# Contributing to Gitea Mail Templates

Thanks for your interest in contributing! This project aims to provide a diverse, well-maintained collection of email templates for the Gitea ecosystem.

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## Ways to Contribute

### Adding a New Style

1. Scaffold the new style: `cd tools && go run . create <your-style-name>` — this creates the directory structure with placeholder `.tmpl` files for all 11 email types
2. Edit each `.tmpl` file in `themes/<your-style-name>/` with your unique visual design
3. Regenerate the preview: `cd tools && go run . preview all` — the build script auto-discovers all theme directories under `themes/` and generates the theme selector dynamically
4. Submit a PR with screenshots of rendered emails (≤ 50 KiB each, 10–20 KiB recommended)

### Style Guidelines

- Each style must include **all 11 template types** listed in the README
- Use only Gitea's built-in template functions — check the [Gitea source](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea) for reference
- Translation keys must come from Gitea's official locale files (`mail.*` namespace)
- **Never reference `.DisplayName`** in templates where the data context lacks it (collaborator, transfer, release, workflow_run, assigned, default)
- Design for 600px max-width email clients
- Test against major email clients (Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook) when possible

### Bug Reports

If a template doesn't render correctly:

1. Check that all referenced Go template variables exist — compare against the Gitea source mail templates
2. Verify translation keys match Gitea's locale files
3. Confirm `.DisplayName` isn't used in templates that lack it
4. Regenerate the preview: `cd tools && go run . preview all`
5. Open an issue with: the style name, which email type, and the error or unexpected output

### Documentation Improvements

Documentation updates, preview screenshots, installation guides, and translations are always welcome.

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## Development Setup

- **Go 1.21+** for template rendering and the CLI tool; Go modules download `github.com/urfave/cli/v2` and its dependencies

### Previewing Locally (Static)

1. Run `cd tools && go run . preview all` to generate rendered data
2. Open `preview/index.html` directly in a browser — no server needed
3. Use the theme switcher, template selector, and view mode toggles

### Dev Server (Live Reload)

```bash
cd tools && go run . dev
# → http://localhost:3456
```

- Watches `themes/**/*.tmpl` — auto-rebuilds on save
- HTTP server and SSE live reload use Go's standard library; the CLI has a Go module dependency
- Re-renders templates in-process and pushes reload events to the browser
- Terminal output: `themes/aurora/mail/repo/release.tmpl changed` → `[Builder] Rebuild done in 45ms`

### Integration Testing

Deploy the templates to a Gitea instance and verify with real transactional emails.
The admin test email (**Site Administration > Configuration > Mailer > Send Test Email**)
does not use custom mail templates — it follows a built-in code path.

The most reliable method is to trigger a real notification. For example, the password
reset flow:

1. Log out and click **"Forgot password"** on the login page
2. Enter your account email and submit
3. Check the password reset email — it will render with your custom mail templates

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## Commit Conventions

Any readable commit message in semantic format is welcome. Such as:

- `style(<name>):` — template changes for a specific theme
- `preview(*):` — preview tooling changes
- `tools(*):` — Go build script changes
- `docs(*):` — documentation and translations
- `fix(*):` — bug fixes
- `project(*):` — README, LICENSE, AGENTS.md, meta

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## Translations

- English
- [简体中文](docs/CONTRIBUTING.zh-CN.md)

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## License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.