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Contributing to AL-Copilot-Skills-Collection

Thank you for your interest in contributing! This repository grows through community contributions — every new skill helps the entire Business Central developer ecosystem build better extensions with AI-assisted development.

Code of Conduct​

By participating in this project, you agree to abide by the GitHub Community Guidelines. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive experience for everyone.

Please:

  • Be respectful — Treat all contributors with courtesy and professionalism.
  • Be constructive — Provide helpful feedback and focus on improving the work.
  • Be collaborative — Work together toward shared goals, not against each other.
  • Be patient — Reviews take time. Maintainers are volunteers.

Unacceptable behavior includes harassment, trolling, personal attacks, and publishing others' private information. Report violations to the repository maintainer (@fernandoartalf).

How to Contribute​

1. Propose a Skill (Release Plan)​

All new skills start as a proposal in the monthly release plan.

  1. Fork the repository and create a branch from main.
  2. Pick a month in the releaseplan/ folder that matches when you plan to deliver the skill.
  3. Add your skill entry to that month's plan file using the template block already present in the file (or copy from releaseplan/TEMPLATE.md).
  4. Fill in the required fields:
    • Skill Name — The folder name (e.g. bc-workflow-generator).
    • Short Description — One-to-two sentences on what the skill does.
    • Author — Full Name, GitHub User, GitHub Profile, LinkedIn Profile.
    • Motivation — Why it's needed and what problem it solves.
  5. Open a Pull Request targeting main with the title: [Plan] {skill-name} — {Month} {Year}.
  6. Wait for approval from the repository maintainer.

2. Develop the Skill​

Once your plan is approved:

  1. Read the skill creation guidelines — they cover structure, principles, and best practices.

  2. Create your skill folder under skills/{skill-name}/ with the required files:

    skills/{skill-name}/
    ├── SKILL.md              ← Main instructions
    ├── AUTHORS.md            ← Author and co-author info
    ├── CHANGELOG.md          ← Version history
    └── references/           ← Supporting files
        └── ...

  3. Follow the AUTHORS.md format used across the repository:

    # Authors

    ## Primary Author

    - **Full Name**: {Your name}
    - **GitHub User**: {username}
    - **GitHub Profile**: https://github.com/{username}
    - **LinkedIn Profile**: {LinkedIn URL}

    ## Co-Authors

    - **Full Name**: {Co-author name}
    - **GitHub User**: {username}
    - **GitHub Profile**: https://github.com/{username}
    - **LinkedIn Profile**: {LinkedIn URL}

  4. Test your skill with an AI agent to verify it produces correct, idiomatic AL code.

3. Submit the Skill​

  1. Open a Pull Request targeting main with the title: [Skill] {skill-name}.
  2. Include in the PR description:
    • Link to the approved plan entry.
    • Brief summary of the skill's purpose.
    • How you tested it.
  3. Respond to review feedback promptly.
  4. Once merged, the plan entry status will be updated to ✅ Merged.

Community Badges​

Contributors are recognized with badges based on the number of skills they author or co-author. Badges are displayed on the Contributors page and automatically awarded as follows:

BadgeSkills RequiredDescription
🥉 Bronze1 skillFirst-time contributor
🥈 Silver2 skillsActive contributor
🥇 Gold3-4 skillsCore contributor
💎 Diamond5+ skillsElite contributor

How it works:

  • Badges are calculated automatically based on the AUTHORS.md file in each skill folder.
  • Both primary authors and co-authors count toward the total.
  • Badges update when your skill PR is merged to main.

To earn a badge, simply contribute skills following the process above. Quality and completeness matter more than quantity — each skill should provide real value to the AL developer community.

Status Lifecycle​

🟡 Proposed  →  🟢 Approved  →  🔵 In Development  →  ✅ Merged
     │               │                                      │
     └─ Plan PR      └─ Maintainer approves plan PR         └─ Skill PR merged to main

Guidelines​

Do​

  • One skill per folder — each skill is self-contained.
  • Keep SKILL.md concise — agents have limited context windows. Only add information the agent doesn't already know.
  • Use the references/ folder for examples, templates, and large code samples.
  • Follow existing naming conventions — skill folders use bc-{domain}-generator format.
  • Update the plan entry status when you start development (🔵 In Development).

Don't​

  • Don't modify other contributors' skills without being listed as a co-author.
  • Don't modify other contributors' plan entries unless you are a co-author.
  • Don't include credentials, tokens, or sensitive data in any file.
  • Don't submit skills without an approved plan — the plan-first workflow ensures alignment and avoids duplicate effort.

Pull Request Standards​

  • One concern per PR — don't mix a plan proposal with a skill submission.
  • Descriptive titles — use the [Plan] or [Skill] prefix convention.
  • Clean commit history — squash or rebase before submitting if needed.
  • Pass any automated checks before requesting review.

Reporting Issues​

License​

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.

Thank you for helping build better AL development tools for the Business Central community!