How to Contribute

Tools required

Python 3.8.x to 3.12.x (3.10.x is highly recommended and 3.13 or greater is proscribed).
Pycharm or Visual Studio code IDE are recommended but if you're happy with VIM, enjoy it!
Git.
UI testing must be done using Chrome latest version.

Development Setup

Option 1: Full local environment (Docker)

The recommended path for backend or full-stack changes. Runs both the Python backend and the Vite frontend in Docker containers with live reloading — no local Node.js or Python required on your host.

See dev-setup/README.md for setup instructions.

Option 2: Local frontend against a running Bazarr instance

Useful when you're making frontend-only changes and already have Bazarr running elsewhere (a home server, NAS, etc.). Runs the Vite dev server locally and proxies API calls to your existing instance.

Prerequisites: Node.js 20.x

Create frontend/.env.local (this file is gitignored):

VITE_PROXY_URL=http://<your-bazarr-host>:<port>
VITE_PROXY_SECURE=false
VITE_ALLOW_WEBSOCKET=true
VITE_API_KEY=<your API key from Settings > General > Security>

Start the dev server:
```
cd frontend
npm install
npm start
```
The Vite server opens at http://localhost:5173 by default. All /api/* requests are proxied to VITE_PROXY_URL.

Note: VITE_API_KEY is required. Without it, the frontend attempts to read a local config.yaml that doesn't exist in a dev checkout and will fail to load.

Warning

As we're using Git in the development process, you better disable automatic update of Bazarr in UI or you may get your changes overwritten. Alternatively, you can completely disable the update module by running Bazarr with --no-update command line argument.

Branching

Basic rules

master contains only stable releases (which have been merged to master) and is intended for end-users.
development is the target for testing (around 10% of users) and is not intended for end-users looking for stability.
feature is a temporary feature branch based on development.

Conditions

master is not merged back to development.
development is not re-based on master.
all feature branches are branched from development only.
Bugfixes created specifically for a feature branch are done there (because they are specific, they're not cherry-picked to development).
We will not release a patch (1.0.x) if a newer minor (1.x.0) has already been released. We only go forward.

Typical contribution workflow

Community devs

Fork the repository or pull the latest changes if you already have forked it.
Checkout development branch.
Make the desired changes.
Submit a PR to Bazarr development branch.
Once reviewed, your PR will be merged using Squash and Merge with a meaningful commit message matching our standards.

Official devs team

All commits must have a meaningful commit message (ex.: Fixed issue with this, Improved process abc, Added input field to UI, etc.).
Fixes can be made directly to development branch but keep in mind that a pre-release with a beta versioning will be created every day a new push is made.
Features must be developed in dedicated feature branch and merged back to development branch using PR.
Once reviewed, your PR will be merged by morpheus65535 using Squash and Merge with a meaningful message.

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