freecad-robust-mcp-fc111/docs/development/contributing.md

Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to FreeCAD MCP Server!

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Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 (must match FreeCAD's bundled version)
• mise for tool management
• FreeCAD 0.21+ or 1.0+ installed

Initial Setup

git clone https://github.com/spkane/freecad-robust-mcp-and-more.git
cd freecad-robust-mcp-and-more

# Install mise if not already installed
curl https://mise.run | sh

# Install project tools and dependencies
mise trust
mise install
just setup

Safety CLI Account (Required for Security Scanning)

This project uses Safety CLI for dependency vulnerability scanning. Safety requires a free account for the safety scan command used in pre-commit hooks.

# Register for a free account (interactive)
uv run safety auth

# Or login if you already have an account
uv run safety auth --login

Note: Authentication is stored locally and only needs to be done once per machine. If you skip this step, the safety pre-commit hook will fail with an authentication prompt.

CI/CD: Safety runs in CI using the SAFETY_API_KEY repository secret.

Running Tests

# Run all tests
just test

# Run unit tests only
just testing::unit

# Run with coverage
just testing::cov

# Run type checking
uv run mypy src/

Code Quality

# Run all pre-commit checks
just check

# Run linting
just lint

# Format code
just format

# Run security checks
just quality::secrets

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Project Structure

freecad-robust-mcp-and-more/
├── src/freecad_mcp/           # Main package
│   ├── bridge/                # FreeCAD connection bridges
│   ├── tools/                 # MCP tool implementations
│   ├── resources/             # MCP resource implementations
│   ├── prompts/               # MCP prompt templates
│   └── server.py              # Main server entry point
├── addon/                     # FreeCAD workbench addon
│   └── FreecadRobustMCP/      # Workbench files
├── macros/                    # Standalone FreeCAD macros
├── tests/                     # Test suite
│   ├── unit/                  # Unit tests
│   └── integration/           # Integration tests
├── docs/                      # Documentation
└── just/                      # Justfile modules

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Contribution Guidelines

Code Style

• Follow PEP 8 with 88-character line length (ruff/black)
• Use type hints for all function signatures
• Write Google-style docstrings
• Run just format before committing

Testing

• Write tests for all new functionality
• Maintain test coverage
• Run just test before submitting PRs
• Integration tests require FreeCAD (run via CI)

Documentation

• Update docstrings for API changes
• Update user docs for feature changes
• Run just docs to build and verify

Commits

• Use conventional commit format
• Keep commits focused and atomic
• Reference issues when applicable

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Adding New MCP Tools

1. Choose the right module in src/freecad_mcp/tools/
2. Add the tool function with proper docstring:

@mcp.tool()
async def my_new_tool(
    param1: str,
    param2: int = 10,
    doc_name: str | None = None,
) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """Short description of what the tool does.

    Args:
        param1: Description of param1.
        param2: Description of param2.
        doc_name: Document name. Uses active if None.

    Returns:
        Dictionary with result information.
    """
    bridge = await get_bridge()
    code = f'''
# FreeCAD Python code here
_result_ = {{"success": True}}
'''
    result = await bridge.execute_python(code)
    return result.result or {"success": False}

1. Add tests in the appropriate test file
2. Update documentation in docs/guide/tools.md
3. Update capabilities resource in src/freecad_mcp/resources/freecad.py

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Adding New Connection Modes

1. Create a new bridge class in src/freecad_mcp/bridge/
2. Inherit from FreecadBridge base class
3. Implement all abstract methods
4. Add to bridge factory in src/freecad_mcp/bridge/__init__.py
5. Add configuration option in src/freecad_mcp/config.py
6. Update documentation

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Release Process

Releases are automated via GitHub Actions:

1. Update CHANGELOG.md
2. Create a GitHub Release with a version tag
3. CI builds and publishes:
   • PyPI package
   • Docker images
   • Macro release archives

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Future Work

The following items are on the roadmap and welcome contributions:

Embedded Mode Integration Tests

Currently, embedded mode has only mocked unit tests. Adding live integration tests would require:

1. CI workflow that runs on Linux (embedded mode is Linux-only)
2. Uses FreeCAD AppImage's bundled Python interpreter
3. Sets up PYTHONPATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to AppImage libs
4. Runs tests with FREECAD_MODE=embedded

Challenge: The AppImage bundles Python 3.11, so tests must run using that interpreter (not the system Python) to avoid ABI incompatibility.

Reference: See macro-test.yaml for how integration tests currently work with xmlrpc mode.

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Getting Help

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.