Contributing to ShellFlow

Thanks for helping! ShellFlow aims to be a fast, reliable, beautiful terminal, so changes are judged on those three things in that order.

Getting started

Install the .NET 10 SDK on Windows 10 2004+ or Windows 11.
dotnet build ShellFlow.slnx -p:Platform=x64
Run src/ShellFlow.App/bin/x64/Debug/net10.0-windows10.0.19041.0/win-x64/ShellFlow.exe. Set SHELLFLOW_DATA_DIR to a scratch folder to keep your real settings untouched.

Logic that does not need a window (models, layout, persistence, validation, commands) belongs in ShellFlow.Core.
Process and ConPTY code belongs in ShellFlow.Terminal.
Anything that crosses the WebView2 boundary must go through BridgeProtocol with explicit validation. Never add a message that runs arbitrary commands, opens URLs or touches files.
New user actions are added to DefaultCommands (Core) and bound in MainView.RegisterCommands, so the palette, shortcuts and menus share one implementation. Do not wire buttons to private handlers.
Colors, radii and spacing come from Themes/Tokens.xaml. Do not hard-code hex values in views.

Keep the UI thread free: process I/O, file I/O and waits run off the UI thread.
Dispose what you create (sessions, WebView2 controls, event subscriptions).
Never swallow exceptions silently; log them (without user data) and show actionable messages.
Do not log terminal input, output, clipboard contents or environment values.
Respect reduced motion: animations must be optional and must never delay input or resizing.
Prefer small, focused pull requests with a clear description of what changed and how you verified it. Include screenshots for visual changes (both themes when relevant).

Use the imperative mood ("Add pane zoom", "Fix resize when tab is hidden") and explain why in the body when it is not obvious.