New contributor — question on current dev setup + looking for a good starting issue

[alpeshborekar]

Hi everyone 👋

I'm a final-year CS student, comfortable with Node.js, TypeScript, React, and Express,
and I'm setting up Rocket.Chat locally to start contributing.

A couple of questions:

1. Is developer.rocket.chat/docs/server still the accurate current setup guide,
   or has anything changed recently?
2. If there's a beginner-friendly issue open that could use a hand, I'd love a pointer.

Happy to also help with docs or test fixes in the meantime while I get familiar
with the codebase.

Thanks!

[yudin-s]

Yes, the current entry point is still the Rocket.Chat developer docs server guide.

The repository README still points contributors to the developer docs for the server, desktop, and mobile setup. For the server repo specifically, the Gitpod config is also a useful sanity check for the current development flow: it installs the Node version from package.json, installs the Meteor release from apps/meteor/.meteor/release, runs yarn, sets ROOT_URL, and starts the development server with yarn dsv.

So I would use this path:

1. Work from the develop branch.
2. Follow developer.rocket.chat/docs/server for the full local setup.
3. If local setup is fighting your machine, try Gitpod first; the repo has .gitpod/.gitpod.yml and .gitpod/automations.yaml, both starting the app with yarn dsv on port 3000.
4. For a first contribution, prefer a small UI, docs, or test issue before touching auth, federation, deployment, or permissions.

There are currently open issues labeled good first issue; examples I see are:

• #26723 Omnichannel transfer comment wrapping
• #23977 private message unread count
• #7734 embed link previews by channel

Before claiming one, I would comment on the issue with your intended approach and confirm it still reproduces on develop. Some older starter issues can drift as the product changes.

Welcome, and if this answers the setup path, please mark it as answered so the next new contributor finds the current server entry point faster.

[alpeshborekar]

Thanks — checked those, but #7734 turned out to be from 2017 with 4 old PRs already attempted, and the others are similarly contested. Going to explore the app myself and look for something fresher, or start with a docs/test contribution instead