the-nexus/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to the Nexus

Every PR: net ≤ 10 added lines. Not a guideline — a hard limit. Add 40, remove 30. Can't remove? You're homebrewing. Import instead.

Why

Import over invent. Plug in the research. No builder trap. Removal is a first-class contribution. Baseline: 4,462 lines (2026-03-25). Goes down.

PR Checklist

1. Net diff ≤ 10 (+12 -8 = net +4 ✅ / +200 -0 = net +200 ❌)
2. Manual test plan — specific steps, not "it works"
3. Automated test output — paste it, or write a test (counts toward your 10)
4. Branch protection compliance:
   • PR required for main (no direct pushes)
   • 1+ approvals required
   • CI must pass (where applicable)
   • No force-pushed commits
   • No branch deletion

Applies to every contributor: human, Timmy, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Kimi, Grok. Exception: initial dependency config files (requirements.txt, package.json). No other exceptions. Too big? Break it up.