src/getting-started.md - rust-lang/rustc-dev-guide - Git at Google

 # Getting Started

 Thank you for your interest in contributing to Rust! There are many ways to
 contribute, and we appreciate all of them.

 If this is your first time contributing, the [walkthrough] chapter can give you a good example of
 how a typical contribution would go.

 This documentation is _not_ intended to be comprehensive; it is meant to be a
 quick guide for the most useful things. For more information, [see this
 chapter on how to build and run the compiler](./building/how-to-build-and-run.md).

 [internals]: https://internals.rust-lang.org
 [rust-zulip]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com
 [coc]: https://www.rust-lang.org/policies/code-of-conduct
 [walkthrough]: ./walkthrough.md
 [Getting Started]: ./getting-started.md

 ## Asking Questions

 If you have questions, please make a post on the [Rust Zulip server][rust-zulip] or
 [internals.rust-lang.org][internals].
 See the [list of teams and working groups][governance] and [the Community page][community] on the
 official website for more resources.

 [governance]: https://www.rust-lang.org/governance
 [community]: https://www.rust-lang.org/community

 As a reminder, all contributors are expected to follow our [Code of Conduct][coc].

 The compiler team (or `t-compiler`) usually hangs out in Zulip in
 [the #t-compiler channel][z-t-compiler];
 questions about how the compiler works can go in [#t-compiler/help][z-help].

 [z-t-compiler]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/131828-t-compiler
 [z-help]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/182449-t-compiler.2Fhelp

 **Please ask questions!** A lot of people report feeling that they are "wasting
 expert's time", but nobody on `t-compiler` feels this way. Contributors are
 important to us.

 Also, if you feel comfortable, prefer public topics, as this means others can
 see the questions and answers, and perhaps even integrate them back into this
 guide :)

 **Tip**: If you're not a native English speaker and feel unsure about writing, try using a translator to help. But avoid using LLM tools that generate long, complex words. In daily teamwork, **simple and clear words** are best for easy understanding. Even small typos or grammar mistakes can make you seem more human, and people connect better with humans.

 ### Experts

 Not all `t-compiler` members are experts on all parts of `rustc`; it's a
 pretty large project. To find out who could have some expertise on
 different parts of the compiler, [consult triagebot assign groups][map].
 The sections that start with `[assign*` in `triagebot.toml` file.
 But also, feel free to ask questions even if you can't figure out who to ping.

 Another way to find experts for a given part of the compiler is to see who has made recent commits.
 For example, to find people who have recently worked on name resolution since the 1.68.2 release,
 you could run `git shortlog -n 1.68.2.. compiler/rustc_resolve/`. Ignore any commits starting with
 "Rollup merge" or commits by `@bors` (see [CI contribution procedures](./contributing.md#ci) for
 more information about these commits).

 [map]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/master/triagebot.toml

 ### Etiquette

 We do ask that you be mindful to include as much useful information as you can
 in your question, but we recognize this can be hard if you are unfamiliar with
 contributing to Rust.

 Just pinging someone without providing any context can be a bit annoying and
 just create noise, so we ask that you be mindful of the fact that the
 `t-compiler` folks get a lot of pings in a day.

 ## What should I work on?

 The Rust project is quite large and it can be difficult to know which parts of the project need
 help, or are a good starting place for beginners. Here are some suggested starting places.

 ### Easy or mentored issues

 If you're looking for somewhere to start, check out the following [issue
 search][help-wanted-search]. See the [Triage] for an explanation of these labels. You can also try
 filtering the search to areas you're interested in. For example:

 - `repo:rust-lang/rust-clippy` will only show clippy issues
 - `label:T-compiler` will only show issues related to the compiler
 - `label:A-diagnostics` will only show diagnostic issues

 Not all important or beginner work has issue labels.
 See below for how to find work that isn't labelled.

