# Contributing to LaraCoreKit

Estimated time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner

Thank you for your interest in contributing to LaraCoreKit! Contributions make the open-source community amazing.

Ways to Contribute

Contributing Code

Step 1: Fork and Clone

# Fork on GitHub first, then:
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/LaraCoreKit.git
cd LaraCoreKit

Step 2: Set Up Locally

cp .env.example .env
composer install
npm install
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate --seed
npm run dev

Step 3: Create a Branch

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
# or
git checkout -b fix/bug-description

Branch naming:

• feature/ — New feature
• fix/ — Bug fix
• docs/ — Documentation improvement
• refactor/ — Code refactoring

Step 4: Make Your Changes

• Follow PSR-12 coding standards
• Write tests for new features
• Keep commits small and focused
• Write clear commit messages

Step 5: Test Your Changes

# Format code
./vendor/bin/pint

# Run all tests
php artisan test

# Run type checking (if using PHPStan)
./vendor/bin/phpstan analyse

Step 6: Submit a Pull Request

git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Then open a PR on GitHub with:

• Clear title describing what it does
• Description of what changed and why
• Screenshots for UI changes
• Reference to related issues

Code Style

LaraCoreKit uses Laravel Pint (PSR-12 based):

# Auto-format all PHP files
./vendor/bin/pint

# Check without fixing
./vendor/bin/pint --test

Documentation

Docs files are in /docs/*.md. Edit them directly and submit a PR.

Guidelines:

• Start each page with a clear H1 heading
• Include **Estimated time:** and **Difficulty:**
• Use real, working code examples
• End with a "Next Steps" section
• Avoid vague descriptions — be specific

Bug Reports

A great bug report includes:

• LaraCoreKit version (git log --oneline -1)
• PHP version (php -v)
• Steps to reproduce (exact steps, no assumptions)
• Expected behavior
• Actual behavior
• Error messages / stack trace

Feature Requests

Open a GitHub Discussion with:

• What problem does this solve?
• Who would use this feature?
• How should it work? (API, UI, behavior)
• Alternative solutions you considered

Module Contributions

Built an awesome module? Share it!

1. Create a Composer package (see Publishing Modules)
2. Post in GitHub Discussions with [Module] prefix
3. We may feature it in the official docs!

Code of Conduct

Be respectful, inclusive, and constructive. We follow the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct.

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.

Thank you for helping make LaraCoreKit better!