Merge pull request #9 from botanu-ai/developer-deborah

docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md for LF compliance

Author: deborahjacob-botanu

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+# Contributing to Botanu SDK
+
+Thank you for your interest in contributing to Botanu SDK! This document provides guidelines and instructions for contributing.
+
+## Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO)
+
+This project requires all commits to be signed off in accordance with the [Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO)](https://developercertificate.org/). This certifies that you have the right to submit your contribution under the project's open source license.
+
+To sign off your commits, add the `-s` flag to your git commit command:
+
+```bash
+git commit -s -m "Your commit message"
+```
+
+This will add a `Signed-off-by` line to your commit message:
+
+```
+Signed-off-by: Your Name <your.email@example.com>
+```
+
+If you've already made commits without signing off, you can amend them:
+
+```bash
+# Amend the last commit
+git commit --amend -s
+
+# Rebase and sign off multiple commits
+git rebase --signoff HEAD~N  # where N is the number of commits
+```
+
+## Development Setup
+
+1. Clone the repository:
+   ```bash
+   git clone https://github.com/botanu-ai/botanu-sdk-python.git
+   cd botanu-sdk-python
+   ```
+
+2. Create a virtual environment and install dependencies:
+   ```bash
+   python -m venv .venv
+   source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
+   pip install -e ".[dev]"
+   ```
+
+3. Run tests:
+   ```bash
+   pytest tests/
+   ```
+
+4. Run linting and type checks:
+   ```bash
+   ruff check src/ tests/
+   ruff format src/ tests/
+   mypy src/botanu/
+   ```
+
+## Pull Request Process
+
+1. Fork the repository and create a feature branch
+2. Make your changes with appropriate tests
+3. Ensure all tests pass and linting is clean
+4. Sign off all commits with DCO
+5. Submit a pull request with a clear description
+
+## Code Style
+
+- Follow [PEP 8](https://pep8.org/) style guidelines
+- Use type hints for all function signatures
+- Write docstrings for public APIs
+- Keep commits focused and atomic
+
+## Reporting Issues
+
+Please use GitHub Issues to report bugs or request features. Include:
+- A clear description of the issue
+- Steps to reproduce (for bugs)
+- Expected vs actual behavior
+- Python version and OS
+
+## Code of Conduct
+
+This project follows the [LF Projects Code of Conduct](https://lfprojects.org/policies/code-of-conduct/).
+
+## License
+
+By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the Apache License 2.0.