# New Contributor Checklist

This guide summarizes the steps needed to get up and running as a contributor to Mojaloop. They needn't be completed all in one sitting, but by the end of the checklist, you should have learned a good deal about Mojaloop, and be prepared to contribute to the community.

# 1. Tools & Documentation

• Make sure you have a GitHub account already, or sign up for an account here (opens new window)

• Join the slack community at the self-invite link (opens new window), and join the following channels:

  • #announcements - Announcements for new Releases and QA Status
  • #design-authority - Questions + Discussion around Mojaloop Design
  • #general - General discussion about Mojaloop
  • #help-mojaloop - Ask for help with installing or running Mojaloop
  • #ml-oss-bug-triage - Discussion and triage for new bugs and issues

• Say hi! Feel free to give a short introduction of yourself to the community on the #general channel.

• Review the Git workflow guide (opens new window) and ensure you are familiar with git.

  • Further reading: Introduction to Github workflow (opens new window)

• Familiarize yourself with our standard coding style: https://standardjs.com/

• Browse through the Mojaloop Documentation (opens new window) and get a basic understanding of how the technology works.

• Go through the Developer Tools Guide (opens new window) to get the necessary developer tools up and running on your local environment.

• (Optional) Get the Central-Ledger up and running on local machines:

  • https://github.com/mojaloop/central-ledger/blob/master/Onboarding.md
  • https://github.com/mojaloop/ml-api-adapter/blob/master/Onboarding.md

• (Optional:) Run an entire switch yourself with Kubernetes https://mojaloop.io/documentation/deployment-guide/ (note: if running locally, your Kubernetes cluster will need 8GB or more of RAM)

# 2. Finding an Issue

• Review the good-first-issue (opens new window) list on mojaloop/project (opens new window), to find a good issue to start working on. Alternatively, reach out to the community on Slack at #general to ask for help to find an issue.

• Leave a comment on the issue asking for it to be assigned to you -- this helps make sure we don't duplicate work. As always, reach out to us on Slack if you have any questions or concerns.

• Fork the relevant repos for the issue, clone and create a new branch for the issue

  • Refer to our Git User Guide (opens new window) if you get lost

# 3. Opening your First PR

Please see our guidelines on creating pull requests here.

# 4. Signing the CLA

After you open your first PR, our CI/CD pipelines will ask you to sign the CLA. For more information on what the CLA is and how to sign it, see Signing the CLA