> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tai42.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Contributing

> Where each repository's contributing guide lives.

Each repository in the ecosystem keeps its own `CONTRIBUTING` guide; this page points to them and states the discipline every repository shares.

The platform is a multi-repo ecosystem. The core repos define and implement the contract; the plugin repos build on it. Contributions live in the repo they touch, under that repo's `CONTRIBUTING` guide.

## The repositories

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="tai42-contract" icon="file-contract" href="https://github.com/tai42ai/tai-contract">
    The pure interface — the Protocols and ABCs plugins implement.
  </Card>

  <Card title="tai42-kit" icon="toolbox" href="https://github.com/tai42ai/tai-kit">
    The generic leaf helpers, settings, pooled clients, and factories.
  </Card>

  <Card title="tai42-skeleton" icon="server" href="https://github.com/tai42ai/tai-skeleton">
    The framework body — the concrete server and runtime engines.
  </Card>

  <Card title="tai42-toolbox" icon="wrench" href="https://github.com/tai42ai/tai-toolbox">
    The reference tool set — generic tools and extensions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Full ecosystem" icon="table-list" href="/reference/catalog">
    Every shipped plugin and its repository, in the catalog.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The shared discipline

Every repository holds to the same rules, enforced in each repo's CI:

* **The leaf rule.** Among `tai42-*` packages, the skeleton imports `tai42-contract` and `tai42-kit` only; a plugin imports `tai42-contract` (and `tai42-kit` where it needs shared helpers) only. No plugin imports the skeleton — providers register through the `tai42_app` handle when the manifest loads them.
* **Providers stay out of the core.** Connectors, storage, config, backends, and monitoring ship as plugins that register at manifest load — never imported by the skeleton.
* **Optional drivers stay optional.** A heavy client driver reaches the engine through an extra; a module whose extra is missing fails loudly at import, never a silent skip.
* **Errors surface loudly.** A missing module, a malformed config entry, or a failed sub-step raises and propagates.
* **Typed packages.** Every package ships `py.typed` and keeps the type-checker clean.

## Develop

Each repo's dev venv resolves its `tai42-*` dependencies from sibling checkouts. The standard loop is the same across repos:

```bash theme={null}
uv sync --extra dev
uv run ruff check .
uv run pyright
uv run pytest
```

See the target repository's `CONTRIBUTING` guide for its specifics — the sibling checkouts it expects, any secret scan, and its licensing statement.

## See also

* [The layering](/concepts/layering) — how contract, kit, and skeleton relate.
* [Plugin authors](/guides/authors) — the author path for every plugin type.
* [Ecosystem catalog](/reference/catalog) — every shipped repository.