getting-started.md

Getting Started

This guide will help you set up your development environment and make your first contribution to the Node.js website.

Table of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Setting Up Your Development Environment
• Making Your First Contribution
• Available CLI Commands
  • Development Commands
  • Code Quality Commands
  • Testing Commands
  • Other Commands
• Next Steps
• Getting Help

Prerequisites

• Node.js (latest LTS version recommended)
• pnpm package manager
• Git
• A GitHub account

Setting Up Your Development Environment

1. Fork and Clone the Repository

   Click the fork button in the top right to clone the Node.js Website Repository

   git clone git@github.com:<YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME>/nodejs.org.git # SSH
   git clone https://github.com/<YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME>/nodejs.org.git # HTTPS
   gh repo clone <YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME>/nodejs.org # GitHub CLI

2. Navigate to the Project Directory

   cd nodejs.org

3. Set Up Remote Tracking

   git remote add upstream git@github.com:nodejs/nodejs.org.git # SSH
   git remote add upstream https://github.com/nodejs/nodejs.org.git # HTTPS
   gh repo sync nodejs/nodejs.org # GitHub CLI

4. Install Dependencies

   pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

5. Start the Development Server

   pnpm dev # starts a development environment at http://localhost:3000/

Making Your First Contribution

1. Create a New Branch

   git checkout -b name-of-your-branch

2. Make Your Changes

   • For repository structure guidance, see Technologies
   • For adding new pages, see Adding Pages
   • For component development, see Creating Components

3. Test Your Changes

   pnpm format # runs linting and formatting
   pnpm test # runs all tests

4. Keep Your Branch Updated

   git fetch upstream
   git merge upstream/main

5. Commit and Push Your Changes

   git add .
   git commit -m "describe your changes"
   git push -u origin name-of-your-branch

   [!TIP] Follow our commit guidelines for commit message format.

6. Create a Pull Request

   • Go to your fork on GitHub
   • Click "New Pull Request"
   • Follow our pull request guidelines

Available CLI Commands

Development Commands

• pnpm dev - Start local development server
• pnpm build - Build for production (Vercel deployments)
• pnpm deploy - Build for export (Legacy server)
• pnpm start - Start server with built content

Code Quality Commands

• pnpm lint - Run linter for all files
• pnpm lint:fix - Attempt to fix linting errors
• pnpm prettier - Run prettier for JavaScript files
• pnpm prettier:fix - Attempt to fix style errors
• pnpm format - Format and fix lints for entire codebase

Testing Commands

• pnpm test - Run all tests locally
• pnpm test:unit - Run unit tests only
• pnpm test:ci - Run tests with CI output format

Other Commands

• pnpm scripts:release-post -- --version=vXX.X.X --force - Generate release post
• pnpm storybook - Start Storybook development server
• pnpm storybook:build - Build Storybook for publishing

Next Steps

• Read about our code style guidelines
• Learn about creating components
• Understand our testing practices
• Review the technologies we use

Getting Help

• Open a Discussion for questions
• Check existing Issues for known problems
• Review our Code of Conduct