Contributing to Hermes-core #

Hermes-core is open-source software licensed with GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. It is maintained by Cossack Labs and we highly encourage you to contribute.

Hermes-core is a complex project. Changing something in Hermes-core is not easy, but quite possible. The following instructions will guide you through the steps necessary to do that.

Read the papers #

Initially, you might want to (re-)read the scientific paper accompanying Hermes to understand that all its functions and models are interconnected.

There is also a document addressing the implementation issues specifically — Implementing Hermes-based Security Systems, please read it, too. This will help you a lot.

When changing data structures, change them everywhere #

All the data structures used in Hermes-core are aimed at implementing the current Hermes-core architecture. If you want to extend or change one or more structure, don’t forget to change its implementation and the implementation of the component that uses the changed structure. In most parts of Hermes-core, you should use object-oriented approach for implementation of components. Even though Hermes-core is written using C (not an OOP language), we try to use the OOP approach everywhere. This is why, as a rule, declaration of data structures is logically (and often also physically) located “close” to the logic that uses them.

Processes can be changed discretely #

All the processes in Hermes-core are separated into different functions and primitives and can be changed independently if the interface remains unchanged. If the interface changes, the necessity to check and change all the parts it is using will arise.

“I’d like to help somehow, but don’t know what will be useful. What should I do?” #

If you’re looking for something to contribute to and gain our eternal respect (or something more tangible - you might be in for a surprise when contributing to us, who knows ;), just pick the things in the list of issues.

If you’d like to do independent parts (implement new procedures/objects, do a language wrapper or a set of examples for languages or architectures we don’t have and don’t even plan yet) - just go ahead and let us know when you finish.

We highly encourage you to:

• Report bugs and request features via GitHub Issues.
• Report a bug and fix it with a patch via our GitHub Pull request (after creating a corresponding issue and leaving a link to the pull there).
• Add something new to Hermes-core. There is a certain design scheme according to which we’d like to keep developing Hermes-core. If your contributions fall along with it, we’d be glad to accept some fundamental additions. It’s better to discuss the subject using email before taking action.

Every commit that goes into the master branch is audited and reviewed by somebody from Cossack Labs, don’t be surprised if the process is long-ish.

If you’d like to participate in the core development more closely and deeply, get in touch.

Filemap #

This table should help you navigate through the Hermes-core sources.

Note: The following table consists of 3 columns: File, Description, Object.