From d6f6678b38611b973b25446c95a129b19dbd9dc3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andre Light <7719153+lightmotive@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:11:04 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md with development and testing
 instructions

---
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 39 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0fc0cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Development Setup
+
+```bash
+npm install
+```
+
+## Building
+
+```bash
+npm run build          # Type-check + production build
+npm run dev            # Watch mode (rebuilds on file changes)
+npm run build:local    # Build + copy to Obsidian vault (requires .env with VAULT_PATH)
+```
+
+For `build:local`, create a `.env` file in the project root:
+
+```
+VAULT_PATH=/path/to/your/obsidian/vault
+```
+
+## Testing
+
+Tests use [vitest](https://vitest.dev/) and cover the pure link-building functions in `src/linkBuilder.ts`.
+
+```bash
+npm test               # Run all tests once
+npm run test:watch     # Run tests in watch mode (re-runs on file changes)
+```
+
+Test files live alongside source files with a `.test.ts` suffix (e.g., `src/linkBuilder.test.ts`).
+
+## Linting
+
+```bash
+npm run lint           # Check for lint errors
+npm run lint:fix       # Auto-fix lint errors
+```