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Pull Requests

This guide details the process for creating, reviewing, and merging pull requests (PRs) in the NebulaFlow repository.

Table of Contents

Overview

Contributing to NebulaFlow follows a standard open-source workflow:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Make changes and run checks
  4. Submit a pull request
  5. Wait for review and address feedback
  6. Merge into main (or dev for pre-release)

Prerequisites

Before creating a PR, ensure you have:

  1. Forked the repository on GitHub.
  2. Cloned your fork locally and added the upstream remote: 
    git remote add upstream https://github.com/PriNova/nebulaflow.git
  3. Created a feature branch with a descriptive name: 
    git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
  4. Made your changes following the Code Style guidelines.
  5. Run all checks locally: 
    npm run check
  6. Updated documentation if you added or modified features.
  7. Verified your changes manually (see Testing).

Creating a Pull Request

Push Your Branch

Push your feature branch to your fork:

git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Open a PR on GitHub

  1. Navigate to the NebulaFlow repository on GitHub.
  2. Click the Pull requests tab.
  3. Click New pull request.
  4. Select your fork and feature branch as the head branch.
  5. Choose the base branch:
  6. main for stable changes
  7. dev for pre-release features (if applicable)
  8. Click Create pull request.

PR Title and Description

Title: Use a clear, concise description of the change. Follow Conventional Commits format: 

<type>(<scope>): <subject>
Example: feat(llm-node): add support for custom model parameters

Description: Provide a detailed explanation of the changes:

  • What was changed and why
  • How it was implemented (high-level overview)
  • Any breaking changes or migration steps
  • Related issues (use Closes #123 or Fixes #456)

PR Description Template

If you want to use a template, you can copy the following into your PR description:

## Summary

Brief description of the changes.

## Changes

- List key changes
- Bullet points for clarity

## Testing

- [ ] LLM node streams output and respects thread continuation
- [ ] CLI node executes with approval, script mode, and safety levels
- [ ] If/Else node routes correctly based on condition
- [ ] Loop node iterates and updates loop variable
- [ ] Variable node sets and retrieves values
- [ ] Accumulator node concatenates outputs
- [ ] Preview node displays data
- [ ] Subflow node executes saved workflow

## Checklist

- [ ] Code follows the [Code Style](code-style.md) guidelines
- [ ] Tests pass (if any)
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] No new dependencies added (or justified)

## Related Issues

Closes #123

CI/CD Checks

The NebulaFlow repository uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration. However, CI does not run automatically on pull requests from forks due to security restrictions. Instead, the CI pipeline runs on pushes to the main and dev branches.

What This Means for Your PR

  1. Local Verification Required: You must run all checks locally before opening a PR.
  2. Maintainer Verification: Maintainers will verify your changes locally before merging.
  3. Post-Merge CI: After your PR is merged, CI will run on the main branch to build and package the extension.

Checks to Run Locally

1. Type Checking and Linting

  • Command: npm run check
  • What it does: Runs TypeScript type checking and Biome linting.
  • How to fix: Run npm run check locally and fix any errors.

2. Build and Package

  • Command: npm run package:vsix
  • What it does: Builds the VS Code extension and creates a .vsix file.
  • How to fix: Ensure your changes don't break the build. Run npm run build locally.

3. Documentation (if docs changed)

  • Command: mkdocs build
  • What it does: Builds the documentation locally to verify no broken links or syntax errors.
  • How to fix: Install mkdocs with pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material and run mkdocs build.

Required Checks

All checks must pass locally before opening a PR. Maintainers will verify these checks before merging.

Review Process

What to Expect

  1. Initial Review: A maintainer will review your changes within a few days.
  2. Feedback: You may receive comments requesting changes or clarifications.
  3. Address Feedback: Make the requested changes and push them to the same branch. The PR will update automatically.
  4. Re-review: Once you've addressed feedback, request another review.
  5. Local Verification: Maintainers may pull your branch and run checks locally before approving.

Review Guidelines

  • Be respectful: Assume good intent.
  • Be specific: Point to exact lines and suggest improvements.
  • Ask questions: If something is unclear, ask for clarification.
  • Test changes: Reviewers may pull your branch and test locally.

Approval

Once a maintainer approves your PR and verifies all checks locally, the PR is ready for merging. CI will run after merging on the main branch.

Merging Strategies

  • When: For most feature branches with many small commits.
  • Why: Keeps the main branch history clean.
  • How: Maintainers will squash all commits into a single commit with a descriptive message.

Rebase Merge

  • When: For long-lived branches with clean, logical commits.
  • Why: Preserves individual commit history.
  • How: Maintainers will rebase your branch onto main and merge.

Merge Commit

  • When: For merging a long-lived feature branch with a complex history.
  • Why: Preserves the entire branch history.
  • How: Maintainers will create a merge commit.

Note: The default merge strategy is determined by the repository settings. Maintainers may choose the appropriate strategy based on the PR.

Post-Merge Steps

Automatic Processes

  1. CI/CD Pipeline: The build workflow runs on main and dev branches, building and packaging the extension.
  2. Release Creation: If a Git tag is pushed (e.g., v1.2.3), a GitHub release is automatically created with the .vsix file.
  3. Documentation Deployment: Changes to docs/** trigger the deploy-docs workflow, updating GitHub Pages.

Manual Steps (if needed)

  • Update Changelog: Add a summary of changes to CHANGELOG.md.
  • Notify Users: If the change is significant, announce it in discussions or Discord.
  • Update Version: For releases, update the version in package.json and create a Git tag.

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
CI fails with type errors Run npm run check locally and fix diagnostics.
CI fails with lint errors Run npm run biome to auto-fix, or npm run check to see errors.
Build fails Run npm run build locally. Ensure dependencies are installed (npm install).
Documentation deployment fails Check mkdocs.yml syntax and ensure all linked files exist.
PR branch is out of date Merge main into your branch: git merge upstream/main and push.
Conflicts with main Rebase your branch onto main: git rebase upstream/main and resolve conflicts.
pi SDK not available Run npm install and rebuild the extension (see Development Setup).
No authenticated pi model Configure pi /login, auth.json, or the selected provider environment variable.
Webview assets don’t load Run npm run build or start the webview watcher (npm run watch:webview).

Last Updated: 2026-01-21