 [help-wanted-search]: https://github.com/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+org%3Arust-lang+no%3Aassignee+label%3AE-easy%2C%22good+first+issue%22%2Cgood-first-issue%2CE-medium%2CEasy%2CE-help-wanted%2CE-mentor+-label%3AS-blocked+-linked%3Apr+
 [Triage]: ./contributing.md#issue-triage

 ### Recurring work

 Some work is too large to be done by a single person. In this case, it's common to have "Tracking
 issues" to co-ordinate the work between contributors. Here are some example tracking issues where
 it's easy to pick up work without a large time commitment:

 - [Move UI tests to subdirectories](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/73494)

 If you find more recurring work, please feel free to add it here!

 ### Clippy issues

 The [Clippy] project has spent a long time making its contribution process as friendly to newcomers
 as possible. Consider working on it first to get familiar with the process and the compiler
 internals.

 See [the Clippy contribution guide][clippy-contributing] for instructions on getting started.

 [Clippy]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/clippy/
 [clippy-contributing]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-clippy/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

 ### Diagnostic issues

 Many diagnostic issues are self-contained and don't need detailed background knowledge of the
 compiler. You can see a list of diagnostic issues [here][diagnostic-issues].

 [diagnostic-issues]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3AA-diagnostics+no%3Aassignee

 ### Picking up abandoned pull requests

 Sometimes, contributors send a pull request, but later find out that they don't have enough
 time to work on it, or they simply are not interested in it anymore. Such PRs are often
 eventually closed and they receive the `S-inactive` label. You could try to examine some of
 these PRs and pick up the work. You can find the list of such PRs [here][abandoned-prs].

 If the PR has been implemented in some other way in the meantime, the `S-inactive` label
 should be removed from it. If not, and it seems that there is still interest in the change,
 you can try to rebase the pull request on top of the latest `master` branch and send a new
 pull request, continuing the work on the feature.

 [abandoned-prs]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pulls?q=is%3Apr+label%3AS-inactive+is%3Aclosed

 ### Writing tests

 Issues that have been resolved but do not have a regression test are marked with the `E-needs-test` label. Writing unit tests is a low-risk, lower-priority task that offers new contributors a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with the testing infrastructure and contribution workflow.

 ### Contributing to std (standard library)

 See [std-dev-guide](https://std-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/).

 ### Contributing code to other Rust projects

 There are a bunch of other projects that you can contribute to outside of the
 `rust-lang/rust` repo, including `cargo`, `miri`, `rustup`, and many others.

 These repos might have their own contributing guidelines and procedures. Many
 of them are owned by working groups. For more info, see the documentation in those repos' READMEs.

 ### Other ways to contribute

 There are a bunch of other ways you can contribute, especially if you don't
 feel comfortable jumping straight into the large `rust-lang/rust` codebase.

 The following tasks are doable without much background knowledge but are
 incredibly helpful:

 - [Writing documentation][wd]: if you are feeling a bit more intrepid, you could try
   to read a part of the code and write doc comments for it. This will help you
   to learn some part of the compiler while also producing a useful artifact!
 - [Triaging issues][triage]: categorizing, replicating, and minimizing issues is very helpful to the Rust maintainers.
 - [Working groups][wg]: there are a bunch of working groups on a wide variety
   of rust-related things.
 - Answer questions on [users.rust-lang.org][users], or on [Stack Overflow][so].
 - Participate in the [RFC process](https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs).
 - Find a [requested community library][community-library], build it, and publish
   it to [Crates.io](http://crates.io). Easier said than done, but very, very
   valuable!

 [users]: https://users.rust-lang.org/
 [so]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/rust
 [community-library]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/labels/A-community-library
 [wd]: ./contributing.md#writing-documentation
 [wg]: https://rust-lang.github.io/compiler-team/working-groups/
 [triage]: ./contributing.md#issue-triage

 ## Cloning and Building

 See ["How to build and run the compiler"](./building/how-to-build-and-run.md).

 ## Contributor Procedures

 This section has moved to the ["Contribution Procedures"](./contributing.md) chapter.

 ## Other Resources

 This section has moved to the ["About this guide"][more-links] chapter.

