Contributing to Bioconda

Bioconda is completely dependent on contributors to add, update, and maintain recipes. Every little bit helps! Below are instructions for one-time setup as well as a general procedure to follow for each recipe you’d like to add.

The basic workflow is:

  • Follow the Initial Setup instructions to get a local copy of the recipes repository

  • Write a recipe or modify an existing one. A recipe consists of a metadata file and (optionally) a shell script to install it. Here is an example Python package:

  • Push your changes to GitHub. This triggers automatic building and testing of the recipe.

  • Once the tests pass, the recipe is reviewed by other members and then merged into the master branch. The resulting conda packages and containers that are built on the master branch are uploaded to public repositories for worldwide use.

There are some details to be aware of, and some software can be challenging to package. The topics below provide more details.