Contributing

Thanks for your interest in contributing to Express Rate Limit! This guide will show you how to set up your environment and contribute to this library.

1. Setup your environment

   First, you need to install and be familiar the following:

   1. git

   Here is a great guide by GitHub on installing and getting started with Git.

   2. node and pnpm

   This guide will help you install node and npm. The recommended method is using the n version manager if you are on MacOS or Linux. Make sure you are using the active LTS version of Node.

   Next install pnpm.

2. Fork the repository

   Follow these instructions to fork and clone the repository (express-rate-limit/express-rate-limit).

   Once you have forked and cloned the repository, you can pick out an issue you want to fix/implement!

3. Install the dependencies

   Run pnpm install --frozen-lockfile to install the JavaScript dependencies.

   If there are errors, try deleting the node_modules folder first, then re-run the install command.

4. Create a branch

   Once you have cloned the repository to your computer (say, in ~/Code/express-rate-limit) and picked the issue you want to tackle, create a branch based off the main branch:

   terminal

   > git switch main
   > git switch --create branch-name
   

   While naming your branch, make sure the name is short and self explanatory.

   Once you have created a branch, you can start coding!

5. Writing code

   The library is written in typescript and supports node versions 16, 18 and 20. The code is arranged as follows:

   Code Structure

   express-rate-limit/
   ├── config/
   │  └── husky/
   │     └── pre-commit # runs the linter on staged files
   ├── docs/
   │  └── * # documentation & changelog
   ├── source/
   │  ├── headers.ts # header parsing functions
   │  ├── index.ts # exports the types and the middleware
   |  ├── ip-key-generator.ts # helper function for IPv6
   │  ├── rate-limit.ts # option parser and the rate limiting middleware
   │  ├── memory-store.ts # the used-by-default memory store
   │  ├── types.ts # typescript type definitions, exported as public api
   │  ├── utils.ts # utility functions that don't belong elsewhere
   │  └── validations.ts # validation checks built into library
   ├── test/
   │  ├── external/
   │  │  ├── imports/ # ensures the function can be imported in diff envs
   │  │  ├── stores/ # ensures the library works with the store
   │  │  └── run-all-tests # runs all the external and store tests
   │  └── library
   │     ├── helpers
   │     │  └── create-server.ts # creates a test express server
   │     └── *-test.ts # tests for each file in the `source/` folder
   ├── license.md # license info
   ├── pnpm-lock.yml # pnpm lock file, do not modify manually
   ├── package.json # node package info
   ├── readme.md # project info
   ├── jest.config.json # test runner config
   └── tsconfig.json # typescript config
   └── ... # misclaneous other configuration files
   

   Most files have a little description of what they do at the top.
6. Documentation and testing

   When adding a new feature or fixing a bug, please update the documentation and changelog as well as add tests for the same. Also make sure the codebase passes the linter and library tests by running npm test. Note that running npm run format will automatically resolve most style/lint issues.

   Note that the external tests require various datastores to be installed locally and take more time to execute. Typically they are run only on GitHub Actions. You may run these tests locally by running npm run test:ext.

7. Making a commit

   Once you have made changes to the code, you will want to commit (basically, Git’s version of save) the changes. To commit the changes you have made locally:

   terminal

   > git add this/folder that-file.js
   > git commit --message 'commit-message'
   

   While writing the commit-message, try to follow the below guidelines:

   1. Prefix the message with type:, where type is one of the following depending on what the commit does:
      • fix: Introduces a bug fix.
      • feat: Adds a new feature.
      • test: Any change related to tests.
      • perf: Any performance related change.
      • meta: Any change related to the build process, workflows, issue templates, etc.
      • refc: Any refactoring work.
      • docs: Any documentation related changes.
   2. Keep the first line brief, and less than 60 characters.
   3. Try describing the change in detail in a new paragraph (double newline after the first line).

   When you commit files, husky and lint-staged will automatically lint the code and fix most issues. In case an error is not automatically fixable, they will cancel the commit. Please fix the errors before committing the changes. If you still wish to commit the changes, prefix the git commit command with HUSKY=0, like so:

   terminal

   > HUSKY=0 git commit --message 'commit-message'
   

8. Pushing your changes

   Once you have committed your changes, you will want to push your commits (basically, publish your changes to GitHub). To do so, run:

   terminal

   > git push origin branch-name
   

   If there are changes made to the main branch of the express-rate-limit/express-rate-limit repository, you may wish to merge those changes into your branch. To do so, run:

   terminal

   > git fetch upstream main
   > git merge upstream/main
   

   This will automatically add the changes from main branch of the express-rate-limit/express-rate-limit repository to the current branch. If you encounter any merge conflicts, follow this guide to resolve them.

9. Opening a pull request

   Once you have pushed your changes to your fork, follow these instructions to open a pull request.

Once you have submitted a pull request, the maintainers of the repository will review your pull requests. Whenever a maintainer reviews a pull request they may request changes. These may be small, such as fixing a typo, or may involve substantive changes. Such requests are intended to be helpful, but at times may come across as abrupt or unhelpful, especially if they do not include concrete suggestions on how to change them. Try not to be discouraged. If you feel that a review is unfair, say so or seek the input of another project contributor. Often such comments are the result of a reviewer having taken insufficient time to review and are not ill-intended. Such difficulties can often be resolved with a bit of patience. That said, reviewers should be expected to provide helpful feedback.

In order to land, a pull request needs to be reviewed and approved by at least one maintainer and pass CI. After that, if there are no objections from other contributors, the pull request can be merged.

Congratulations and thanks for your contribution!

This contributing guide was inspired by the Electron project’s contributing guide.