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Development Workflow

Follow this step-by-step process to contribute code changes to the NetBox Toolkit Plugin.

Development Environment Options

If you're using the dev container, many setup steps are automated:

  • ✅ Environment setup is complete after container starts
  • ✅ Plugin is automatically installed in development mode
  • ✅ Database migrations are applied automatically
  • ✅ NetBox server starts automatically
  • 🔄 Use netbox-reload instead of manual pip install -e .
  • 🔄 Use netbox-restart for server management
  • 🔄 Use netbox-logs to view server output

📖 Dev Container Details: See .devcontainer/README.md in the project root for configuration options.

🛠️ Traditional Development Setup

For manual environment setup, follow the complete guide: Development Setup

1. Environment Setup

Follow the complete setup guide: Development Setup

2. Create a Branch for Development

For Develop Branch Development:

git checkout develop
git pull upstream develop
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

3. Make Your Changes

Using Dev Container: 

# Make your changes locally (files are automatically synced)
# Edit files...

# If you changed package structure, reinstall plugin
netbox-reload

# Migrations are applied automatically on restart
# Or apply manually if needed:
cd /opt/netbox/netbox
python manage.py migrate netbox_toolkit_plugin

Traditional Development: 

# Make your changes locally
# Edit files...

# If you changed package structure, reinstall
pip install -e .

# Apply any new migrations
cd /opt/netbox/netbox
python manage.py migrate netbox_toolkit_plugin

4. Test Your Changes

Using Dev Container: 

# NetBox is already running at http://localhost:8000
# Test your changes in the browser
# Check logs for any issues
netbox-logs

# Run tests and linting
netbox-test
ruff-check .

Traditional Development: 

# Run NetBox development server
cd /opt/netbox/netbox
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

# Test your changes in the browser
# Check logs for any issues

# Run tests and linting
python -m pytest
ruff check .

5. Commit and Push Changes

git add .
git commit -m "Your detailed description of your changes."
git push origin name-of-your-bugfix-or-feature

6. Submit a Pull Request

After pushing to your fork:

  1. Navigate to your fork on GitHub (e.g., https://github.com/yourusername/netbox-toolkit-plugin)
  2. GitHub will often show a banner suggesting to create a pull request for your recently pushed branch
  3. Click "Compare & pull request" or go to the "Pull requests" tab and click "New pull request"
  4. Ensure the base repository is set correctly:
    • Base repository: bonzo81/netbox-toolkit-plugin
    • Base branch: develop (for new features) or main (for hotfixes)
    • Head repository: yourusername/netbox-toolkit-plugin
    • Compare branch: feature/your-feature-name
  5. Fill out the pull request template with details about your changes
  6. Submit the pull request

Important Notes:

  • Pull requests are NOT created automatically - you must create them manually
  • Your changes go to your fork first, then you request they be pulled into the main repository
  • For new features, target the develop branch
  • For bug fixes on released versions, target the main branch