Contribute to Ockam

[mrinalwadhwa]

We would love to help you make your first contribution to Ockam ... this could be anything from a small fix to a typo in our documentation or a full feature. Tell us what you enjoy working on and we would love to help!

If you would like to contribute, but don't know where to start, checkout the issues that are tagged "help wanted" and our contribution guide.

You can contribute to our documentation or code in Rust, Elixir, C, Docker, Gradle etc.

If you want someone to pair with you on your first contribution. Please leave a short note on this thread and we would love to pair with you to make your first contribution.

If you have any other questions about contributing, please ask them here as well.

Happy coding 🤓

[abulsayyad123]

Hello, I am new to Elixir and I am interested in doing some contribution by pairing with someone.

[mrinalwadhwa]

@abulsayyad123 welcome to the Ockam community and thank you for offering to contribute!!

Have a look at this issue #1090
I think it would be a great one for us to work on together!

As a first step have a look at the vault code here and here
Once you're familiar, try to build ockam_vault_software. And look at how it is built by digging into its mix.exs

After you've dug in a little bit we can discuss how things could be improved.

Building ockam_vault_software requires Elixir, Rust and C tools ... so if you need a readymade dev environment .. you can do this to start a docker builder

ocker run --rm -it -e LOCAL_USER_ID=$(id -u) --volume $(pwd):/work ghcr.io/ockam-network/ockam/builder:latest bash

Note that this will download a big 2+ GB docker image.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

[abulsayyad123]

Thanks, @mrinalwadhwa for the details. Sure, I'll understand the mentioned code and will try to build a docker file.

[adrianbenavides]

Hi! I'm a rust developer with some experience in distributed systems and a lot of interest in learning about applied cryptography and embedded devices.

I've seen a couple of issues that I think would be good candidates to start with, but I wanted to ask you first. Any particular recommendation?

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi Adiran, welcome and thank you for contributing 🙏

I can think of a few potential areas that you could contribute to:

1. An embedded friendly Ockam Node Ockam Node for Embedded no_std enironments #1128
2. A WebSocket Ockam Transport Rust - WebSocket Transport #1130
3. A Bluetooth Ockam Transport Rust - Bluetooth Transport #1131

What do you think? Do any of those sound interesting?

[adrianbenavides]

They all look pretty interesting! I guess the best choice to get started with the repo would be the #1130. Thanks @mrinalwadhwa for your time!

[Maartz]

Hey, I'm interested in tackling some Elixir issues. Glad to help.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @Maartz what do you think of this issue, should be a simple one to get started #1221

[malvfr]

Hi, I’d like to contribute in Elixir issues. Glad to help you

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @malvfr what do you think of this issue, should be a simple one to kick things off #1222

[malvfr]

OK. I’ll try to build the app and start working on this issue

[mrinalwadhwa]

Looks like I caused a little bit of confusion by defining two similar issues #1221 and #1222. Sorry about that.
Seems @Maartz has started work on #1222 ... so @malvfr if you don't mind picking up #1221 instead .. that would be perfect.

Thank you both 🙏

[malvfr]

OK

[ryanzidago]

Hey @mrinalwadhwa, I'd be happy to contribute. I use Elixir every day and know a bit of Rust.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi @ryanzidago, since you're familiar with Elixir and Rust .. what do you think of this issue to get started? #1223

[palaniravi]

I am interested and would like to contribute to Elixir code. Preferably pair with someone to get started.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @palaniravi, as a first small step, please try building the code according to the below instructions. Let me know if you need help along the way.

[mrinalwadhwa]

@Maartz @malvfr @ryanzidago @palaniravi

Thank you all for offering to contribute. That's super exciting.

