takahe/docs/contributing.rst

Contributing

Takahē, as an open source project, could always do with more help, and if you want to contribute we'd love help in the following areas:

• Backend code development (Python)
• Frontend code development (HTML, CSS and very limited JavaScript)
• Visual design & UX (for our default UI, and the project site)
• Illustration (for the app, project site, and outreach materials)
• Writing (for our development and user documentation)

If you're interested in helping out, join our Discord server` or email contact@jointakahe.org, and mention what you'd like to help with.

All contributors are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct. We have zero tolerance for bigotry or discrimination.

If you feel like someone is breaking the code of conduct, or is making you feel unwelcome in a way not explicitly outlined in it, you can email us at conduct@jointakahe.com.

Running Locally

If you wish to run Takahē locally, these instructions will help you do that. It is worth noting, however, that this will only really let you test the UI and local posting/follow functionality; to test ActivityPub itself and follow other people, your installation must be accessible from the internet; doing that securely is different enough per person that it is not covered here.

Direct installation

Takahē requires Python 3.10 or above, so you'll need that first. Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/jointakahe/takahe/

Then, cd into that directory and create and activate a virtual environment (you can use other options, but this is the basic example):

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate

Then install the development requirements:

pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

and enable the git commit hooks to do auto-formatting and linting (if you don't do this, our CI system will reject your PRs until they match):

pre-commit install

You will need to set your system to use development settings:

export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=takahe.settings.development

You can run the web interface to see it at http://localhost:8000:

./manage.py runserver

You will need to run Stator in order to have background actions work:

./manage.py runstator

Make yourself a superuser account in order to log in:

./manage.py createsuperuser

And you can run the tests with pytest:

pytest

Docker

The docker build process will take care of much of the above, but you just have to be sure that you're executing it from the project root.

First, you need to build your image:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml build

Then start the compose session:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up

At this point, you will be able to see the Web UI at http://localhost:8000

Once your session is up and running, you can make yourself a superuser account:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec web manage.py createsuperuser

And you can run the tests inside your container:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec web pytest