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libretro/CONTRIBUTING.md
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Abdessamad Derraz 4231902a6c docs: write prose without dashes or semicolons
Profiles, the wiki, comments, docstrings, command output and schema descriptions carried em-dashes, clause-joining semicolons, unicode arrows, box-drawing banners and check-mark glyphs. Each sentence was rewritten rather than having its character swapped. Hashes, paths, source_ref values and every cited file:line are unchanged, which a comparison of each parsed profile against the previous revision confirms.

validate_pr comments now say PASS and FAIL in words, and source_ref values in a profile's structured blocks render as code. test_prose_style fails if any of these comes back, in tracked files or in the generated site.
2026-10-19 06:47:31 +02:00

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Contributing to RetroBIOS

Add a BIOS file

  1. Fork this repository
  2. Place the file in bios/Manufacturer/Console/filename
  3. Variants (alternate hashes for the same file): bios/Manufacturer/Console/.variants/
  4. Open a Pull Request - hashes are verified automatically and reported as a comment

The dump provenance page lists catalogued dumps still missing from the collection, with their hashes. A file matching one of those is the most useful contribution.

Add a platform

  1. Write a scraper in scripts/scraper/ (inherit BaseScraper)
  2. Read the platform's upstream source to determine how it checks BIOS files
  3. Register it in platforms/_registry.yml
  4. Generate the platform YAML and test: python scripts/verify.py --platform <name>

Full walkthrough: adding a platform.

Add an emulator profile

  1. Clone the emulator's source code, upstream and libretro port
  2. Trace the file loading from the entry point, not from a keyword grep
  3. Document every file the code loads, with a source_ref line reference
  4. Write the YAML to emulators/<name>.yml
  5. Test: python scripts/cross_reference.py --emulator <name>

Full walkthrough: profiling guide.

File conventions

  • bios/Manufacturer/Console/filename for canonical files
  • bios/Manufacturer/Console/.variants/filename.sha1prefix for alternate versions
  • Files >50 MB go in GitHub release assets (large-files release)
  • RPG Maker and ScummVM directories are excluded from deduplication
  • Two paths differing only by case break clones on Windows and macOS, and tests/test_no_case_collisions.py enforces this

Before opening a PR

The checks CI runs on a pull request (Python 3.12 or newer):

pip install pyyaml "jsonschema[format-nongpl]"
python scripts/validate_pr.py --changed          # the BIOS files the branch adds
python scripts/validate_schemas.py --source-only # profiles and platform files
python scripts/profile_sync.py --emulator NAME --strict  # each profile the branch adds
python -m unittest discover -s tests -t .

The full pipeline is not needed for a contribution: it rebuilds every pack (about 35 GB in dist/) and needs the data directories fetched first (python scripts/refresh_data_dirs.py), which is why maintainers run it before a release.

PR validation

CI computes SHA1/MD5/CRC32 for every new file, checks them against the platform configs, validates the YAML against the schemas, confronts each added profile with its upstream source, runs the test suite, and posts a report on the PR.

Contributors who add platform support are credited in the README, on the documentation site, and in the BIOS packs.