docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+# Contributing
+
+Bee Agent Framework is an open-source project committed to bringing LLM agents to
+people of all backgrounds. This page describes how you can join the Bee
+community in this goal.
+
+## Before you start
+
+If you are new to Bee contributing, we recommend you do the following before diving into the code:
+
+- Read [Bee Overview](./docs/overview.md) to understand core concepts.
+- Read [Code of Conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
+
+## Choose an issue to work on
+
+Bee uses the following labels to help non-maintainers find issues best suited to their interests and experience level:
+
+- [good first issue](https://github.com/i-am-bee/bee-agent-framework/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) - these issues are typically the simplest available to work on, ideal for newcomers. They should already be fully scoped, with a straightforward approach outlined in the descriptions.
+- [help wanted](https://github.com/i-am-bee/bee-agent-framework/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22) - these issues are generally more complex than good first issues. They typically cover work that core maintainers don't currently have the capacity to implement and may require more investigation/discussion. These are great options for experienced contributors looking for something more challenging.
+
+## Set up a development environment
+
+To start contributing to the Bee Agent framework, follow these steps to set up your development environment:
+
+1.  **Install Node Version Manager (NVM):** We use `.nvmrc` to specify the required Node.js version. Install [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) by following the official installation instructions.
+
+2.  **Install the Correct Node.js Version:** Use `nvm` to install and use the Node.js version specified in the `.nvmrc` file:
+
+```bash
+nvm install
+nvm use
+```
+
+3. **Install [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/) via Corepack:** This project uses Yarn as the package manager. Ensure you have Corepack enabled and install Yarn:
+
+```bash
+corepack enable
+```
+
+4.  **Install Dependencies:** Install all project dependencies by running:
+
+```bash
+yarn install
+```
+
+5.  **Setup environmental variables:** To run E2E Tests, you should set the following variables in your `.env` file in the repository’s root.
+
+```bash
+# At least one provider API key must be defined!
+GENAI_API_KEY=""
+OPENAI_API_KEY=""
+WATSONX_API_KEY=""
+
+WATSONX_PROJECT_ID="" # optional
+WATSONX_SPACE_ID="" # optional
+WATSONX_DEPLOYMENT_ID=""  # optional
+```
+
+6.  **Follow Conventional Commit Messages:** We use [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/#summary) to structure our commit messages. This helps maintain a clean and manageable commit history. Please use the following format:
+
+```
+<type>(<scope>): <subject>
+Type: feat, fix, chore, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, etc.
+Scope: The area of the codebase your changes affect (optional).
+Subject: A short description of the changes (required).
+```
+
+_Example:_
+
+```
+feat(watsonx): add llm streaming support
+
+Ref: #15
+```
+
+7.  **Run Linters/Formatters:** Ensure your changes meet code quality standards. Run the following commands:
+
+```shell
+yarn lint # or yarn lint:fix
+yarn format # or yarn lint:format
+```
+
+8.  **Run Tests:** Ensure your changes pass all tests (unit, integration, E2E). Run the following commands:
+
+```shell
+yarn test:unit
+yarn test:e2e
+```
+
+By following these steps, you'll be all set to contribute to our project! If you encounter any issues during the setup process, please feel free to open an issue.
+
+## Style and lint
+
+Bee uses the following tools to meet code quality standards and ensure a unified code style across the codebase.
+
+- [ESLint](https://eslint.org/) - Linting Utility
+- [Prettier](https://prettier.io/) - Code Formatter
+- [commitlint](https://commitlint.js.org/) - Lint commit messages according to [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/).
+
+## Issues and pull requests
+
+We use GitHub pull requests to accept contributions.
+
+While not required, opening a new issue about the bug you're fixing or the feature you're working on before you open a pull request is important in starting a discussion with the community about your work. The issue gives us a place to talk about the idea and how we can work together to implement it in the code. It also lets the community know what you're working on, and if you need help, you can reference the issue when discussing it with other community and team members.
+If you've written some code but need help finishing it, want to get initial feedback on it before finishing it, or want to share it and discuss it prior to completing the implementation, you can open a Draft pull request and prepend the title with the [WIP] tag (for Work In Progress). This will indicate to reviewers that the code in the PR isn't in its final state and will change. It also means we will only merge the commit once it is finished. You or a reviewer can remove the [WIP] tag when the code is ready to be thoroughly reviewed for merging.
+
+## Contributor Licensing Agreement
+
+Before you can submit any code, all contributors must sign a
+contributor license agreement (CLA). By signing a CLA, you're attesting
+that you are the author of the contribution, and that you're freely
+contributing it under the terms of the Apache-2.0 license.