docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md guide for new contributors

[JDis03]

Summary

Adds a CONTRIBUTING.md file to help new contributors get started.

Contents

• Quick start setup
• Finding issues to work on (label guide)
• Branch naming conventions
• Development workflow (fork, branch, commit, PR)
• Project structure overview with key file paths
• Styling conventions and file size guidelines
• i18n workflow for adding translations
• Code principles (KISS, DRY, single responsibility)

This gives new contributors everything they need in one place to start contributing effectively.

[github-actions]

PR builds are available as GitHub Actions artifacts:

https://github.com/NeuralNomadsAI/CodeNomad/actions/runs/26045596021

Artifacts expire in 7 days.
Artifacts:

• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-tauri-macos
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-tauri-windows
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-tauri-linux
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-tauri-macos-arm64
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-electron-macos
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-electron-windows
• pr-484-1f08dd920f63824c086a3116d96bd59a191d5b31-electron-linux

[pascalandr]

@CodeNomadBot

review it this CONTRIBUTING.md is always relevant and true, while keeping in mind the recent guide skills fro contributors #493

[codenomadbot]

Reviewed CONTRIBUTING.md for accuracy/relevance, using the current repo plus the PR #493 codenomad-architecture-guide skill as context.

Findings:

1. CONTRIBUTING.md:97-105 omits packages that are now part of the contributor architecture map. PR feat: add CodeNomad architecture guide skill for contributors #493 documents packages/opencode-plugin/ and packages/cloudflare/, and this branch already contains both directories (packages/opencode-plugin/README.md, packages/cloudflare/package.json). The contributor guide currently lists only server, UI, Electron, and Tauri, so new contributors could miss plugin and Cloudflare deployment areas.

2. CONTRIBUTING.md:106-118 hardcodes a narrow “Key UI Files” list but does not point contributors to the newer architecture skill. PR feat: add CodeNomad architecture guide skill for contributors #493’s .opencode/skills/codenomad-architecture-guide/SKILL.md is the more complete/current navigation guide for UI, server, desktop, SDK, and feature traces. To keep CONTRIBUTING.md always relevant, I’d recommend replacing or supplementing this volatile file list with a pointer to that skill once PR feat: add CodeNomad architecture guide skill for contributors #493 lands.

3. CONTRIBUTING.md:121-123 lists styling paths as src/styles/..., but from the repo root these paths do not exist. They should be qualified as packages/ui/src/styles/... or clearly framed as relative to packages/ui/. This matters because the rest of the guide uses repo-root paths.

4. CONTRIBUTING.md:5-12 says npm install and npm run dev are enough for quick start, but the existing README lists OpenCode CLI in PATH and Node.js 18+ as requirements. The contributor guide should include the same prerequisites before the quick-start commands so setup failures are not surprising.

5. CONTRIBUTING.md:90-95 only requires npm run typecheck --workspace @codenomad/ui. The root package.json has a broader npm run typecheck that checks UI and Electron, while server also has its own typecheck script. For a general contribution guide, this checklist may under-validate non-UI changes. Consider recommending targeted validation by area, or at least root npm run typecheck for general PRs.

No code/doc changes were pushed from this review. Overall recommendation: request changes before merging, mainly to align the package map and navigation guidance with PR #493 and to fix the ambiguous styling paths/prerequisites.

--
Yours,
CodeNomadBot

[github-actions]

PR builds are available as GitHub Actions artifacts:

https://github.com/NeuralNomadsAI/CodeNomad/actions/runs/26466827670

Artifacts expire in 7 days.
Artifacts:

• pr-484-2e60b38bfcfe0c6724decb8549c18306b23f6f77-electron-windows
• pr-484-2e60b38bfcfe0c6724decb8549c18306b23f6f77-electron-linux

[pascalandr]

@CodeNomadBot
same review

[codenomadbot]

Re-ran the same CONTRIBUTING.md review after the latest update, with PR #493’s codenomad-architecture-guide in mind.

The previous concerns are mostly addressed:

1. Prerequisites now include Node.js 18+ and OpenCode CLI.
2. The project structure now includes packages/opencode-plugin and packages/cloudflare.
3. Styling paths are now repo-root-qualified as packages/ui/src/styles/....
4. The PR checklist now points to root npm run typecheck or area-specific validation.
5. The guide now points contributors to the PR feat: add CodeNomad architecture guide skill for contributors #493 architecture skill for deeper navigation.

Remaining finding:

1. CONTRIBUTING.md:104-106 has a malformed Markdown table separator. The header has two columns (Package, Description), but the separator has three cells: |---|---|---|. This should be |---|---| so the table renders consistently.

Recommendation: fix the table separator before merging. After that, I do not see remaining accuracy issues from the previous review scope.

--
Yours,
CodeNomadBot