To kick things off, here's a few notes on getting started:

• Fork the ockam repo and clone your fork - helpful instructions from github.
• The Elixir implementation lives at implementations/elixir
• The Rust implementation lives at implementations/rust
• Some Elixir code depends of on some C code and some on Rust code so the build setup requires a bunch of tools
• The simplest way to build things is using the ockam/builder docker image which is big download ~2.5GB

This will download the docker image and shell into it.

docker run --rm -it -e HOST_USER_ID=$(id -u) --volume $(pwd):/work ghcr.io/ockam-network/ockam/builder:latest bash

• Inside the container, you can run the whole build by:

./gradlew build

• You can run the Rust build by:

./gradlew build_rust

• You can run the Elixir build by:

./gradlew build_elixir

Using Gradle for the builds ensure that all the dependencies are built correctly.
After you build with Gradle once, you can use mix to build Elixir code and Cargo to build Rust code like any other project.

To get familiar with the Elixir code start with the tests in this folder.
To get familiar with the Rust code start with the examples in this folder.

[psinghal20]

Hi @mrinalwadhwa, I was trying to set up the development environment using the above issues but got caught up in a weird permissions issue. I am not able to create any directories in the /work which leads to failure in gradle build step. I am logged in to the container with runner user with user id 9001 whereas the /work directory is owned by my LOCAL_USER_ID: 1000. I believe it might be some issue with my local docker setup but hoping you might have some clue. Thanks! 🙂

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @psinghal20 that's interesting indeed.

Are you running?

docker run --rm -it -e HOST_USER_ID=$(id -u) --volume $(pwd):/work ghcr.io/ockam-network/ockam/builder:latest bash

Since we're mounting pwd to /work I think the directory permissions on the host machine will carry over.
Could you try ls -alh . in the mounted /work or on the host current directory to see if it has write permissions.

[psinghal20]

Fixed it! The command you mentioned is using the wrong environment variable. The correct command I think should be:
docker run -rm -it -e HOST_USER_ID=$(id -u) --volume $(pwd):/work ghcr.io/ockam-network/ockam/builder:latest bash

I checked the docker-entrypoint.sh in the container which actually used HOST_USER_ID variable to create the local Runner user.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Awesome, thank you for catching it 🙏

If you want to start with a simple PR, we would love one fixing the example command here :)
https://github.com/ockam-network/ockam/tree/develop/tools/docker#builder

[psinghal20]

Done @mrinalwadhwa #1424, thanks for your help! 😄

[aniruddhasd]

Hi @mrinalwadhwa I would love to contribute as well. Have been using elixir for some time now but not familiar with rust. I'll setup the code base over the next couple of days.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @aniruddhasd that's awesome! Thank you for offering to contribute.

[aniruddhasd]

Hey @mrinalwadhwa , I was able to setup the code and build the whole project using gradle. The instructions above were helpful. Post that one elixir test failed test Ockam.Router TCP ping pong test. Will look into it next.

[akshay1992kalbhor]

Hi. Saw your post on Twitter! Can I work on beginner-level Rust issues? Thanks

[mrinalwadhwa]

@akshay1992kalbhor what do you think of this issue, should be a simple one to get started
#1220

[akshay1992kalbhor]

Looks doable. I am gonna go ahead and start working on it!

[Andhrah]

Hello, I am new to contributing to open source, I want to start with baby step using Elixir. I saw your post on LinkedIn and I was directed here.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @Andhrah, as a first small step, please try building the code according to the above instructions. Let me know if you need help along the way.

[palaniravi]

Mrinal, I am able to build the elixir code per you instructions. Same here, I am getting same failure upon running the test. regards Ravi

…

________________________________ From: Aniruddha Deshpande ***@***.***> Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 8:46 AM To: ockam-network/ockam ***@***.***> Cc: Ravi Pazhani ***@***.***>; Mention ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [ockam-network/ockam] Contribute to Ockam (#1081) Hey @mrinalwadhwa<https://github.com/mrinalwadhwa> , I was able to setup the code and build the whole project using gradle. The instructions above were helpful. Post that one elixir test failed test Ockam.Router TCP ping pong test. Will look into it next. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#1081 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB3SJXAA5MGE37QRIQYCBCLTILTTPANCNFSM4ZPRGFJQ>.

