From ab583e2691501b6705341e7c2ecf5b713508383f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Filip Hlavac <50696716+fhlavac@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2024 15:31:45 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Add initial contribution guide to README.md

---
 README.md | 127 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 124 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7cf031e5..e4fba9d4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,11 +1,133 @@
 # PatternFly Virtual Assistant
 
-This repo contains react virtual assistant implementation. 
+This repo contains React Virtual assistant implementation. 
 
 ---
+## Contribution guide
 
-## Building for production
+### To add a new assistant sub-component:
+1. create a folder in `src/` matching its name (for example `src/MyComponent`)
+2. to the new folder add a new `.tsx` file named after the component (for example `src/MyComponent/MyComponent.tsx`)
+3. to the same folder include an `index.ts` which will export the component as a default and then all necessary interfaces
+4. if this file structure is not met, your component won't be exposed correctly
+
+#### Example component:
+```
+import * as React from 'react';
+import { Text } from '@patternfly/react-core';
+import { createUseStyles } from 'react-jss';
+
+// do not forget to export your component's interface
+// always place the component's interface above the component itself in the code
+export interface MyComponentProps {
+  text: String;
+}
+
+const useStyles = createUseStyles({
+  myText: {
+    fontFamily: 'monospace',
+    fontSize: 'var(--pf-v5-global--icon--FontSize--md)',
+  },
+})
+
+// do not use the named export of your component, just a default one
+const MyComponent: React.FunctionComponent<MyComponentProps> = () => {
+  const classes = useStyles();
+
+  return (
+    <Text className={classes.myText}>
+      This is my new component
+    </Text>
+  );
+};
+
+export default MyComponent;
+``` 
+
+#### Index file example:
+```
+export { default } from './MyComponent';
+export * from './MyComponent';
+``` 
+
+#### Component directory structure example:
+```
+src
+|- MyComponent
+   |- index.ts
+   |- MyComponent.tsx
+``` 
+
+### Component's API rules:
+- prop names comply with PatternFly components naming standards (`variant`, `onClick`, `position`, etc.)
+- the API is maximally simplified and all props are provided with a description
+- it is built on top of existing PatternFly types without prop omitting
+- it is well documented using the PatternFly documentation (`/packages/module/patternfly-docs/content/extensions/virtual-assistant/examples/MyComponent/MyComponent.md`) with examples of all possible use cases (`packages/module/patternfly-docs/content/extensions/virtual-assistant/examples/MyComponent/MyComponent[...]Example.tsx`)
+
+#### Component API definition example:
+```
+// when possible, extend available PatternFly types
+export interface MyComponentProps extends ButtonProps {
+    customLabel: Boolean
+};
+
+export const MyComponent: React.FunctionComponent<MyComponentProps> = ({ customLabel, ...props }) => ( ... );
+```
+
+#### Markdown file example:
+```
+---
+section: extensions
+subsection: Virtual assistant
+id: MyComponent
+propComponents: ['MyComponent']
+---
+
+import MyComponent from "@patternfly/virtual-assistant/dist/dynamic/MyComponent";
 
+## Component usage
+
+MyComponent has been created to demo contributing to this repository.
+
+### MyComponent component example label
+
+```js file="./MyComponentExample.tsx"```
+
+```
+
+#### Component usage file example: (`MyComponentExample.tsx`)
+```
+import React from 'react';
+
+const MyComponentExample: React.FunctionComponent = () => (
+  <MyComponent customLabel="My label">
+);
+
+export default BatteryLowExample;
+```
+
+### Sub-components:
+When adding a component for which it is advantageous to divide it into several sub-components make sure: 
+- component and all its sub-components are located in separate files and directories straight under the `src/` folder
+- sub-components are exported and documented separately from their parent
+- parent component should provide a way to pass props to all its sub-components
+
+The aim is to enable the user of our "complex" component to use either complete or take advantage of its sub-components and manage their composition independently.
+
+### Testing:
+When adding/making changes to a component, always make sure your code is tested:
+- use React Testing Library for testing 
+- add tests to a `[ComponentName].test.tsx` file to your component's directory
+- make sure all the core logic is covered
+
+### Styling:
+- for styling always use JSS
+- new classNames should be named in camelCase starting with the name of a given component and following with more details clarifying its purpose/component's subsection to which the class is applied (`actionMenu`, `actionMenuDropdown`, `actionMenuDropdownToggle`, etc.)
+- do not use `pf-v5-u-XXX` classes, use CSS variables in a custom class instead (styles for the utility classes are not bundled with the standard patternfly.css - it would require the consumer to import also addons.css)
+
+---
+
+## Building for production
 - run npm install
 - run npm run build
 
@@ -18,7 +140,6 @@ This repo contains react virtual assistant implementation.
 - run npm run lint to run the linter
 
 ## A11y testing
-
 - run npm run build:docs followed by npm run serve:docs, then run npm run test:a11y in a new terminal window to run our accessibility tests. Once the accessibility tests have finished running you can run 
 - npm run serve:a11y to locally view the generated report