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Contributing to Braze Docs

Thanks for contributing to Braze Docs! Every Tuesday and Thursday, we merge community contributions and deploy them to Braze Docs. Use this guide to get your changes merged during our next deployment.

Prerequisites

Some understanding of Git is required to contribute to Braze Docs. If you’re new to Git and don’t know where to start, see Git Book: Getting Started. If you just need a refresher, see Git and GitHub.

Step 1: Sign the CLA

Everybody that contributes to Braze Docs must sign the Contribution License Agreement (CLA). If you don’t sign the CLA, the @cla-bot on GitHub will automatically block your pull request.

Step 2: Set up your environment

Before you can make complex or multi-page changes to Braze Docs, you need to set up your local environment. However, small single-document changes can be completed directly in GitHub.

Step 2.1: Get the required software

At a minimum, you need a terminal, a text editor, and a ruby version manager. If you’re not sure where to start, see the following.

Type Product Description
Git GUI GitHub Desktop A graphical user interface (GUI) you can use to run Git commands, instead of typing commands in the terminal.
Terminal Wezterm A terminal emulator that allows you to run commands and interact with the Braze Docs repository from the commandline. If you're using a Windows operating system, you'll also need to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
Terminal extension Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)* WSL lets you install a Linux subsystem and run Unix-like commands on your Windows operating system. If you're contributing from a Windows operating system, we recommend installing WSL, so you can use any Unix-like command mentioned in the docs.

* Only available for Windows.
Package manager Homebrew A package manager that allows you to install and manage the various command-line interface (CLI) tools used for contributing to Braze Docs.
Ruby version manager rbenv A Ruby version manager that allows you to install and manage the required Ruby version for Braze Docs when you're setting up your local environment. To use a different Ruby version manager, see Ruby's supported version managers.
Text editor Visual Studio Code (VS Code) A full-featured text editor by Microsoft that allows you to edit any file in the Braze Docs repository. To improve your experience, be sure to install the following plugins:
Text editor Intellij's IDEA Community Edition A full-featured text editor by Intellij that allows you to edit any file in the Braze Docs repository. To improve your experience, be sure to install the following plugins:

Step 2.2: Set up your GitHub account

Next, create a GitHub account and set up your SSH key.

Step 2.3: Fork the repository

Open the Braze Docs GitHub repository, then select Fork.

The Braze Docs GitHub repository showing "Fork".

Keep the default settings, then select Create fork.

The Braze Docs GitHub repository showing "Create fork".

In your forked repository, select Code > SSH > Copy.

An example forked repository with the "Code" dropdown open showing the "Copy" option.

In your terminal, open your home directory, then clone the Braze Docs repository.

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cd ~
git clone [email protected]:braze-inc/braze-docs.git

Step 2.4: Install Ruby

To generate a local site preview, you’ll need Ruby version 3.2.2 installed. In the terminal, open braze-docs and check for Ruby version 3.2.2.

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cd ~/braze-docs
ruby --version

If this version isn’t installed, use a supported version manager to install Ruby version 3.2.2. For example, using rbenv.

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rbenv install 3.2.2

Step 2.5: Install dependencies

Next, install the dependencies for Braze Docs. These are small programs used to generate your local Braze Docs site.

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bundle install

Next steps

If you’re new to Git or docs-as-code, start with our tutorial: Your first contribution. Otherwise, check out one of the following.

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