Contributing to the Lake

The Lake is built in the open, by whoever shows up. You don't need permission. Open the PR.

The fast path

git clone https://github.com/thelakeprotocol/lake && cd lake
corepack enable && pnpm install
pnpm test

1. Pick something: an issue labelled good first issue, a milestone in the status table, or your own idea.
2. Ideas, questions, half-baked plans: post them in Discussions. No idea is too early.
3. If it's big, open an issue first and say what you're building, so two people don't build the same thing.
4. Open a PR. Small and working beats big and perfect.

What we merge

• It runs. Tests for logic, a command that shows it working for everything else.
• It follows the spec. If you change behaviour the spec defines, change SPEC.md in the same PR and say why.
• Real standards. A2A, MCP, Solid, ODRL, Verifiable Credentials. No homemade look-alikes. If a spec is unclear, follow it and write the choice down.
• No real data. Synthetic only, everywhere, fixtures included.

What we don't merge

• Anything that lets an agent mint, widen or extend a key.
• Anything that lets free text from another agent change a decision.
• Anything that moves records out of a pod. The Records moved counter is sacred.
• A central server that the Lake depends on.

Good things to build

You like…	Build…
Data plumbing	A converter into the canonical model: bank CSV, Apple Health, Strava, smart meters
Agents	A visitor agent with a real question, or a guild that negotiates for its members
Security	Attacks. Forged cards, replays, prompt injection, over-asking. Then the defence.
Design	The map, the approvals app, the landing page
Writing	Docs that get a stranger from zero to a running house in 10 minutes
Policy	Personas: opinionated rules.yaml files for carers, renters, gig workers

Conventions

• TypeScript, ESM, Node 20+. pnpm workspaces. One package per component under packages/.
• Match the code around you. Few comments; write the why, not the what.
• Commits: present tense, say what changed (house: refuse grants wider than the agreement).
• Package names: @thelakeprotocol/<name>.

Sign-off

By contributing you agree your work is licensed under Apache-2.0.

Code of conduct

Be blunt about ideas, kind to people. See CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.