[mrinalwadhwa]

@aniruddhasd @palaniravi Thank you both for catching the broken test, I filed #1233 to discuss that issue.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Everyone here, I think, will enjoy this months Ockam Open Source Community call, we're doing a step-by-step live coding introduction to Ockam in Rust. It would be a great way to get started.
#1303

Even though this introduction is in Rust, the core Ockam ideas in Elixir and Rust implementations are the same.

Please bring any other questions you may have to the call as well, we'd love to help with them.

Look forward to seeing you on zoom next week!!

[adrianbenavides]

Hi guys! I'm back after some crazy months with zero free time.

I'd thought it would be a good idea to check out the current status of the websocket implementation (#1130) and see if I can improve the code + add tests. Do you have any specific recommendations on what I could work on next?

I'll be watching the recordings of the past few community meetings in the meantime 🍿 🍿 🍿

[mrinalwadhwa]

@adrianbenavides thank you for the amazing work with the WebSocket transport 🙏
It would be cool to have some examples (like the ones in the get started guide - example 7, 8 and 9) that show the WebSocket transport playing nicely with TCP transport ... would you want to try that next next?

[adrianbenavides]

Absolutely, looks pretty interesting! Thanks for your time @mrinalwadhwa

[mcastorina]

Hey everyone, I just found the Ockam project and would like to contribute! I've always enjoyed security, so this project interests me quite a bit, not to mention the friendly community.

I left a comment on #1655 and I'd like to pair with someone on it, since this is my first issue. I'm also open to working on any other issue. Thanks!

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @mcastorina thank you for taking the time to participate and contribute 🙏 .
It looks like #1655 has become a design discussion. Would you like to pick up another smaller issue to get started?

[mcastorina]

Yeah, that would be great! I'll still follow the design discussion to see how it pans out (and help out where I can), but I'm happy to work on smaller issues.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Awesome, thank you, I'll suggest a few options later today

[mrinalwadhwa]

Here's one suggestion, let me know what you think about it ... I'm thinking of others.
#1761

[mcastorina]

Sure, I can work on that, although it's not clear to me what needs to be implemented. Pairing with someone or having more details in the issue would probably be good, especially as it's my first issue.

[luisyonaldo]

Hello everyone 🖖 I don't know much about encryption but I'm trying to improve my rust by helping the community and would like to help with #1624. Is someone interested in pairing or helping? Cheers!

[Phrynobatrachus]

Hi, I was also interested in trying something like this. I have a couple questions about the latter guide's mention of Ockam Hub and remote forwarding. It seems like a Hub is a managed service that users can register router forwarding workers with, which is also what we need in terms of our rendezvous server for the wormhole. I guess my questions are 1) is there more information about that somewhere? 2) is a Hub something that can be self-hosted? or rather, a Hub is some Ockam Node that can register and start RemoteForwarder workers for other nodes, and the TCP address provided in the guide is simply a pre-configured node for use in learning material?

Thanks, hope that makes some sense. Don't mean to hijack but figured Luis might find this relevant as well.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @Phrynobatrachus, welcome to the Ockam community. Great questions 👍

An Ockam Hub is a managed service to on-demand create managed and dedicated, Ockam Nodes.
A managed Ockam Node may offer one or more services (routing, forwarding, kafka add-on etc.)

I'll reveal a secret, only for the insider Ockam community, don't tell anyone 🤫 🤫 🤫
You can try the managed service here and create your own node at https://hub.ockam.network

There are a couple of DRAFT guides that have more info about this, we plan on publishing these in the next couple of weeks
Hub, Forwarding, Secure Channel via Hub - this is Work in Progress

You can totally self host an Ockam Node. All the code is open. We haven't implemented a Forwarder in Rust, but here is the Elixir code. This is easy to port to Rust but we haven't spent time on that yet.

