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Contribute to Nylas

👍🎉 First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! 🎉👍

The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to the Nylas Python SDK; these are guidelines, not rules, so please use your best judgement and feel free to propose changes to this document via pull request.

Development Setup

To get started contributing to this repository, you'll need to set up a local development environment. Follow these steps:

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8 or higher (the project supports Python 3.8+)
  • Git
  • A GitHub account

Setup Steps

1. Fork and Clone the Repository

# Fork the repository on GitHub, then clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/nylas-python.git
cd nylas-python

# Add the upstream repository as a remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/nylas/nylas-python.git

2. Set Up Python Virtual Environment

We recommend using a virtual environment to isolate your development dependencies:

# Create a virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv

# Activate the virtual environment
# On macOS/Linux:
source .venv/bin/activate

# On Windows:
# .venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install Development Dependencies

Install the package in editable mode with all optional dependencies:

# Install the package in development mode with all optional dependencies
pip install -e ".[test,docs,release]"

# Or install specific dependency groups as needed:
# pip install -e ".[test]"     # For running tests
# pip install -e ".[docs]"     # For building documentation
# pip install -e ".[release]"  # For release management

4. Install Code Quality Tools

Install the linting and formatting tools used by the project:

pip install pylint black

5. Verify Your Setup

Run the tests to make sure everything is working correctly:

# Run the test suite
python setup.py test

# Or run tests with pytest directly
pytest

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=nylas tests/

Check code formatting and linting:

# Check code formatting (this will modify files)
black .

# Run linting
pylint nylas

Development Workflow

  1. Create a branch for your feature or bug fix: bash git checkout -b your-feature-branch

  2. Make your changes and write tests for any new functionality

  3. Run tests and linting: bash python setup.py test black . pylint nylas

  4. Commit your changes following conventional commit practices

  5. Push to your fork and create a pull request

Project Structure

  • nylas/ - Main SDK source code
  • tests/ - Test files
  • examples/ - Example usage scripts
  • scripts/ - Build and development scripts
  • pyproject.toml - Project configuration and dependencies
  • setup.py - Legacy setup file (still used for some operations)

Running Tests

The project uses pytest for testing:

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run tests with coverage
pytest --cov=nylas tests/

# Run specific test files
pytest tests/test_specific_module.py

# Run tests matching a pattern
pytest -k "test_pattern"

Documentation

To build the documentation locally:

# Make sure you have docs dependencies installed
pip install -e ".[docs]"

# Generate documentation (if there are scripts for this)
python scripts/generate-docs.py

How to Ask a Question

If you have a question about how to use the Python SDK, please create an issue and label it as a question. If you have more general questions about the Nylas Communications Platform, or the Nylas Email, Calendar, and Contacts API, please reach out to support@nylas.com to get help.

How To Contribute

Report a Bug or Request a Feature

If you encounter any bugs while using this software, or want to request a new feature or enhancement, please create an issue to report it, and make sure you add a label to indicate what type of issue it is.

Contribute Code

Pull requests are welcome for bug fixes. If you want to implement something new, please request a feature first so we can discuss it.

While writing your code contribution, make sure you follow the testing conventions found in the tests directory for any components that you add. We use codecov to test coverage, please ensure that your contributions don’t cause a decrease to test coverage.

Creating a Pull Request

Please follow best practices for creating git commits. When your code is ready to be submitted, you can submit a pull request to begin the code review process.

All PRs from contributors that aren't employed by Nylas must contain the following text in the PR description: "I confirm that this contribution is made under the terms of the MIT license and that I have the authority necessary to make this contribution on behalf of its copyright owner."