Add CONTRIBUTING

Author: saqadri

.vscode/extensions.json

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "recommendations": ["esbenp.prettier-vscode", "charliermarsh.ruff"]
+}

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     "editor.rulers": []
   },
   "yaml.schemas": {
-    "./schema/mcp-agent.config.schema.json": [
+    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lastmile-ai/mcp-agent/main/schema/mcp-agent.config.schema.json": [
       "mcp-agent.config.yaml",
       "mcp_agent.config.yaml",
       "mcp-agent.secrets.yaml",

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,13 +1,119 @@
 # Contributing
 
-We welcome contributions to mcp-agent framework!
+We welcome **all** kinds of contributions - bug fixes, big features, docs, examples and more. _You don't need to be an AI expert
+or even a Python developer to help out._
 
-## Guidelines
+## Checklist
 
-- **Pull Requests**: Fork the repo, create a feature branch, and submit a PR. Please add tests for new features in `tests/`.
-- **Code Style**: Use `ruff` for formatting Python code. Follow PEP 8 conventions.
-- **Plugins & Recipes**: Implement as separate packages and expose them via entry points. See `plugins_loader.py` for how we discover plugins.
-- **Testing**: Run `pytest` in the `tests/` directory. Ensure all tests pass before submitting a PR.
-- **Documentation**: Add docstrings and comments where appropriate. Keep code clear and modular.
+Contributions are made through
+[pull requests](https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/).
 
-Thank you for contributing!
+Before sending a pull request, make sure to do the following:
+
+- Fork the repo, and create a feature branch prefixed with `feature/`
+- [Lint, typecheck, and format](#lint-typecheck-format) your code
+- [Add examples](#examples)
+
+_Please reach out to the mcp-agent maintainers before starting work on a large
+contribution._ Get in touch at
+[GitHub issues](https://github.com/lastmile-ai/mcp-agent/issues)
+or [on Discord](https://lmai.link/discord/mcp-agent).
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+To build mcp-agent, you'll need the following installed:
+
+- Install [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/), which we use for Python package management
+- Install [Python](https://www.python.org/) >= 3.10. (You may already it installed. To see your version, use `python -V` at the command line.)
+
+  If you don't, install it using `uv python install 3.10`
+
+- Install dev dependencies using `uv sync --dev`
+
+## Scripts
+
+There are several useful scripts in the `scripts/` directory that can be invoked via `uv run scripts/<script>.py [ARGS]`
+
+### promptify.py
+
+Bundles the mcp-agent repo into a single `project_contents.md` so you can use it as a prompt for LLMs to help you develop.
+Use `-i REGEX` to include only specific files, and `-x REGEX` to exclude certain files.
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/promptify.py -i "**/agents/**" -i "**/context.py" -x "**/app.py"
+```
+
+### example.py
+
+This script lets you run any example in the `examples/` directory in debug mode. It configures the venv for the example,
+installs its dependencies from `requirements.txt`, and runs the example.
+
+To run:
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/example.py run <example_name> --debug
+```
+
+To clean:
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/example.py clean <example_name>
+```
+
+Example usage to run `examples/workflow_orchestrator_worker`:
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/example.py run workflow_orchestrator_worker --debug
+```
+
+## Lint, Typecheck, Format
+
+Lint and format is run as part of the precommit hook defined in [.pre-commit-config.yaml](./.pre-commit-config.yaml).
+
+**Lint**
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/lint.py --fix
+```
+
+**Format**
+
+```bash
+uv run scripts/format.py
+```
+
+## Examples
+
+We use the examples for end-to-end testing. We'd love for you to add Python unit tests for new functionality going forward.
+
+At minimum, for any new feature or provider integration (e.g. additional LLM support), you should add example usage in the [`examples`](./examples/) directory.
+
+## Editor settings
+
+If you use vscode, you might find the following `settings.json` useful. We've added them to the [.vscode](./.vscode) directory along with recommended extensions
+
+```json
+{
+  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
+  "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
+  "[python]": {
+    "editor.defaultFormatter": "charliermarsh.ruff",
+    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
+    "editor.rulers": []
+  },
+  "yaml.schemas": {
+    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lastmile-ai/mcp-agent/main/schema/mcp-agent.config.schema.json": [
+      "mcp-agent.config.yaml",
+      "mcp_agent.config.yaml",
+      "mcp-agent.secrets.yaml",
+      "mcp_agent.secrets.yaml"
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
+## Thank you
+
+If you are considering contributing, or have already done so, **thank you**. This project is meant to streamline AI application development, and we need all the help we can get! Happy building.