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Contributor Guide

First off, thank you for taking the time to contribute to Video.js 10 ❤️ Your input helps shape the next generation of open web media players.

Video.js is a free and open source library, and we appreciate any help you're willing to give - whether it's fixing bugs, improving documentation, or suggesting new features. Contributions and project decisions are overseen by the Video.js Technical Steering Committee (TSC).

🎒 Contributing code

Video.js 10 is set up a monorepo using pnpm workspaces. As such, most scripts run will be done from the project/workspace root. Unless otherwise specified, assume commands and similar should be run from the root directory.

Tip

This repo includes tooling for AI-assisted development. See Using AI.

Getting Your Machine Ready

You’ll need the following installed:

Tip

PNPM will automatically use the correct Node version when running scripts. If you prefer NVM: after installing it, simply run nvm use in the repo root.

⬇️ Fork & Clone

  1. Fork on GitHub.
  2. Clone your fork locally and set up upstream tracking:
git clone https://github.com/{your-github-username}/v10.git
cd vjs-10

git remote add upstream git@github.com:videojs/v10.git
git fetch upstream
git branch --set-upstream-to=upstream/main main

To update your local main branch later:

git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git pull upstream main

⚙️ Setup

pnpm install

This also creates symlink aliases (.opencode, agents, AGENTS.md) so that AI coding tools other than Claude Code can discover project instructions.

Note

Windows users: Directory symlinks use junctions and work automatically. File symlinks (e.g., AGENTS.md → CLAUDE.md) require Developer Mode enabled. If symlink creation fails, pnpm install will log a warning but continue normally — the canonical files (.claude/, CLAUDE.md) still work fine.

Then build all workspace packages:

pnpm build:packages

ℹ️ VS Code Users: the project may suggest extensions to enhance the developer experience. If imports like react are not resolving, set your TS version to the workspace one: CMD/CTRL + Shift + P → TypeScript: Select TypeScript Version → Use Workspace Version.

🏗 Building & Development

To run the workspace in development mode:

pnpm dev

This will run the entire workspace in developer mode, meaning all applications (examples and website) will also be started on their respective ports.

# Run the documentation site
pnpm dev:site

Sometimes you may want to do (non-dev) builds, say, to validate the full build process or evaluate production artifacts.

pnpm build:packages

To build the sandbox (and its package dependencies):

pnpm build:sandbox

To build all workspace packages and applications:

pnpm build

🧹 Style & Linting

For the bulk of our core code, we use Biome. Between IDE configs, pre-commit hooks, and manual CLI fixes, many styling and linting issues should get caught automatically.

To ensure your code follows our lint rules with:

pnpm lint
pnpm lint:fix

Pre‑commit hooks automatically lint staged files via simple-git-hooks and lint‑staged.

🧪 Testing

We use Vitest for unit testing.

pnpm test                    # all workspace tests
pnpm -F core test            # just core package
pnpm -F core test:watch      # watch core package

📦 Dependencies

To add a dependency to a specific package, you can use pnpm filtering from the workspace root:

pnpm -F <scope> add <package>
# Example:
pnpm -F react add @floating-ui/react-dom

To upgrade a dependency across all packages:

pnpm up <package>@<version> -r

Caution

We try to be very intentional with any dependencies we add to this project. This is true of both developer/tooling dependencies and especially package-level (source) dependencies. If you find yourself needing to add a dependency, we strongly encourage you to check in with the core maintainers before proceeding to avoid wasted time and effort for everyone involved (yourself included!).

Using AI

Video.js 10 includes tooling for AI-assisted development with Claude Code. Read CLAUDE.md for repo-wide conventions, package layout, and development workflow.

Slash Commands

Command Purpose
/commit-pr Commit changes and create/update a PR
/review-branch Review changes in the current branch
/gh-issue <n> Analyze an issue and generate a plan

Skills

Domain-specific knowledge lives in .claude/skills/:

Skill Use When
api Designing APIs, reviewing architecture
component Building UI components
aria Accessibility implementation and review
docs Writing documentation
git Commit messages, PR conventions

See .claude/skills/README.md for workflow mappings.

Maintaining AI Docs

When your changes introduce new patterns:

  • Code conventions → Update CLAUDE.md Code Rules section
  • Domain patterns → Update relevant skill in .claude/skills/

Design Docs and RFCs

We use two types of design documents:

Design Docs (internal/design/) — Decisions you own, documented for posterity. Write one when making significant decisions in your area, choosing between approaches, or documenting architecture. See internal/design/README.md.

RFCs (rfc/) — Proposals needing buy-in from others. Write one when the decision affects multiple areas, changes shared API surface, or is hard to reverse. See rfc/README.md.

Rule of thumb: If you need someone else's approval, it's an RFC. If you're documenting your own decision, it's a Design Doc.

Skip both for: Bug fixes, small contained features, implementation details.

Creating a Pull Request

By submitting a pull request, you agree that your contribution is provided under the Apache 2.0 License and may be included in future releases. No contributor license agreement (CLA) has ever been required for contributions to Video.js. See the Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1.

Step 1: Verify

Whether you're adding something new, making something better, or fixing a bug, you'll first want to search the GitHub issues to make sure you're aware of any previous discussion or work. If an unclaimed issue exists, claim it via a comment. If no issue exists for your change, submit a new issue.

Step 2: Update remote

Before starting work, you want to update your local repository to have all the latest changes from upstream/main.

git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git pull upstream main

Note

If git pull upstream main fails, this means either you've committed changes to your local clone of main or there was a (rare) change in upstream/main's commit history. In either case, if you simply want to base your local clone off of the latest in upstream/main, you can simply run: git checkout -B main upstream/main (assuming you've already fetched). For more on git checkout -B, check out the git docs.

Step 3: Branch

You want to do your work in a separate branch. In general, you want to make sure the branch is based off of the latest in upstream/main.

git checkout -b my-branch

One helpful naming convention approximates conventional commits, e.g.:

  • fix/some-issue
  • feat/my-media-store-feature
  • docs/site-docs-for-x
  • chore/repo-cleanup-task

Step 4: Commit

We follow conventional commits semantics to enable automated releases.

Examples:

  • feat(core): add volume smoothing hook
  • fix(react): correct prop mapping for picture-in-picture
  • chore(root): update linting

Tip

Run git log (or git log --oneline) to check recent examples before committing.

Step 5: Test

Any code change should come with corresponding test changes. Especially bug fixes. Tests attached to bug fixes should fail before the change and succeed with it.

pnpm test

See Testing for more information.

Step 6: Review Documentation

If your changes introduced new patterns or conventions, check if documentation needs updates:

Step 7: Push

When ready, push your branch up to your fork (or upstream if you are a core contributor):

git push --set-upstream origin fix/my-issue

Then, open a PR via the green “Compare & Pull Request” button. In the description, make sure you thoroughly describe your changes and link related issues or discussions.

  • Keep PRs focused and small when possible.
  • Give reviewers time to provide feedback.
  • Even if a PR isn’t merged, your work helps shape the direction of Video.js 10 ❤️

Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

  • (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I have the right to submit it under the open source license indicated in the file; or

  • (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source license and I have the right under that license to submit that work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part by me, under the same open source license (unless I am permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated in the file; or

  • (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified it.

  • (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution are public and that a record of the contribution (including all personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with this project or the open source license(s) involved.

Community

To discuss larger ideas or prototypes, or to help out with ongoing discussions, open a thread in: