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Contributor Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in contributing to chat_bubbles! We welcome all contributions — filing issues, opening pull requests, or helping other community members. Please skim the sections below before contributing.

Issues

Before opening one, search existing issues to avoid duplicates. A useful bug report includes:

  • A clear, descriptive title
  • A detailed description of the issue, including error messages or stack traces
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Expected behavior
  • Screenshots if relevant

Development setup

# Required: Dart 3.6+ / Flutter 3.27+
git clone https://github.com/prahack/chat_bubbles.git
cd chat_bubbles
flutter pub get

To run the example app:

cd example
flutter run                  # default device
flutter run -d chrome        # web (audio playback may fail — known)

Branching

  • master — published / stable. Tagged releases live here.
  • develop — integration branch. All feature PRs target develop.

Running the test suite

flutter test                                              # run all tests
dart analyze --fatal-infos --fatal-warnings lib/ test/    # static analysis
dart format --output=none --set-exit-if-changed lib/ test/  # formatter check

All three must pass before opening a PR — CI enforces them.

Writing tests

This is a widget package, so most tests live under test/ and use the flutter_test framework:

  • Widget tests for anything that renders — every public widget should have at minimum a "renders without crashing" test plus a callback assertion if the widget exposes any.
  • Pure unit tests (package:test) for plain Dart helpers like MessageGroupHelper or Algo.

The test folder mirrors lib/:

test/
├── bubbles/        # BubbleNormal, BubbleSpecialOne, etc.
├── date_chips/     # DateChip
├── message_bars/   # MessageBar, MessageBarStyle
├── reactions/      # BubbleReaction, ReactionPicker
├── swipe/          # SwipeableBubble
├── groups/         # BubbleGroupBuilder, MessageGroupHelper
├── indicators/     # TypingIndicator
├── algo/           # Algo, DateChipText
└── test_utils.dart # pumpInApp(...) helper

Every PR that adds a public widget or changes public behavior must include corresponding tests. A reviewer will ask for them if they're missing. See test/bubbles/bubble_normal_test.dart for a typical pattern.

When writing widget tests, use the pumpInApp helper from test/test_utils.dart to wrap your widget in a MaterialApp + Scaffold.

Pull Requests

Before opening a PR:

  • Code follows the Flutter Style Guide
  • dart format produces no changes
  • dart analyze --fatal-infos lib/ test/ reports zero issues
  • flutter test passes (all existing tests + your new ones)
  • Any new public class/parameter has dartdoc (public_member_api_docs lint enforces this)
  • Any new public widget is re-exported from lib/chat_bubbles.dart
  • CHANGELOG.md has an entry for your change under the next version (the maintainer can also handle this on merge)
  • The PR title is short and descriptive; the body explains the why

PRs that touch the message bar, bubbles, or any consumer-facing widget should include a screenshot or short clip showing the before/after where it makes sense.

Coding Standards

We follow the Flutter Style Guide and the lints in analysis_options.yaml (flutter_lints + public_member_api_docs). Run dart format and dart analyze before pushing.

License

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.

Conclusion

We value your contributions and look forward to working with you. If anything is unclear, open an issue or ask in your PR.