CONTRIBUTING.md

# Contributing to AISecForge

First of all, thank you for considering a contribution to AISecForge! This project thrives on collaborative expertise, and your insights will help build a more robust framework for AI security testing.

## Ways to Contribute

### 1. Vulnerability Research
- Developing new testing methodologies for emerging vulnerabilities
- Documenting novel attack vectors and exploitation techniques
- Creating demonstrations of security issues (in controlled environments)

### 2. Framework Enhancement
- Improving existing testing frameworks and methodologies
- Adding support for new models or capabilities
- Enhancing scoring and evaluation metrics

### 3. Tool Development
- Creating new tools for automated testing
- Improving existing scanners and analyzers
- Developing visualization tools for security assessment results

### 4. Documentation
- Improving existing documentation
- Adding case studies and practical examples
- Translating documentation to other languages

## Contribution Process

### Step 1: Find or Create an Issue
- Browse existing [issues](https://github.com/AISecForge/AISecForge/issues) to find something that interests you
- Create a new issue if you have identified a gap or improvement
- Wait for maintainer feedback before starting work on new issues

### Step 2: Fork and Branch
- Fork the repository
- Create a branch with a descriptive name:
  - `feature/description` for new features
  - `fix/description` for bug fixes
  - `docs/description` for documentation updates
  - `refactor/description` for code refactoring

### Step 3: Development
- Follow the coding and documentation standards (see below)
- Keep changes focused and related to the issue at hand
- Add tests where appropriate
- Update documentation to reflect your changes

### Step 4: Submit a Pull Request
- Ensure all tests pass
- Update the changelog with your changes
- Submit a pull request against the `main` branch
- Reference the issue your PR addresses
- Provide a clear description of the changes and their purpose

## Code and Documentation Standards

### Code Standards
- Clear, readable code with meaningful variable and function names
- Comprehensive error handling
- Proper commenting for complex sections
- Test coverage for new functionality

### Documentation Standards
- Clear, concise language
- Proper Markdown formatting
- Practical examples where appropriate
- Graphics or diagrams for complex concepts

### Security Research Standards
- All research must be conducted responsibly
- Document potential risks and mitigations
- Do not include exploitable code without appropriate safeguards
- Focus on defense, not exploitation

## Specialized Knowledge Areas

We particularly welcome contributions in these areas:

### LLM Security Specialists
- Prompt injection methodologies and defenses
- Evasion technique analysis
- Model behavior boundary testing

### Red Team Practitioners
- Realistic attack scenario development
- Methodology for real-world testing
- Effective reporting approaches

### Policy and Governance Experts
- Responsible disclosure frameworks
- Security policy development
- Regulatory compliance considerations

### AI Researchers
- Novel attack vector discovery
- Theoretical vulnerability analysis
- Cross-model comparison methodologies

## Review Process

1. Initial review by a project maintainer (typically within 5 business days)
2. Technical review if the contribution involves complex changes
3. Security review for contributions involving attack methodologies
4. Final approval and merge by a maintainer

## Recognition

All contributors will be acknowledged in the project's contributor list, and significant contributions may be highlighted in release notes and publications based on this work.

## Code of Conduct

All contributors are expected to adhere to the project's [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).

## Questions?

If you have questions about contributing, please open a discussion in the GitHub repository or contact the project maintainers at [email protected].

Thank you for helping make AISecForge better!