1 # How to get started helping out in the curl project 2 3 We are always in need of more help. If you are new to the project and are 4 looking for ways to contribute and help out, this document aims to give a few 5 good starting points. 6 7 A good idea is to start by subscribing to the [curl-library mailing 8 list](https://cool.haxx.se/mailman/listinfo/curl-library) to keep track of the 9 current discussion topics. 10 11 ## Scratch your own itch 12 13 One of the best ways is to start working on any problems or issues you have 14 found yourself or perhaps got annoyed at in the past. It can be a spelling 15 error in an error text or a weirdly phrased section in a man page. Hunt it 16 down and report the bug. Or make your first pull request with a fix for that. 17 18 ## Help wanted 19 20 In the issue tracker we occasionally mark bugs with [help 21 wanted](https://github.com/curl/curl/labels/help%20wanted), as a sign that the 22 bug is acknowledged to exist and that there's nobody known to work on this 23 issue for the moment. Those are bugs that are fine to "grab" and provide a 24 pull request for. The complexity level of these will of course vary, so pick 25 one that piques your interest. 26 27 ## Work on known bugs 28 29 Some bugs are known and haven't yet received attention and work enough to get 30 fixed. We collect such known existing flaws in the 31 [KNOWN_BUGS](https://curl.haxx.se/docs/knownbugs.html) page. Many of them link 32 to the original bug report with some additional details, but some may also 33 have aged a bit and may require some verification that the bug still exists in 34 the same way and that what was said about it in the past is still valid. 35 36 ## Fix autobuild problems 37 38 On the [autobuilds page](https://curl.haxx.se/dev/builds.html) we show a 39 collection of test results from the automatic curl build and tests that are 40 performed by volunteers. Fixing compiler warnings and errors shown there is 41 something we value greatly. Also, if you own or run systems or architectures 42 that aren't already tested in the autobuilds, we also appreciate more 43 volunteers running builds automatically to help us keep curl portable. 44 45 ## TODO items 46 47 Ideas for features and functions that we have considered worthwhile to 48 implement and provide are kept in the 49 [TODO](https://curl.haxx.se/docs/todo.html) file. Some of the ideas are 50 rough. Some are well thought out. Some probably aren't really suitable 51 anymore. 52 53 Before you invest a lot of time on a TODO item, do bring it up for discussion 54 on the mailing list. For discussion on applicability but also for ideas and 55 brainstorming on specific ways to do the implementation etc. 56 57 ## You decide 58 59 You can also come up with a completely new thing you think we should do. Or 60 not do. Or fix. Or add to the project. You then either bring it to the mailing 61 list first to see if people will shoot down the idea at once, or you bring a 62 first draft of the idea as a pull request and take the discussion there around 63 the specific implementation. Either way is fine. 64 65 ## CONTRIBUTE 66 67 We offer [guidelines](https://curl.haxx.se/dev/contribute.html) that are 68 suitable to be familiar with before you decide to contribute to curl. If 69 you're used to open source development, you'll probably not find many 70 surprises in there. 71
