all pull requests should be against the freeCodeCamp main repo, main branch.

   Make sure that your Base Fork is set to freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp when raising a Pull Request.

   See screenshot

   

3. Submit the pull request from your branch to freeCodeCamp's main branch.

4. Include a more detailed summary of the changes you made and how your changes are helpful in the body of your PR.

   • You will be presented with a pull request template. This is a checklist that you should have followed before opening the pull request.

   • Fill in the details as you see fit. This information will be reviewed and the reviewers will decide whether or not your pull request is accepted.

   • If the PR is meant to address an existing GitHub Issue then, at the end of your PR's description body, use the keyword Closes with the issue number to automatically close that issue if the PR is accepted and merged.

     Example: Closes #123 will close issue 123

5. Indicate if you have tested on a local copy of the site or not.

   • This is very important when making changes that are not just edits to text content like documentation or a challenge description. Examples of changes that need local testing include JavaScript, CSS, or HTML, which could change the functionality or layout of a page.

   • If your PR affects the behaviour of a page it should be accompanied by corresponding Cypress integration tests.

Feedback on Pull Requests

🎉 Congratulations on making a PR and thanks a lot for taking the time to contribute.

Our moderators will now take a look and leave you feedback. Please be patient with the fellow moderators and respect their time. All pull requests are reviewed in due course.

And as always, feel free to ask questions on the 'Contributors' category on our forum or the contributors chat room.

Tip

If you are to be contributing more pull requests, we recommend you read the making changes and syncing guidelines to avoid having to delete your fork.

Conflicts on a Pull Request

Conflicts can arise because many contributors work on the repository, and changes can break your PR which is pending a review and merge.

More often than not you may not require a rebase, because we squash all commits, however, if a rebase is requested, here is what you should do.

For Usual Bug Fixes and Features

When you are working on regular bugs and features on our development branch main, you are able to do a simple rebase:

1. Rebase your local copy:

   git checkout <pr-branch>
   git pull --rebase upstream main

2. Resolve any conflicts and add / edit commits

   # Either
   git add .
   git commit -m "chore: resolve conflicts"
   
   # Or
   git add .
   git commit --amend --no-edit

3. Push back your changes to the PR

   git push --force origin <pr-branch>

For Upcoming Curriculum and Features

When you are working on features for our upcoming curriculum next-* branches, you have to do a cherry pick:

1. Make sure your upstream comes in sync with your local:

   git checkout main
   git fetch --all --prune
   git checkout next-python-projects
   git reset --hard upstream/next-python-projects

2. Take backup

   a. Either delete your local branch after taking a backup (if you still have it locally):

   git checkout <pr-branch-name>
   
   # example:
   # git checkout feat/add-numpy-video-question
   
   git checkout -b <backup-branch-name>
   
   # example:
   #  git checkout -b backup-feat/add-numpy-video-question
   
   git branch -D <pr-branch-name>

   b. Or just a backup of your pr branch (if you do not have it locally):

   git checkout -b <backup-branch-name> origin/<pr-branch-name>
   
   # example:
   #  git checkout -b backup-feat/add-numpy-video-question origin/feat/add-numpy-video-question

3. Start off with a clean slate:

   git checkout -b <pr-branch-name> next-python-projects
   git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

4. Resolve any conflicts, cleanup, install dependencies and run tests

   pnpm run clean
   
   pnpm install
   FCC_SUPERBLOCK='<superblock-name>' pnpm run test:curriculum 
   
   # example:
   
   # FCC_SUPERBLOCK='python-for-everybody' pnpm run test:curriculum
   

5. If everything looks good push back to the PR

   git push --force origin <pr-branch-name>