Contributing to Nix: Reporting Bugs, Security Vulnerabilities, and Making Changes

# Contributing to Nix Welcome and thank you for your interest in contributing to Nix! We appreciate your support. Reading and following these guidelines will help us make the contribution process easy and effective for everyone involved. ## Report a bug 1. Check on the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues) if your bug was already reported. 2. If you were not able to find the bug or feature [open a new issue](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/new/choose) 3. The issue templates will guide you in specifying your issue. The more complete the information you provide, the more likely it can be found by others and the more useful it is in the future. Make sure reported bugs can be reproduced easily. 4. Once submitted, do not expect issues to be picked up or solved right away. The only way to ensure this, is to [work on the issue yourself](#making-changes-to-nix). ## Report a security vulnerability Check out the [security policy](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/security/policy). ## Making changes to Nix 1. Search for related issues that cover what you're going to work on. It could help to mention there that you will work on the issue. We strongly recommend first-time contributors not to propose new features but rather fix tightly-scoped problems in order to build trust and a working relationship with maintainers. Issues labeled [good first issue](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/labels/good%20first%20issue) should be relatively easy to fix and are likely to get merged quickly. Pull requests addressing issues labeled [idea approved](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/labels/idea%20approved) or [RFC](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/labels/RFC) are especially welcomed by maintainers and will receive prioritised review. If you are proficient with C++, addressing one of the [popular issues](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc) will be highly appreciated by maintainers and Nix users all over the world. For far-reaching changes, please investigate possible blockers and design implications, and coordinate with maintainers before investing too much time in writing code that may not end up getting merged. If there is no relevant issue yet and you're not sure whether your change is likely to be accepted, [open an issue](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/new/choose) yourself. 2. Check for [pull requests](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pulls) that might already cover the contribution you are about to make. There are many open pull requests that might already do what you intend to work on. You can use [labels](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/labels) to filter for relevant topics. 3. Check the [Nix reference manual](https://nix.dev/manual/nix/development/development/building.html) for information on building Nix and running its tests. For contributions to the command line interface, please check the [CLI guidelines](https://nix.dev/manual/nix/development/development/cli-guideline.html). 4. Make your change! 5. [Create a pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request) for your changes. * Clearly explain the problem that you're solving. Link related issues to inform interested parties and future contributors about your change.

This section outlines how to contribute to the Nix project. It covers reporting bugs by checking existing issues and creating new ones with detailed information. For security vulnerabilities, it refers to the security policy. When making changes, it advises searching for related issues and pull requests, recommending first-time contributors to focus on tightly-scoped problems. It suggests checking the Nix reference manual and CLI guidelines, and then creating a pull request with a clear explanation of the problem being solved and links to related issues.