We are happy that you are interested in contributing to Coolify.
The short version
Coolify is used by 470K+ people and maintained by two core maintainers. Contributions are welcome, but alignment matters more than volume: keep changes focused, discuss larger work before coding, test what you submit, and target the next branch.
Project scale
470K+
people use Coolify worldwide.
Review capacity
2 core maintainers
actively maintain the project.
Current focus
v4 stability
major changes are not planned for v4.
Important
These guidelines are stricter than many open-source projects on purpose. Clear structure and boundaries reduce maintainer burnout and keep Coolify sustainable long term.
Ways to contribute
Support others
Answer questions in Discord or GitHub Discussions when you can verify the answer.
Coolify v4 is focused on stability and sustainable maintenance. Small, focused contributions are easier to review; larger or directional changes need maintainer alignment before implementation.
Likely to be accepted
Small bug fixes with a clear reproduction path
Documentation fixes that improve clarity or accuracy
One-click service additions that follow the template rules
Narrow code-quality improvements with tests or manual verification
Discuss first or avoid
Major features or architectural changes without prior discussion
Large UI or UX rewrites without prior discussion
Broad refactors mixed into unrelated fixes
Low-effort AI-generated pull requests
Pull requests that target a branch other than next
Before opening a pull request
For anything beyond a small, obvious fix, align with the maintainers before spending time on implementation.
1
Check existing issues and discussions
2
Discuss larger changes before coding
3
Keep one pull request to one logical change
4
Test the change in a clean environment
5
Open the pull request against the next branch
Reference and close an issue or discussion when possible.
Do not reformat unrelated files or fix unrelated style issues.
Keep the contributor agreement in the pull request description.
Include detailed testing steps so maintainers can reproduce the result.
Commit and pull request format
Commit messages and pull request titles should start with an action and category. Keep descriptions concise; walls of text listing every small change may be rejected.
Prefix
Use
fix(ui):
UI-related fixes
fix(api):
API-related fixes
feat(api):
API-related additions
feat(service):
One-click service changes
AI usage
AI tools are allowed, but you must disclose AI usage in the pull request description. You are still responsible for understanding every change, verifying correctness, and following existing project patterns.
