Contributor Onboarding Guide

Welcome to MeetBall Engineering! This guide will help you get started as a contributor in our open startup environment.

Welcome from the Team: We're excited to have you join our engineering team! MeetBall is built on the principle that meaningful connections happen when people can help each other.

This guide will help you understand how we work and get you contributing quickly.

🚀 Quick Start Checklist

Complete these steps to get up and running:

Join Discord: Get access to our development channels
Read Key Documents: Understand our principles and processes
Set Up Development Environment: Install tools and clone repositories
Pick First Issue: Start with a good first issue or bug fix
Make First Contribution: Submit your first PR

🎯 Understanding MeetBall's Open Startup Model

What Makes Us Different

MeetBall operates as an open startup - we believe in transparency, community collaboration, and building in public. This means:

Open: We share a lot of our journey in public, we share how we work, and anyone in the team is welcome to join any other conversations (product, marketing, dev etc)
Community Driven: Users and contributors help shape our product
Transparent: We share our challenges, learnings, and progress
Inclusive: Anyone can contribute, regardless of experience level

Our Mission in Engineering

We're building technology that helps people make meaningful connections through shared interests. Our engineering team:

Ships Fast: Rapid iteration to validate ideas with users
Builds Quality: Maintainable, scalable code that grows with us
Learns Together: Share knowledge and help each other grow
Stays Open: Document decisions and share learnings

📚 Essential Reading

Start Here (Required)

Company Principles: Understand our core values
How We Work: Our collaborative approach
Engineering Overview: Technical architecture
Ecosystem eagle-view: 10 000 feet-view of the main modules
Development Practices: Coding standards and guidelines
Gitflow Lifecycle: Git flow in Meet ball

🤝 Joining the Team

Communication Channels

Discord (Primary)

#dev-{sub-channel}: Daily development updates

Main URLs

Repositories:
- https://github.com/himeetball/webapp
- https://github.com/himeetball/backend
Issues:
- https://github.com/orgs/himeetball/projects/8
- TBD: feebback

Regular Meetings

Open Programming: TBD
Engineering Call: TBD
Product/Design Call: TBD
Planning Call: TBD
Demo Call: TBD

Introducing Yourself

When you join, introduce yourself in #general with:

👋 Hi everyone! I'm [Name], joining as a [Role] and I am a [Career Ladder]

**Background**: [Brief description of your experience]
**Interests**: [What excites you about MeetBall]
**Availability**: [How many hours/week you can contribute]
**Skills**: [Your technical strengths]
**Goals**: [What you want to learn/achieve]
🚀 You can reach me @ [email or social(s)]

🎯 Your First Contributions

Good First Issues

We are to curate a list of issues perfect for newcomers such as:

Documentation: Update READMEs, fix typos, add examples
Existing Features: Tweaks to enhance/modify existing functionality.
Bug Fixes: Small, well-defined issues with clear reproduction steps
UI Improvements: Minor styling updates, accessibility fixes
Testing: Add tests for existing features

📖 Learning Paths

Frontend Development

JS Basics: Components, state management
TypeScript: Type safety and interfaces
Tailwind CSS: TBD
Testing: TBD Testing Library
Performance: Code splitting, lazy loading, optimization

Backend Development

FastAPI: Async web framework, architectural patterns, KISS/DRY
Database Design: PostgreSQL, migrations, indexing
IAM: JWT, Authorization & Authenthication, RBAC
API Design: RESTful endpoints, schema validation, error handling,
Testing: Unit tests, integration tests, API testing

DevOps & Infrastructure

CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Git flow
Deployment: Vercel, Docker, Kubernates, Flux
Monitoring: Application performance, trace errors & observability
Security: Security headers, tooling access control

🎓 Mentorship & Support

Getting Help

When to Ask for Help

Stuck for >30-60 minutes: Don't spin your wheels, ASK!
Unclear requirements: Better to ask than assume, ALWAYS!
Technical decisions: Get input on architecture choices, PUBLICLY!
Code review feedback: Ask for clarification on suggestions, CHASE 'EM!

How to Ask for Help

Be specific: Describe what you're trying to do
Show your work: Share code, error messages, screenshots
Explain context: What you've already tried
Be patient: Team members have different schedules

Mentorship Opportunities

Pair Programming: Work together on complex features
Code Reviews: Learn from feedback and suggestions
Architecture Discussions: Participate system design decisions
Knowledge Sharing: Present learnings & lesons learned to the team

📋 Regular Check-ins

Weekly Updates

Every Monday, share in #dev-{}:

📊 Weekly Update - [Your Name]

**Completed Last Week:**
- [List of completed tasks]

**In Progress:**
- [Current work with status]

**Blockers/Challenges:**
- [Any issues you're facing]

**This Week's Goals:**
- [What you plan to accomplish]

**Questions/Feedback:**
- [Anything the team should know]

🔄 Feedback & Improvement

Continuous Improvement

This onboarding guide is a living document. We want your feedback to make it better:

What's missing? Tell us what would help new contributors
What's unclear? Point out confusing sections
What works well? Share what helped you most
Suggestions: Propose improvements and additions

Contributing to the Guide

Create Issues: Report problems or suggest improvements
Share Experiences: Help us understand what new contributors need

📞 Getting in Touch

Immediate Support

Discord: #dev-help for quick questions
Report Feebadk: TBD
Email: [[email protected]] for formal communications

Team Members

Core Contributors: Project-specific DRI & owners
Community Members: Peer support & collaboration

Welcome to the MeetBall engineering team! We're excited to see what you'll build with us. Remember: the best way to learn is by doing, and the best way to contribute is by starting small and growing with the project.

Need help? Don't hesitate to ask. We're all here to help each other succeed! 🚀

Last Updated: September 9, 2025 by @drhinca: Adrián Bado Chinca

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