docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md for testing, bug filing, and fix process#18
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Per today's standup: document the instruction process for bug reporting and skill creation for team-wide standardization. Written from the actual process that worked across a real QA pass on build-agent (issues #3-#8, PRs #9-#17), not a theoretical writeup - includes the two review corrections that happened along the way (env var precedence, permission-mode meaning) as concrete examples of re-verifying against source rather than defending a first-pass claim.
mmabrouk
reviewed
Jul 14, 2026
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Context
From today's standup (2026-07-08): document the instruction process for bug reporting and skill creation, for team-wide standardization. There wasn't a written process anywhere, so anyone testing a skill or filing a bug was figuring it out from scratch.
Changes
Added
CONTRIBUTING.mdat the repo root, covering three things: how to test a skill, how to file a bug, how to file a fix. It's written from what actually worked across a real QA pass onbuild-agent(issues #3-#8, PRs #9-#17), not a theoretical process. Two specific points come directly from mistakes made along the way in this repo's own PR history:AGENTA_HOSTvsAGENTA_API_URL) was stated backwards in an early PR revision, caught in review, re-verified against the actual SDK source, corrected on the same thread.self_managedvsagenta) was also stated backwards initially, same pattern: caught, re-verified, corrected in public rather than defended.Both are called out in the doc as the concrete example of "re-verify against source when a reviewer disputes a claim, don't defend the original write-up."
Tests
Documentation only, no script changes. Read through end to end to confirm it matches the actual sequence of events in this repo's issue/PR history (numbers cross-checked against
gh pr list/gh issue list).What to QA
Read
CONTRIBUTING.mdand flag anything that doesn't match how you'd actually want the team to work, this is meant to be the standard, so it should hold up to a real review before people start following it.