[Question] Recommended local setup path for first-time contributors

[AnshThukral]

Who is this feature for?

New contributors and developers who want to explore AutoMQ locally for the first time, especially those without prior Kafka or cloud-native experience.

What problem are they facing today?

As a new contributor, it’s not immediately clear which local setup path is recommended for beginners.

There appear to be multiple possible approaches (for example, Docker-based setup versus native installation), but the documentation does not clearly indicate which one is preferred or most beginner-friendly.

This can lead to confusion, trial-and-error, and slower onboarding for first-time contributors.

Why is solving this impactful?

Clarifying the recommended local setup path would significantly reduce onboarding friction for new contributors.

It helps first-time users get a working environment faster, builds confidence, and enables them to focus on learning and contributing rather than troubleshooting setup decisions.

This also aligns well with ongoing efforts to improve contributor documentation and onboarding.

Proposed solution

Document a clearly recommended local setup path for first-time contributors.

For example:

• Indicate whether Docker-based setup is preferred over native installation for beginners
• Briefly explain why that option is recommended
• Optionally mention alternative setups for advanced users

Additional notes

Related to documentation and onboarding improvements discussed in #3105.
Happy to help with documentation updates once the preferred approach is clarified.

[superhx]

cc @KaimingWan

[KaimingWan]

@AnshThukral I'm glad you're interested in contributing to AutoMQ. The current README file implicitly recommends the following approach:

1. If you are new to AutoMQ, it is recommended to quickly deploy and launch AutoMQ using Docker to experience its core capabilities.
2. After gaining some understanding from Step 1, if you wish to contribute code to AutoMQ, you can refer to the CONTRIBUTING GUIDE to build and run AutoMQ locally, and then try tackling some issues labeled as "good first issue" or other issues within your capability.

For beginners who wish to contribute code to AutoMQ, there is still room for improvement in our CONTRIBUTION GUIDE. We look forward to your contributions.

[AnshThukral]

Thanks a lot for the clarification, @KaimingWan !

That makes sense - starting with Docker to explore AutoMQ, and then moving to the CONTRIBUTING GUIDE for local development and code contributions.

I’ll take a look at the CONTRIBUTING GUIDE from a beginner’s perspective and propose small documentation improvements to make the onboarding steps clearer.