.. _contributor-incubator:

.. note::

Setting up everything correctly and working with git can be challenging for

new contributors. If you have difficulties, feel free to ask for help. We

have a dedicated :ref:`contributor-incubator` channel on gitter for

onboarding new contributors.

Setting up git and retrieving the latest version of the code

Matplotlib is hosted on `GitHub <https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib>`_.

To contribute you will need to sign up for a `free GitHub account

<https://github.com/signup/free>`_.

GitHub uses Git for version control, which allows many people to work together

on the project. See the following links for more information:

- `GitHub help pages <https://help.github.com/>`_

- `NumPy documentation <https://numpy.org/doc/stable/dev/index.html>`_

- `pandas documentation <https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/development/contributing.html#working-with-the-code>`_

Forking

Go to https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib and click the ``Fork`` button in

the top right corner to create your `own copy of the project <https://docs.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/about-forks>`.

Now clone your fork to your machine (`GitHub help <https://docs.github.com/en/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/cloning-a-repository>`_):

.. code-block:: bash

This creates a directory :file:`matplotlib` under your current working

directory with the Matplotlib source code. Change into it:

.. code-block:: bash

and connect to the official Matplotlib repository under the remote name

``upstream`` (`GitHub help <https://docs.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/configuring-a-remote-for-a-fork>`_):

.. code-block::

Instead of cloning using the ``https://`` protocol, you can use the ssh

protocol (``git clone git@github.com:your-user-name/matplotlib.git``). This

needs `additional configuration`_ but lets you connect to GitHub without

having to enter your username and password.

.. _additional configuration: https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/connecting-to-github-with-ssh