# Contributing to GQCP

> This project has a [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/GQCG/gqcp/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
> By interacting with this repository, organisation, or community you agree to abide by its terms.

:+1::tada: Thanks for your interest in GQCP! :tada::+1:

There are couple of ways that you can help us maintain this project. Since this project is managed via GitHub, we're using its essential features as much as possible.

> Please bear in mind that GQCP is currently developed, documented, tested and maintained by a small group of researchers from the Ghent Quantum Chemistry Group. This means that we currently reserve the right to prioritize new work according to our group's interests and research plans.


## Discussions

We've set up GitHub discussions in order to provide a platform for sharing ideas and asking questions. In general, we use GitHub discussions as a place where ideas can develop into concrete code plans. Once matured, such an idea may be converted into an [issue](#issues).

So, if you have an idea for a new feature, or if you have a proposal for a refactor, please open a new discussion topic in one of the appropriate categories. No code is perfect, but with your suggestions we can continuously improve this code!


## Issues

This project's open issues are items on our active backlog. They designate pieces of work that we plan to finish within the next couple of months. If you're not a GQCP developer, please try not to interfere with its project management. If you're in doubt whether to open an issue, pull request or a new discussion, start a new discussion.

There's however a big exception! If you find a bug, please submit an issue using the bug report template. Even if you have discovered the bug in an offline chat, please take the time to describe it in detail: help us help you!


## Pull requests

We're using the [Git Flow](https://datasift.github.io/gitflow/IntroducingGitFlow.html) workflow, so we encourage you to use it as well. In short, this workflow means that the `master` branch contains releases and the `develop` branch is continuously updated with new features from `feature` branches.

Are you interested in addressing an issue? Submit a pull request from your `feature/your_feature` branch to `develop` and ask for a review!