[Phrynobatrachus]

very cool! that helps a lot, thank you

[mrinalwadhwa]

I added an issue for a Forwarder in Rust #1761

[luisyonaldo]

@Phrynobatrachus wanna sync and work together on this?

[conectado]

Hi! I'd like to start contributing, I've experience in rust and while I've no experience in Bluetooth I'd like to learn more so I'd like to take take on #1131 if at all possible, if not, I'd be glad to take any other issue you suggest(I'm interested in Rust + Embedded or transport/network related issues).

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @conectado 👋 welcome to the Ockam community and thank you for offering to contribute!!
@antoinevg has been working on a bluetooth transport.

What do you think about working on a smoltcp transport instead?
We started some discussion on that in #1804. The existing TCP transport and Websocket transport are good references.

Also, have a look at this example to try some no_std examples

[conectado]

Thanks! Looks awesome, I'll start researching and working on that.

[ghost]

I would like someone to pair with me for my first contribution.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi @SilBit-418 that's awesome! thank you for taking time contribute!

Do you have a specific area that you like for your first contribution? We would love contributions to - Rust, Elixir, Typescript, Gradle, Github Actions or Documentation.

After you share a preference I'll point you to a few good first issues in that area and help you contribute.

[calebbourg]

Hello! I am an Elixir dev learning Rust. I'm new to open source and would very much like to get involved. I would be very grateful for recommendations on a good issue begin with. Maybe something in Elixir to start?

[calebbourg]

I found #1453 in your issues backlog. Is this something that would still provide value?

[mrinalwadhwa]

@calebbourg thank you and welcome to the Ockam community!
#1453 looks like a great place to start. @hairyhum can help if you have questions along the way

[Jackbaude]

Hello,
I am new to open source but I have found this project and I am very interested in helping out. Is there a build guide or an example feature implementation?

Best,
Jack

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi @Jackbaude so glad you're interested!
Here's our Contributing Guide

To build:

1. Install Rust using rustup
2. Run cargo build at the root of the repository

Let me know if you have questions or hit a roadblock.

[Jackbaude]

Thank you for responding @mrinalwadhwa!

Yes I have been able to setup and build ockam - for all implementations. I'm still reading and trying to understand exactly how ockam works. I have read through a little bit of the architecture and protocol design, and I think I understand the basic idea. Is there anywhere that I can start with little to no understanding in cryptography and security?

Best,
Jack Baude

[mrinalwadhwa]

Start with these:

1. Step by step guide https://github.com/ockam-network/ockam/tree/develop/documentation/guides/rust#step-by-step
2. Routing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYTAN7AuxQE
3. Workers: https://youtu.be/d4Mk0TK6rYA?list=PLRt7oUP96htYBLG7pBEM2BmvbPFwkOb1F&t=144

[neil2468]

Hi Ockam,

I’m new to Rust and contributing on GitHub and would like to get some experience of both under my belt.

So I thought, maybe, I could help with the Ockam Rust code. #2256 might be a place for me to start. What do you think?

Thanks in advance, Neil.

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi @neil2468 welcome!!
#2256 looks like a great place to start. Let us know if you need help or have questions.

[neil2468]

Hi, I've a question.

If I've submitted a Pull Request and it has been Approved, should I (or can I) rebase the PR after Approval to make the future merge into the repo easier?

I'd guess I can't because a rebase would change the PR's commit which would then require Approval again.

Thanks in advance, Neil.

[mrinalwadhwa]

@neil2468 yes its okay to rebase and push after an approval. It does mean that we have to check for any changes but it's faster/easier if CI workflows have already run.

[edbastelli]

Hello,
I'm new to open source, but I'd like to get involved. I was thinking #2990 might be a good place to start? Please let me know.

Best regards,
Ed

[mrinalwadhwa]

@edbastelli 👋 glad you chose Ockam for this!
#2990 is a great place to start, please go for it and let us know if you have any questions along the way.

