<p align="right"><b>English</b> · <a href="docs/zh-TW/CONTRIBUTING.md">繁體中文</a></p>

Contributing

Thanks for wanting to help make ReelMimic better!

Setup

Install it as described in the README, then:

cd app
npm run server   # backend (after editing server/, restart with: bash app/restart.sh)
npm run web      # UI with hot reload at http://localhost:5173
npm run doctor   # environment check

How it works is in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, and how to extend it is in docs/EXTENDING.md.

Good first contributions

• A new style: add .claude/skills/video-clone/styles/<name>.md, with a short description of the reference you tested it on (please don't attach copyrighted video files).
• Known pitfalls: problems you ran into while making a video and how you fixed them. Add them to the matching style file or the engine's SKILL.md.
• A new rendering engine: an agent skill folder. For third-party skills, include the source and license and update THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
• Pipeline and prompts: if you change app/server/prompts.ts or jobs.ts, say which video you tested with and include a before/after timing from timeline.py.

Before you open a PR

• In app/: npm run check (type check, lint, tests) and npm run build pass. CI runs the same on every PR.
• The app is TypeScript (strict). The server runs its .ts files directly on Node's type stripping, so there is no build step for it; use only erasable syntax (no enum, namespace or parameter properties).
• Don't commit projects/, API keys (~/.reelmimic/secrets.json), reference videos, or any asset you don't have the rights to.
• Comments and docs can be in English or Traditional Chinese. Match what's around them.

Community

This project follows the Code of Conduct.