CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to NullByte

First off, thank you for considering contributing! 🎉 Every contribution — whether it's a bug report, a feature idea, or a code change — helps make NullByte better for everyone.

📜 Code of Conduct

By participating in this project, you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read it before contributing.

🚀 How Can I Contribute?

1. Report Bugs

Found a bug? Please open an issue using the Bug Report template. Include:

• A clear description of the problem
• Steps to reproduce the issue
• Your OS, Node.js version, and how you installed/run NullByte
• Screenshots or logs if possible (logs are at %APPDATA%/NullByte/logs/app.log)

2. Suggest Features

Have an idea? Open a feature request using the Feature Request template. We welcome all suggestions!

3. Submit Code Changes

Ready to write code? Here's the workflow:

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+
• Git
• A text editor / IDE (VS Code recommended)

Setup

# 1. Fork the repository on GitHub, then clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/NullByte.git
cd NullByte

# 2. Add the upstream remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/101yogeshsharma/NullByte.git

# 3. Install dependencies
npm install

# 4. Run in development mode
npm run start

Making Changes

# 1. Create a feature branch from main
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

# 2. Make your changes and test them
npm run start

# 3. Commit with a descriptive message
git commit -m "Add: description of your change"

# 4. Push to your fork
git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Then open a Pull Request on GitHub against the main branch.

Commit Message Convention

We use a simple prefix convention for commit messages:

Prefix	Usage
Add:	New feature or file
Fix:	Bug fix
Update:	Changes to existing functionality
Remove:	Removing code or files
Refactor:	Code restructuring (no behavior change)
Docs:	Documentation only changes
Style:	Formatting, whitespace (no logic change)

Examples:

Add: global shortcut for model selection
Fix: NullByte not appearing after screenshot
Update: Gemini prompt for better code output
Docs: add troubleshooting section to README

4. Improve Documentation

Documentation improvements are always welcome! This includes:

• Fixing typos or unclear wording in the README
• Adding examples or guides
• Improving inline code comments

🏗️ Project Structure

NullByte/
├── main.js                 # Electron main process — window creation, hotkeys, AI logic
├── preload.js              # Preload script — bridges main ↔ renderer securely
├── renderer/               # Frontend UI files
│   └── overlay.html        # The overlay's HTML, CSS, and client-side JS
├── assets/
│   └── icon.png            # App icon (512×512)
├── build/
│   └── installer.nsh       # NSIS installer customization script
├── verify_key.js           # Gemini API key validation utility
├── electron-builder.yml    # Electron Builder configuration
├── package.json            # Project metadata and scripts
└── build.sh                # Bash build helper script

✅ Pull Request Guidelines

Before submitting a PR, make sure:

1. Your branch is up to date with main:

   git fetch upstream
   git rebase upstream/main

2. The app runs without errors in development mode (npm run start).
3. Your code doesn't break the production build (npm run build).
4. You've tested your changes on Windows (primary platform).
5. The PR description clearly explains what the change does and why.
6. You've linked any related issues using Closes #123 syntax.

💡 Areas Where We Need Help

• 🐛 Bug fixes and stability improvements
• 🎨 UI/UX enhancements
• 🌐 Multi-platform support (macOS and Linux)
• ✨ New AI model integrations
• 📝 Documentation and guides
• 🧪 Testing and edge case coverage
• ♿ Accessibility improvements

❓ Questions?

If you have questions about contributing, feel free to:

• Open a GitHub Discussion
• Comment on the relevant issue

Thank you for helping make NullByte better! 🙌