[edbastelli]

Hi @mrinalwadhwa,

• In addition to modifying the clap attribute arguments, should I also change the variable and enum names (i.e. message_format -> output_format, MessageFormat -> OutputFormat)

Thanks!
Ed

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hi Ed, yes that would be great 👍

[kpagacz]

Hello there,

I have seen a call for help from this repo. It looks like a simple enough task, and I am trying to get into Rust ecosystem a little bit more, so such a relatively simple task sounds good enough for me.

I am talking about: #3042

Is there anything I should get acquainted with before I start working on the issue?

[mrinalwadhwa]

@kpagacz 👋, welcome! Thank you for picking up that issue and let us know if you have questions along the way. A peek at the contributing guide may be helpful.

[mrinalwadhwa]

For everyone who has participated on this thread. Thank you for all the great contrutions!

Lots of people have expressed interest in contributing to Ockam recently so we've been posting many good first issue or help wanted issues in the past few week.

If you would like to be notified when a new good first issue or help wanted issue is created please subscribe this new discussion thread I created just for that. 👉

[Retamogordo]

Hello !
I'm trying to look at issue 3192, I've just merged the latest develop from origin.
However when running

ockam node create n1 --tcp-listener-address 127.0.0.1:6001

it looks like the sub-command is not recognized:

error: Found argument '--tcp-listener-address' which wasn't expected, or isn't valid in this context

        If you tried to supply `--tcp-listener-address` as a value rather than a flag, use `-- --tcp-listener-address`

USAGE:
    ockam node create <NODE_NAME>

For more information try --help

What am I missing ?

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hmm, strange .. I just ran

ockam node create n1 --tcp-listener-address 127.0.0.1:6001

and it worked.

Are you running the binary via cargo run ?

[Retamogordo]

Actually I tried the both methods with the same result,
but the latest was to run it from the ockam's root folder/target/debug.
I assume I have something outdated, could you say me for how long that sub-command is available in the repo ?

[mrinalwadhwa]

That would explain it ... the subcommand has been around or a couple of months but the --tcp-listener-address option used to be call --api-address ... you can try ockam node create --help.

Although lots of things will break with an older version, we've been making a lot of changes to the command code in the past few weeks.

[mrinalwadhwa]

recent versions show the git commit hash from which the binary was compiled in ockam --version

[Retamogordo]

Fixed, thank you !
It was outdated, I forgot to merge from upstream, sorry for disturbing :(

[jlucktay]

Hi there 🙂 I've just started learning Rust in my spare time, and I saw #3311 linked in This Week in Rust #457.

I have some syntax highlighting working on my local - is there anything else to do before making a PR, aside from a separate PR to the contributors list to accept the CLA?

[mrinalwadhwa]

@jlucktay awesome! welcome, the syntax highlighting looks great!
No noting else to do, please create a PR and I'll help in getting it merged.

[jlucktay]

Thanks @mrinalwadhwa! 🙂
I drafted #3364 with my changes.

[elbart]

Hi Ockam team,
i just found in the "This week in rust" newsletter some issues you need help with. I never contributed to ockam before and tried to open up the contribution guidelines you linked in the first comment in this issue here: https://www.ockam.io/learn/how-to-guides/contributing/CONTRIBUTING. However this is a dead link. Maybe you can adjust it to what github provides (https://github.com/build-trust/.github/blob/c63cc8452f350b280e89f1097d497a905c98bd87/CONTRIBUTING.md)?

[mrinalwadhwa]

Hey @elbart thank you for catching that 🙏
Fixed in the thread above. Welcome to the ockam community and looking forward to your first contribution.

[divyank-aggarwal]

Hi,
I wanted to start contributing to the project and found a good first issue here. But I have a couple of doubts

I've also read the commit format that is required but I want to know if there's a desired format for the PR?

Would appreciate any help on this. Thanks!