Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to vx!

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.80+
• Git

Clone and Build

git clone https://github.com/loonghao/vx.git
cd vx
cargo build

Cross-Platform Build Notes

vx uses rustls (pure Rust TLS implementation) instead of OpenSSL, which enables:

• No system dependencies: Cross-compilation to musl targets works out of the box
• Smaller binaries: No need to bundle OpenSSL
• Consistent behavior: Same TLS implementation across all platforms

The HTTP client (reqwest) is configured with:

• rustls-tls: Pure Rust TLS backend
• rustls-tls-native-roots: Uses system certificate store for trust roots

This means you can build static musl binaries without installing OpenSSL:

# Build for Linux musl (static binary)
cross build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

# Build for ARM64 musl
cross build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-musl

Run Tests

cargo test

Run Clippy

cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

Format Code

cargo fmt

Development Workflow

1. Create a Branch

git checkout -b feature/my-feature

2. Make Changes

• Write code
• Add tests
• Update documentation

3. Test Locally

# Run all tests
cargo test

# Run specific test
cargo test test_name

# Run with output
cargo test -- --nocapture

4. Check Code Quality

# Format
cargo fmt

# Lint
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

# Check documentation
cargo doc --all-features --no-deps

5. Submit PR

• Push your branch
• Create a pull request
• Fill out the PR template

Code Guidelines

Rust Style

• Follow Rust conventions
• Use rustfmt for formatting
• Address all Clippy warnings
• Document public APIs

Testing

• Place tests in tests/ directories
• Use rstest for parameterized tests
• Aim for good coverage

Documentation

• Document public functions and types
• Include examples in doc comments
• Update user documentation as needed

Project Structure

vx/
├── crates/
│   ├── vx-cli/         # CLI application
│   ├── vx-core/        # Core types and traits
│   ├── vx-paths/       # Path management
│   ├── vx-resolver/    # Version resolution
│   ├── vx-runtime/     # Runtime management
│   └── vx-providers/   # Tool providers
├── book/               # Documentation (mdBook)
├── tests/              # Integration tests
└── examples/           # Example configurations

Adding a New Provider

1. Create crate in crates/vx-providers/
2. Implement Provider trait
3. Add tests
4. Register in vx-cli/src/registry.rs
5. Update documentation

See Plugin Development for details.

Commit Messages

Use conventional commits:

feat: add support for new tool
fix: resolve version parsing issue
docs: update installation guide
test: add provider tests
refactor: simplify version resolution

Pull Request Process

1. Ensure CI passes
2. Update documentation
3. Add tests for new features
4. Request review
5. Address feedback

CI Pipeline

The CI pipeline is optimized with crate-level change detection to minimize build times:

How It Works

1. Change Detection: The CI automatically detects which crates have changed
2. Dependency Analysis: It understands the dependency graph between crates
3. Targeted Testing: Only affected crates are tested

Crate Dependency Layers

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      vx-cli (Application)                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  vx-resolver │ vx-extension │ vx-project-analyzer │ ...     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    vx-runtime (Infrastructure)               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              vx-core │ vx-paths (Foundation)                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Impact Rules

Changed Crate	Affected Crates
vx-core	All crates that depend on it (runtime, resolver, extension, etc.)
vx-paths	runtime, resolver, env, setup, migration, args, extension, cli
vx-runtime	resolver, extension, cli, all providers
vx-config	project-analyzer, cli
Provider crates	Only the changed provider and cli
vx-cli	Only cli itself

CI Jobs

Job	Condition	Description
test-targeted	Specific crates changed	Tests only affected crates
test-full	Core crates changed or CI config changed	Full workspace test
code-quality	Any Rust code changed	Format and Clippy checks
dogfood	Any Rust code changed	Integration tests with real tools
cross-build	Main branch only	Cross-compilation for ARM/musl
coverage	Main branch only	Code coverage report

Force Full CI

To run all tests regardless of changes:

1. Go to Actions tab
2. Select "CI" workflow
3. Click "Run workflow"
4. Check "Force full CI run"

Dependency Constraints

Some dependencies have version constraints that cannot be automatically upgraded:

bincode (v1.3 → v3.x blocked)

The bincode crate is pinned to v1.3 because:

• msvc-kit (used for MSVC Build Tools installation on Windows) depends on bincode ^1.3
• bincode v3 has a completely different API (the crate was restructured)
• Until msvc-kit releases a version supporting bincode v3, we cannot upgrade

Workaround: Renovate is configured to skip major bincode updates. See PR #378 for details.

Resolution: Monitor msvc-kit releases for bincode v3 support. Once available:

1. Update msvc-kit to the new version
2. Remove the Renovate rule for bincode
3. Migrate code to bincode v3 API

Reporting Issues

When reporting bugs:

1. Check existing issues
2. Include vx version (vx --version)
3. Include OS and shell
4. Provide reproduction steps
5. Include error messages

Feature Requests

1. Check existing issues/discussions
2. Describe the use case
3. Propose a solution if possible

Community

• GitHub Issues
• GitHub Discussions

License

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