The Qt Project

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Getting Started (Docs) Code Review (Gerrit)

Setting up your environment

1. 1. Create an Account

   Register your Qt account, so you can easily authenticate across all the Qt services: Bug tracker, Gerrit, Wiki, etc.

2. 2. Install the necessary software

   You can check the platform-dependent requirements for building Qt from source in the documentation page, here is a short list:

   • Git is used in all the repositories, so you will need it for getting the source code, pushing your contributions, etc.
   • A C++ compiler supported by the Qt version you are building, like GCC, Clang, or MSVC.
   • CMake is used for configuring a Qt build.
   • Ninja is recommended in order to compile the project that is configured by CMake.

3. 3. Get the sources

   You can get the qtbase repository as a starting point which includes many modules like Core, GUI, and Widgets:

   git clone https://code.qt.io/qt/qtbase.git

   All the qtbase modules can be found here. Other Qt modules are included as sub-modules of the qt5 meta repository:

   git clone https://code.qt.io/qt/qt5.git

   In order to initialize this meta repository and get all the sub-modules, you can use the init-repository script (or, since Qt 6.7, the configure script). There are a few options in case you want to only initialize a few sub-modules, or use specific branches, read more here.

4. 4. Configure Gerrit

   Log in to Gerrit and add your desired information to your account, but remember to accept the CLA.

   Configure your SSH and add the proper remote to your repository. Read more about the process on the wiki. If you configured everything correctly, running the following command:

   ssh codereview.qt-project.org

   you should get the following message:

   ****    Welcome to Gerrit Code Review    ****
   
   Hi <name>, you have successfully connected over SSH.
   
   Unfortunately, interactive shells are disabled.
   To clone a hosted Git repository, use:
   
   git clone ssh://<username>@codereview.qt-project.org:29418/REPOSITORY_NAME.git
   
   Connection to codereview.qt-project.org closed.

Prepare your contributions

1. 5. Find an issue to solve

   In case you are not solving a problem you encounter while developing an application, you can check the list of open issues in our bug report system in order to find something that is interesting to you.

2. 6. Commit & Push!

   Once you have your local patch ready to submit, remember a few things:

   Check the Commit Policy and remember to add a Task-number: or Fixes: entry to the commit footer. Since your patch will be pushed to the dev branch, add a Pick-to: when a cherry-pick to another branch is necessary.

   git add <the files you modified>
   git commit  # this will open an editor, for you to write a message
   git push gerrit HEAD:refs/for/dev

   If the push worked well, you will get a URL for your new change on Gerrit where you will be able to modify the commit message with the web interface, add reviewers, and view your change in detail.