[chiragjangiir]

Resolves #4

Summary

Adds a standard CONTRIBUTING.md guide to onboard contributors cleanly, document local development setup, list mandatory CI verification checks, and state project contribution rules.

Changes

1. Created CONTRIBUTING.md covering:
   • Development environment setup with pip install -e ".[dev]".
   • Instructions for the four local CI verification checks (ruff check ., mypy src, pytest, cd examples && haltai matrix).
   • The simulation-first architecture and warnings against running AWS backend against production.
   • Core project rules on honest evidence reporting and simulation scenario additions.
   • Pull request guidelines and expectations.
2. Linked CONTRIBUTING.md from the documentation table in README.md.

Verification

• Tested each command documented in CONTRIBUTING.md locally:
  • ruff check . -> passed
  • mypy src -> passed
  • pytest -> 69 passed
  • cd examples && haltai matrix -> 11 scenarios matched

[IkarusAILabs]

Thanks, this is a clear guide and it's accurate. I checked it against the code:

• the setup command and all four checks work;
• AssessmentLimitation and ClaimResult.UNKNOWN exist;
• the scenario steps match the code layout.

It also merges cleanly onto the current main, where all 72 tests pass.

Two small additions before merge:

1. Adding a scenario should also update the baseline checklist. Under "Adding simulated scenarios", please add a step to score the new scenario in the desk-scoring table in docs/baseline-checklist.md. That table compares HaltAI with a manual runbook scenario by scenario, so a new scenario left out of it drops out of that comparison. Something like:

• Add a row for the scenario to the scoring table in docs/baseline-checklist.md, rating both the checklist and HaltAI.

2. A licence line. Please add a short section stating that contributions are accepted under the project's licence, for example:

License

HaltAI is licensed under Apache-2.0. By contributing, you agree that your contributions are licensed under the same terms (see LICENSE).

That's all. Once these are in, I'm happy to approve.

[chiragjangiir]

Hi @IkarusAILabs,

Both requested additions have been applied and upstream changes reconciled:

• Merged current main into the branch (16d92a9), resolving the README.md documentation table conflict cleanly while preserving all roadmap and release plan entries.
• Added the baseline checklist row update step under Adding simulated scenarios in CONTRIBUTING.md (76cca14).
• Added the Apache-2.0 License section to CONTRIBUTING.md (76cca14).

Local verification completed cleanly (ruff check ., mypy src, all 72 pytest tests passing, and scenario matrix verified). Ready for re-review.