Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Whether you’re fixing a bug, improving documentation, or proposing a new feature, please follow the steps below.

Getting Started

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub

  2. Clone your fork locally:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/groundtrack.git
cd groundtrack

  1. Create a virtual environment and install the library in editable mode:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # on Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e ".[plotting]"

  1. Create a feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Making Changes

  • Keep changes focused — one feature or fix per pull request

  • Follow the existing code style and naming conventions

  • Add or update docstrings for any functions you modify

  • If you fix a bug, include a description of what was wrong and how you fixed it

Submitting a Pull Request

  1. Commit your changes with a clear, imperative commit message (e.g. Fix corridor distance calculation for polar orbits)

  2. Push your branch to your fork:

git push origin feature/your-feature-name

  1. Open a pull request against the main branch of the original repository

  2. Describe what your change does and why

Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug, please open an issue on GitHub and include:

  • A short description of the problem

  • Steps to reproduce it

  • The Python version and platform you’re running on

  • Any relevant error messages or tracebacks

Requesting Features

Feature requests are also welcome via GitHub Issues. Please describe the use case and why the feature would be useful.