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docs : add contibutor getting started guide - #351

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vyncint merged 3 commits into
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DevanshGang:docs/where-to-start
Sep 13, 2026
Merged

vyncint merged 3 commits into
vyncint:mainfrom
DevanshGang:docs/where-to-start

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@DevanshGang

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What & why

Added a short "Where to start " section to CONTRIBUTING.md to make it easier for new contributors to get started.

this section points to good first issues , explains that early draft PRs are welcome and highlights the DCO sign-off and snapshot review requirements.

The README Contributing section now links directly to the new section.

Closes #314

Checklist

  • Linked an issue (or explained above why none exists)
  • Tests added/updated for the change
  • cargo fmt --all and cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features are clean
  • All commits are signed off (git commit -s) — see CONTRIBUTING.md §5
  • No AI attribution trailers (no AI co-authors, "Generated with" footers, or bot identities) — see CONTRIBUTING.md §6
  • CHANGELOG.md updated under [Unreleased] (user-facing changes only)
  • Snapshot changes (if any) were reviewed with cargo insta review, not blind-accepted

Signed-off-by: Devansh Gangwar <devansh.gangwar@ad.infosys.com>
Devansh Gangwar and others added 2 commits September 13, 2026 14:16
Signed-off-by: Devansh Gangwar <devansh.gangwar@ad.infosys.com>
The label link pointed at `github.com/vyncint/temlens` (missing the `r`),
which is a 404 — and vyncint#314's "Done when" asks specifically that the label
link resolve, so the section did not yet do the one job it exists for.

Alongside that:

- Restore the missing spaces around the README link and the `)label` run-on,
  and drop the stray space before the comma.
- Move the section below the four-projects callout so the framing note still
  sits directly under the intro, and use the house em-dash.
- Point the DCO mention at §5 rather than restating it, and keep the section
  unnumbered so §1–§8 keep their numbers: the PR template links §5 and §6.
- In the README, append the pointer to the sentence instead of splitting it
  mid-clause, since the "Three things to know" list follows immediately.

Verified: both URLs return 200, `vyncint#5-developer-certificate-of-origin-dco`
and `#where-to-start` match real headings, and check-readme-links.sh passes.

Signed-off-by: Vyncint Ng <115854244+vyncint@users.noreply.github.com>

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Thanks for this — #314 has been open since the label went up, and the shape you chose is the right one: a pointer, not more prose.

I pushed one commit rather than sending you round again, since the substance was already right.

The one blocker: the label link pointed at github.com/vyncint/temlens — missing the r, so it 404s. That matters more than a normal typo here, because #314's "Done when" is specifically "the label link resolves": a link to the good first issues is the single thing the section exists to provide. Both URLs now return 200, checked.

Worth saying plainly that all sixteen checks were green on your original push. check-readme-links.sh validates links, but only in README.md, and only ones under blob/main/ that name a path in the repo — a labels/ URL in CONTRIBUTING.md is outside both halves of that. So the gate was not lax; the broken link was simply out of its range. Pointing it at CONTRIBUTING.md is not a one-liner either, because CONTRIBUTING legitimately uses relative links (docs/RELEASING.md, .github/workflows/ci.yml) and the absolute-only rule exists solely because the README is packaged to crates.io. That is a real gap, and its own issue — not yours to carry.

The rest was tidying:

  • Missing spaces around )label and both sides of the README link; a stray space before a comma.
  • Moved the section below the four-projects callout, so that framing note still sits directly under the intro.
  • House em-dash instead of the hyphen.
  • Linked §5 for the DCO instead of restating it, and left the section unnumbered on purpose: the PR template links §5 and §6, so numbering it would have silently broken both.
  • In the README, appended the pointer to the sentence rather than splitting it mid-clause, since "Three things to know" follows right after.

Merging. Your commits stay in the history.

@vyncint
vyncint merged commit 1c20377 into vyncint:main Sep 13, 2026
16 checks passed
@vyncint

vyncint commented Sep 13, 2026

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Filed the checker gap as #352 so it does not get lost. Thanks again for the section.

vyncint pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Sep 13, 2026
`check-readme-links.sh` read `README.md` and nothing else, so `CONTRIBUTING.md`
— the file a first-time contributor reads, and the one most likely to
accumulate link rot — had no link check at all. #351 proved it: a link one
letter short of the repository name sat there and all sixteen checks passed.

The script now takes a file list and gives each file the rule that applies. An
in-repo target must exist, for every file read. The absolute-only rule stays
`README.md`-only, because that rule is crates.io's: the packaged README has its
relative links rewritten against the crate directory, while CONTRIBUTING is not
packaged and legitimately links relatively. A `github.com/vyncint/<repo>` URL is
asserted against a short allow-list, offline, which is what catches `temlens`.

`tools/link-gate-selftest/run.sh` proves the gate can fail before it is trusted
to pass, in the shape `tools/semver-gate-selftest/` already uses, and runs in
`gates-listed`.

A follow-up commit corrects the allow-list, which named four repositories when
six projects now share the pattern and `docs/DESIGN.md` already links a
seventh, and stops the failure message claiming an unlisted repository does not
exist.

Closes #352
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CONTRIBUTING has no "where to start", so a newcomer's first question is unanswered

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