Contributing

BUI gets better every time someone tries it and says what happened. You don’t need to write C to help: a clear bug report, a missing tkinter behaviour, a docs fix or a test run on a Mac all move the project forward. Thank you for being here.

Ways to help

You have	You can
Five minutes	Report a bug, or something that behaves differently from stdlib tkinter or Qt
A Mac	Run the Cocoa window host and report what happens: it’s written but has never run on a Mac
An afternoon	Add a missing tkinter or Qt method, a CSS property, or a test
A way with words	Improve these docs (see below)
A security finding	Report it privately (see below)

Bugs and features start with an issue, so we can agree on the approach before you spend time on code.

Set up

Where things live

You want to change	Look in
Widget drawing, input, layout, rendering	kit/ (C), gpu/ (raster, GPU, text)
tkinter or Qt behaviour	bindings/python/bui/tksyntax/, bindings/python/bui/qtsyntax.py
Blender components	bindings/python/bui/components/
Rust: CSS, layout, hooks	bindings/rust/blenderui/src/
Rust: rsx!, #[component], tw!	bindings/rust/blenderui-macros/src/
Tailwind utilities and variants	bindings/rust/blenderui-tailwind/src/lib.rs
These docs	website/src/content/docs/

How BUI works and ARCHITECTURE.md explain how the modules fit together.

Adding a tkinter or Qt member: add it to the facade class in bindings/python/bui/tksyntax/ or bindings/python/bui/qtsyntax.py, mapping it onto kit node properties, geometry, or the canvas and text-area calls. New drawing or interaction belongs in the C kit (kit/intern/).

Send a pull request

• One change per pull request, with a test for it:
  • C: a ctest suite.
  • Python: bindings/python/tests/. For tkinter behaviour, add a program to the side-by-side suite (tests/test_tk_compat.py) that must behave exactly like the standard library.
  • Rust: bindings/rust/blenderui/tests/.
• Don’t let performance regress. The test suite enforces frame budgets. For rendering or layout changes, run the benchmark in bindings/rust/bench/ and include before and after numbers. Run the benchmarks has the commands.
• Keep the license header. New files carry the SPDX header GPL-2.0-or-later, and contributions are accepted under that license.
• Update the docs. Add your change to the Unreleased section of CHANGELOG.md, and to the relevant guide.
• Match the style around you. C is formatted like Blender’s sources. Rust uses rustfmt defaults with a maximum width of 120.

Write docs

These docs live in website/ and are written in MDX. Every page follows one guide, WRITING.md: who we write for, the voice, the page template, the components and the list of pages still to write. A few rules from it matter most:

• Check every fact against the repository, and list the files you checked in the page’s sources.
• Never invent numbers. Benchmarks come with their machine and method.
• Be honest about status. Mark unbuilt features with <ComingSoon>.

To claim a planned page, open an issue or a draft pull request titled docs: <path>.

Report a security problem

Please don’t open a public issue for security problems. Report them privately through GitHub’s private vulnerability reporting. Include steps to reproduce, the affected version and platform, and the impact.

You’ll get an acknowledgment within a week. Once a fix is released, you’ll be credited in the changelog, unless you’d rather stay anonymous. Security fixes go into the latest blenderui release on PyPI and the main branch.

Code of conduct

BUI follows the Contributor Covenant, version 2.1. In short:

• Be respectful, welcoming and patient.
• Give and accept constructive feedback gracefully.
• Focus on what is best for the project and its users.
• No harassment, insults, or personal or political attacks.

To report unacceptable behaviour, open a private security advisory with “Code of Conduct” in the title, or contact a maintainer directly. Reports are reviewed and kept confidential.

Next steps