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OpenVeda Playbook: Appsmith

Your definitive guide to contributing to one of India's fastest-growing and most developer-loved open-source projects.

The Mission: Appsmith is an open-source framework that allows developers to build internal tools, admin panels, and dashboards with incredible speed. It's a "low-code" platform designed for developers, giving them the power to build complex applications visually and with code.
Your Impact: You'll be contributing to a product that is used by thousands of companies and developers at major brands worldwide to save countless hours of development time.
Why it's a Career Supercharger: As a major Indian startup success story, having "Appsmith Contributor" on your resume is a huge signal to Indian tech companies. You will get direct, hands-on experience with a modern, production-grade Java (Spring Boot) and React (TypeScript) codebase. Their community is famously active, supportive, and an incredible learning environment.

Core Backend: Java 17 using the Spring Boot framework (specifically, Reactive WebFlux).
Core Frontend: TypeScript using the React library. They make heavy use of Redux Saga for state management.
Database: MongoDB.
Infrastructure & Tools:
- Version Control: GitHub.
- CI/CD: GitHub Actions.
- Community Hub: Discord.

Appsmith's community is their heart. Join Discord before you do anything else.

Primary Channel (Discord): Join the Appsmith Discord Server.
Your First Action: Once you join, find the #contributor channel. This is your home. Post an introduction.

Template: "Hey everyone! My name is Ayush, a CSE student from Pune. I'm a huge fan of what you're building at Appsmith and I'm excited to start contributing for Hacktoberfest. My background is in React and TypeScript. I'm going through the setup guide now and looking for a good first issue. Glad to be here!"

Appsmith's documentation is excellent. Follow it precisely.

Prerequisites: You need Git, Java 17, Node.js (use nvm to get the correct version specified in their docs), Yarn, and Docker.
Fork & Clone: Fork the appsmith repo on GitHub and clone your fork.
Navigate: cd appsmith
Start Backend Services: Appsmith uses Docker Compose to easily start MongoDB and other services. Run:
```
docker-compose -f "deploy/docker/local-setup.yml" up -d
```
Run the Backend Server: In a new terminal, from the root appsmith folder, run:
```
./scripts/start-server.sh
```
Run the Frontend Client: In a third terminal, from the root appsmith folder, run:
```
cd app/client && yarn && yarn start
```
Access: Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000. You should see the Appsmith login page!

Official Guide (for reference): Appsmith Contribution Guide
Troubleshooting: The #1 issue is a Java/Node.js version mismatch. Use SDKMAN for Java and nvm for Node to manage versions easily. If the server fails to start, check the logs in the terminal; they are usually very descriptive.

Appsmith follows a standard, professional GitHub PR process.

Find & Claim an Issue: Find an issue tagged "Good First Issue" and comment to get it assigned. The maintainers are very responsive.
Create a Branch: git checkout -b feat/your-feature-name
Code, Test, and Lint: Make your changes. Run the local tests (yarn test in the client) and make sure your code passes the linter checks.
Commit & Push: Commit with a clear message and push to your fork.
Open a Pull Request: When you open a PR, a template will appear. Fill it out carefully. Explain what you did and include screenshots or GIFs of your UI changes. This is highly valued.
Sign the CLA: Appsmith requires a Contributor License Agreement. A bot will automatically comment on your first PR with a link to sign it. It's a simple, one-click process.
Engage in Review: The team will review your PR, often within a day or two. Be ready to engage in discussion and make updates.

Historical Focus: Appsmith is a frequent GSoC mentoring organization. Their projects often focus on adding new UI widgets, improving the developer experience, creating new integrations with other services (like databases and APIs), and improving application performance.
What Mentors Look For: High-quality PRs. Appsmith values clean code, good tests, and clear communication. A single, well-crafted small PR is worth more than ten sloppy ones. They also look for active and helpful members on their Discord.

The Main Monorepo: github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith - Almost everything happens here.

The Golden Link: Their "Good First Issue" label is the perfect place to start.
- Link: Issues tagged "Good First Issue"
Hacktoberfest: They actively participate in Hacktoberfest and usually have a dedicated hacktoberfest label on issues.

Be Hyperactive on Discord: This is the #1 way to get help and get noticed. The core engineering team is in the #contributor channel every day.
GIFs are Golden: A short screen recording (GIF) of your new feature working in your PR description is the fastest way to get your PR reviewed and approved.
Understand the Product: Before you start coding, use the Appsmith cloud version to build a small app. Understanding how a real user interacts with the product will make your contributions much more valuable.

Appsmith