# Contributing to our federation

First of all: thank you very much for helping us out! Since the federation layer is a very crucial part of diaspora\*, contributing has some rules, depending on what you want to contribute.

## Things you need to know before contributing

If you want to get in touch with other diaspora\* developers, [check our wiki][how-we-communicate] for information on how we communicate. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

As with the main diaspora\* repository, everyone interacting with our code, issue trackers, chat rooms, mailing lists, the wiki, and the discourse forum is expected to follow the [diaspora\* code of conduct][code-of-conduct].

## Report a security issue

Found a security issue in some parts of the protocol or its implementation? Please disclose it responsibly. We have a team of developers listening to [security@diasporafoundation.org][sec-mail]. The PGP fingerprint is [AB0D AB02 0FC5 D398 03AB 3CE1 6F70 243F 27AD 886A][pgp].

## Improve the documentation

Feel free to open a pull request right away if you would like to improve the inlined code documentation or the dedicated federation protocol documentation.

## Changing implementations or altering fields

If you want to change implementations of existing functions or you would like to suggest a change in the federation protocol, please open an issue *before doing anything else*. Try to describe your idea and why you think the implementation or the protocol should change as close as possible. Most changes will have to get discussed in a larger group before implementing them, so it's important to start those discussions before writing any code.

[code-of-conduct]: https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/blob/develop/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
[how-we-communicate]: https://wiki.diasporafoundation.org/How_we_communicate
[pgp]: https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x6F70243F27AD886A
[sec-mail]: mailto:security@diasporafoundation.org