info: "See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines"
description: "Development Guidelines: learn how to contribute to GitLab."
---
# Contributor and Development Docs
Learn the processes and technical information needed for contributing to GitLab.
This content is intended for members of the GitLab Team as well as community
contributors. Content specific to the GitLab Team should instead be included in
the [Handbook](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/).
For information on using GitLab to work on your own software projects, see the
- [Pipelines for the GitLab project](pipelines.md)
Complementary reads:
- [GitLab core team & GitLab Inc. contribution process](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/PROCESS.md)
- [Security process for developers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release/docs/blob/master/general/security/developer.md#security-releases-critical-non-critical-as-a-developer)
- [Requesting access to ChatOps on GitLab.com](chatops_on_gitlabcom.md#requesting-access) (for GitLab team members)
### Development guidelines review
When you submit a change to the GitLab development guidelines, who
you ask for reviews depends on the level of change.
#### Wording, style, or link changes
Not all changes require extensive review. For example, MRs that don't change the
content's meaning or function can be reviewed, approved, and merged by any
maintainer or Technical Writer. These can include:
- Typo fixes.
- Clarifying links, such as to external programming language documentation.
- Changes to comply with the [Documentation Style Guide](documentation/index.md)
that don't change the intent of the documentation page.
#### Specific changes
If the MR proposes changes that are limited to a particular stage, group, or team,
request a review and approval from an experienced GitLab Team Member in that
group. For example, if you're documenting a new internal API used exclusively by
a given group, request an engineering review from one of the group's members.
After the engineering review is complete, assign the MR to the
[Technical Writer associated with the stage and group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments)
in the modified documentation page's metadata.
If you have questions or need further input, request a review from the
Technical Writer assigned to the [Development Guidelines](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines).
#### Broader changes
Some changes affect more than one group. For example:
- Changes to [code review guidelines](code_review.md).
- Changes to [commit message guidelines](contributing/merge_request_workflow.md#commit-messages-guidelines).
- Changes to guidelines in [feature flags in development of GitLab](feature_flags/).
- Changes to [feature flags documentation guidelines](documentation/feature_flags.md).
In these cases, use the following workflow:
1. Request a peer review from a member of your team.
1. Request a review and approval of an Engineering Manager (EM)
or Staff Engineer who's responsible for the area in question:
You can skip this step for MRs authored by EMs or Staff Engineers responsible
for their area.
If there are several affected groups, you may need approvals at the
EM/Staff Engineer level from each affected area.
1. After completing the reviews, consult with the EM/Staff Engineer
author / approver of the MR.
If this is a significant change across multiple areas, request final review
and approval from the VP of Development, the DRI for Development Guidelines,
@clefelhocz1.
1. After all approvals are complete, assign the merge request to the
Technical Writer for [Development Guidelines](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines)
for final content review and merge. The Technical Writer may ask for
additional approvals as previously suggested before merging the MR.