 [more-links]: ./about-this-guide.md#other-places-to-find-information
	# Getting Started

	Thank you for your interest in contributing to Rust! There are many ways to
	contribute, and we appreciate all of them.

	If this is your first time contributing, the [walkthrough] chapter can give you a good example of
	how a typical contribution would go.

	This documentation is _not_ intended to be comprehensive; it is meant to be a
	quick guide for the most useful things. For more information, [see this
	chapter on how to build and run the compiler](./building/how-to-build-and-run.md).

	[internals]: https://internals.rust-lang.org
	[rust-zulip]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com
	[coc]: https://www.rust-lang.org/policies/code-of-conduct
	[walkthrough]: ./walkthrough.md
	[Getting Started]: ./getting-started.md

	## Asking Questions

	If you have questions, please make a post on the [Rust Zulip server][rust-zulip] or
	[internals.rust-lang.org][internals].
	See the [list of teams and working groups][governance] and [the Community page][community] on the
	official website for more resources.

	[governance]: https://www.rust-lang.org/governance
	[community]: https://www.rust-lang.org/community

	As a reminder, all contributors are expected to follow our [Code of Conduct][coc].

	The compiler team (or `t-compiler`) usually hangs out in Zulip in
	[the #t-compiler channel][z-t-compiler];
	questions about how the compiler works can go in [#t-compiler/help][z-help].

	[z-t-compiler]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/131828-t-compiler
	[z-help]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/182449-t-compiler.2Fhelp

	Please ask questions! A lot of people report feeling that they are "wasting
	expert's time", but nobody on `t-compiler` feels this way. Contributors are
	important to us.

	Also, if you feel comfortable, prefer public topics, as this means others can
	see the questions and answers, and perhaps even integrate them back into this
	guide :)

	Tip: If you're not a native English speaker and feel unsure about writing, try using a translator to help. But avoid using LLM tools that generate long, complex words. In daily teamwork, simple and clear words are best for easy understanding. Even small typos or grammar mistakes can make you seem more human, and people connect better with humans.

	### Experts

	Not all `t-compiler` members are experts on all parts of `rustc`; it's a
	pretty large project. To find out who could have some expertise on
	different parts of the compiler, [consult triagebot assign groups][map].
	The sections that start with `[assign*` in `triagebot.toml` file.
	But also, feel free to ask questions even if you can't figure out who to ping.

	Another way to find experts for a given part of the compiler is to see who has made recent commits.
	For example, to find people who have recently worked on name resolution since the 1.68.2 release,
	you could run `git shortlog -n 1.68.2.. compiler/rustc_resolve/`. Ignore any commits starting with
	"Rollup merge" or commits by `@bors` (see [CI contribution procedures](./contributing.md#ci) for
	more information about these commits).

	[map]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/master/triagebot.toml

	### Etiquette

	We do ask that you be mindful to include as much useful information as you can
	in your question, but we recognize this can be hard if you are unfamiliar with
	contributing to Rust.

	Just pinging someone without providing any context can be a bit annoying and
	just create noise, so we ask that you be mindful of the fact that the
	`t-compiler` folks get a lot of pings in a day.

	## What should I work on?

	The Rust project is quite large and it can be difficult to know which parts of the project need
	help, or are a good starting place for beginners. Here are some suggested starting places.

	### Easy or mentored issues

	If you're looking for somewhere to start, check out the following [issue
	search][help-wanted-search]. See the [Triage] for an explanation of these labels. You can also try
	filtering the search to areas you're interested in. For example:

	- `repo:rust-lang/rust-clippy` will only show clippy issues
	- `label:T-compiler` will only show issues related to the compiler
	- `label:A-diagnostics` will only show diagnostic issues

	Not all important or beginner work has issue labels.
	See below for how to find work that isn't labelled.

