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Contributing to Bitcoin Knots

Bitcoin Knots welcomes contributions from the community.

Ways to Contribute​

Code Contributions​

  • Bug fixes
  • New features
  • Performance improvements
  • Test coverage

Documentation​

  • Improve existing docs
  • Add new guides
  • Fix typos and errors

Testing​

  • Test new releases
  • Report bugs
  • Verify fixes

Translation​

Translations follow the upstream Bitcoin Core translation process — see doc/translation_process.md in the repository. (Recent releases note that translation updates are currently disrupted by issues with the shared Bitcoin Transifex repository.)

Getting Started​

1. Fork the Repository​

Fork bitcoinknots/bitcoin on GitHub, then clone your fork and add the main repository as upstream:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/bitcoin.git
cd bitcoin
git remote add upstream https://github.com/bitcoinknots/bitcoin.git

2. Create a Branch​

git checkout 29.x-knots
git checkout -b my-feature

3. Make Changes​

Follow the coding style of the existing codebase.

4. Build and Test​

Bitcoin Knots uses CMake:

# Build
cmake -B build
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

# Run unit tests
ctest --test-dir build

# Run functional tests
build/test/functional/test_runner.py

5. Commit​

git add .
git commit -m "component: Brief description of change"

6. Push and Create PR​

git push origin my-feature

Then create a pull request on GitHub.

Coding Standards​

  • Follow existing code style
  • Write tests for new functionality
  • Update documentation as needed
  • Keep commits focused and atomic

Commit Messages​

Format:

component: Brief description

Longer explanation if needed.

Examples:

wallet: Add sweepprivkeys RPC command
policy: Implement dynamic dust threshold
qt: Add dark mode support

Review Process​

  1. Maintainer reviews changes
  2. Automated tests run
  3. Feedback addressed
  4. Changes merged or refined

Issue Reporting​

Before Reporting​

  • Check existing issues
  • Verify with latest version
  • Gather debug information

What to Include​

  • Bitcoin Knots version
  • Operating system
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Expected vs actual behavior
  • Debug log snippets

Where to Report​

github.com/bitcoinknots/bitcoin/issues

Communication​

  • GitHub Issues for bugs/features
  • Pull Requests for code
  • Mailing list for announcements

License​

Contributions are licensed under MIT, consistent with the project license.

See Also​