docs: add newcomer contribution path

[omribz156]

Summary

Adds a newcomer-friendly starting path to CONTRIBUTING.md, including contribution types, starter issue guidance, community channels, Code of Conduct expectations, and the existing DCO sign-off requirement.

Related Issue

Fixes #3826

Changes

• Added a "Where to Start" section for first-time contributors.
• Linked the good first issue label, GitHub Discussions, README community channels, and Code of Conduct.
• Documented that PRs need the DCO sign-off line already required by the PR template.

Type of Change

• Code change (feature, bug fix, or refactor)
• Code change with doc updates
• Doc only (prose changes, no code sample modifications)
• Doc only (includes code sample changes)

Verification

• npx prek run --all-files passes
• npm test passes
• Tests added or updated for new or changed behavior
• No secrets, API keys, or credentials committed
• Docs updated for user-facing behavior changes
• make docs builds without warnings (doc changes only)
• Doc pages follow the style guide (doc changes only)
• New doc pages include SPDX header and frontmatter (new pages only)

Focused verification:

• npx --yes markdownlint-cli2 CONTRIBUTING.md
• git diff --check

This was implemented with Codex assistance, with the final patch manually reviewed and kept scoped to the requested contributing-guide update.

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Signed-off-by: Omri Ben Zvi omribz156@gmail.com

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Documentation
  • Updated contribution guidelines with a new "Where to Start" section for new contributors
  • Added guidance on types of work to open and where to ask for input (GitHub Discussions/Discord)
  • Clarified DCO sign-off requirement for all pull requests

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[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Enterprise

Run ID: 52ed84fc-eec0-4d9c-85ca-2b63c541b7b7

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 50c208b and c294f98.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• CONTRIBUTING.md

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

CONTRIBUTING.md is updated with a new "Where to Start" section guiding newcomers on suitable contribution types and discussion channels, and an explicit DCO sign-off requirement is added for all PRs.

Changes

Contributor Onboarding and Requirements

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Newcomer guidance and starter tasks CONTRIBUTING.md	New "Where to Start" subsection lists starter work guidance (bug reports, documentation fixes, tests), links to "good first issue" label, directs large/design-heavy changes to GitHub Discussions/Discord, and reiterates Code of Conduct expectations.
PR contribution requirements CONTRIBUTING.md	DCO sign-off instructions added, requiring every PR to include the signed-off-by line from the PR template via git commit -s or manual addition.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 1 (Trivial) | ⏱️ ~3 minutes

Poem

🐰 A path for newcomers, clear and bright,
With starter tasks and guidance right,
Sign your commits, show respect with care,
Our rabbit welcomes contributors everywhere! 🌿✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely summarizes the main change: adding documentation for newcomers to contribute to the project.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The PR addresses all primary coding and documentation requirements from issue #3826: newcomer 'Where to Start' section, good first issue guidance, CODE_OF_CONDUCT link, DCO sign-off requirement, and community channel directions.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Changes are limited to CONTRIBUTING.md updates directly addressing issue #3826 objectives; no unrelated or out-of-scope modifications are present.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands and usage tips.}

[wscurran]

✨ Thanks for submitting this detailed PR about adding a newcomer contribution path to CONTRIBUTING.md. This proposes a documentation update to help first-time contributors get started with the project, including guidance on contribution types, starter issues, and community channels.

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Related open issues:

• #3826 docs(contributing): add newcomer contribution path and community expectations

[apurvvkumaria]

Closing this without merge because the contribution is now fully superseded and parts of its PR guidance are stale under current policy.

Supersession evidence

• #4620 merged on 2026-06-02 and closed docs(contributing): add newcomer contribution path and community expectations #3826. It added the contribution-type menu, good first issue route, Code of Conduct and security-reporting links, GitHub Discussions guidance, and DCO section.
• Current main now contains a fuller newcomer flow: Types of Contributions, Where to Start, and Community Response Expectations.
• Issue docs(contributing): add newcomer contribution path and community expectations #3826 remains closed and assigned to @wscurran; this closure does not change the issue.

Current-policy comparison

• The proposed GitHub Discussions URL is repository-owned, and the relative README community link remains inside this repository. The README's Discord is an existing official project channel. These references are not third-party code repositories, community collections, or unofficial resources prohibited by the current No External Project Links rule.
• They are nevertheless no longer needed here: current contributor guidance deliberately routes questions and larger design work through GitHub Discussions or related issues.
• More importantly, this PR's git commit -s wording no longer describes the complete DCO gate. Current policy requires a Signed-off-by: declaration in the PR description, plus every commit appearing as GitHub Verified (current requirements). A commit trailer created by git commit -s does not satisfy the separate PR-body declaration.

Exact-head gate state

Audited head: c294f98c8064c78746ec4937530f2100e2d78275.

• The PR body has a valid contributor DCO declaration.
• The sole commit is GitHub unverified (reason: unsigned).
• Required checks, commit-lint, and dco-check runs are absent.
• The branch conflicts with current main.
• CodeRabbit reported no actionable findings; there are no review threads.
• Since the intended documentation is already on main, repairing the branch would only recreate merged guidance and reintroduce stale DCO wording.

Thank you, @omribz156. This PR identified the newcomer onboarding gap early and proposed a clear, well-scoped structure for starter work, conduct, community routing, and DCO education. That contribution is explicitly credited here; it is being closed only because equivalent, more current guidance landed through #4620 and was refined afterward. No contributor code is being carried forward in this closure.