	[help-wanted-search]: https://github.com/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+org%3Arust-lang+no%3Aassignee+label%3AE-easy%2C%22good+first+issue%22%2Cgood-first-issue%2CE-medium%2CEasy%2CE-help-wanted%2CE-mentor+-label%3AS-blocked+-linked%3Apr+
	[Triage]: ./contributing.md#issue-triage

	### Recurring work

	Some work is too large to be done by a single person. In this case, it's common to have "Tracking
	issues" to co-ordinate the work between contributors. Here are some example tracking issues where
	it's easy to pick up work without a large time commitment:

	- [Move UI tests to subdirectories](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/73494)

	If you find more recurring work, please feel free to add it here!

	### Clippy issues

	The [Clippy] project has spent a long time making its contribution process as friendly to newcomers
	as possible. Consider working on it first to get familiar with the process and the compiler
	internals.

	See [the Clippy contribution guide][clippy-contributing] for instructions on getting started.

	[Clippy]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/clippy/
	[clippy-contributing]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-clippy/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

	### Diagnostic issues

	Many diagnostic issues are self-contained and don't need detailed background knowledge of the
	compiler. You can see a list of diagnostic issues [here][diagnostic-issues].

	[diagnostic-issues]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3AA-diagnostics+no%3Aassignee

	### Picking up abandoned pull requests

	Sometimes, contributors send a pull request, but later find out that they don't have enough
	time to work on it, or they simply are not interested in it anymore. Such PRs are often
	eventually closed and they receive the `S-inactive` label. You could try to examine some of
	these PRs and pick up the work. You can find the list of such PRs [here][abandoned-prs].

	If the PR has been implemented in some other way in the meantime, the `S-inactive` label
	should be removed from it. If not, and it seems that there is still interest in the change,
	you can try to rebase the pull request on top of the latest `master` branch and send a new
	pull request, continuing the work on the feature.

	[abandoned-prs]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pulls?q=is%3Apr+label%3AS-inactive+is%3Aclosed

	### Writing tests

	Issues that have been resolved but do not have a regression test are marked with the `E-needs-test` label. Writing unit tests is a low-risk, lower-priority task that offers new contributors a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with the testing infrastructure and contribution workflow.

	### Contributing to std (standard library)

	See [std-dev-guide](https://std-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/).

	### Contributing code to other Rust projects

	There are a bunch of other projects that you can contribute to outside of the
	`rust-lang/rust` repo, including `cargo`, `miri`, `rustup`, and many others.

	These repos might have their own contributing guidelines and procedures. Many
	of them are owned by working groups. For more info, see the documentation in those repos' READMEs.

	### Other ways to contribute

	There are a bunch of other ways you can contribute, especially if you don't
	feel comfortable jumping straight into the large `rust-lang/rust` codebase.

	The following tasks are doable without much background knowledge but are
	incredibly helpful:

	- [Writing documentation][wd]: if you are feeling a bit more intrepid, you could try
	to read a part of the code and write doc comments for it. This will help you
	to learn some part of the compiler while also producing a useful artifact!
	- [Triaging issues][triage]: categorizing, replicating, and minimizing issues is very helpful to the Rust maintainers.
	- [Working groups][wg]: there are a bunch of working groups on a wide variety
	of rust-related things.
	- Answer questions on [users.rust-lang.org][users], or on [Stack Overflow][so].
	- Participate in the [RFC process](https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs).
	- Find a [requested community library][community-library], build it, and publish
	it to [Crates.io](http://crates.io). Easier said than done, but very, very
	valuable!

	[users]: https://users.rust-lang.org/
	[so]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/rust
	[community-library]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/labels/A-community-library
	[wd]: ./contributing.md#writing-documentation
	[wg]: https://rust-lang.github.io/compiler-team/working-groups/
	[triage]: ./contributing.md#issue-triage

	## Cloning and Building

	See ["How to build and run the compiler"](./building/how-to-build-and-run.md).

	## Contributor Procedures

	This section has moved to the ["Contribution Procedures"](./contributing.md) chapter.

	## Other Resources

	This section has moved to the ["About this guide"][more-links] chapter.

	[more-links]: ./about-this-guide.md#other-places-to-find-information