#Get Started Contributing

Set up your local environment to contribute to maltty.

#Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 22.0.0
• pnpm 10.x (corepack enable to activate)
• Git
• Claude Code CLI (optional but recommended)

#Steps

#1. Fork and clone

gh repo fork thebytefarm/maltty --clone
cd maltty

#2. Install dependencies

pnpm install

#3. Verify the build

Run the full CI check suite to confirm everything works:

pnpm lint && pnpm format && pnpm typecheck

#4. Run tests

pnpm test

#5. Understand the project

Read the project docs in this order:

1. CLAUDE.md -- tech stack, project structure, available commands
2. contributing/concepts/architecture.md -- system layers, packages, and data flow
3. contributing/concepts/cli.md -- commands, context, middleware, and error flow
4. Relevant standards in contributing/standards/ as needed

#6. Set up Claude Code (optional)

The repo includes built-in configuration for Claude Code:

#Verification

Confirm all checks pass:

pnpm lint && pnpm format && pnpm typecheck
pnpm test

#Troubleshooting

#pnpm not found

Issue: Running pnpm returns "command not found."

Fix:

corepack enable

#Lockfile mismatch after switching branches

Issue: Build or install fails after checking out a different branch.

Fix:

pnpm install

#Lefthook hooks fail on commit or push

Issue: Git hooks block your commit or push with lint/format/typecheck errors.

Fix: Fix the reported issues and re-commit. The hooks run automatically via Lefthook -- see lefthook.yml for the full hook configuration.

#References

• Architecture
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• CLAUDE.md