Contributing

db.md is Apache-2.0, and first-time contributors sign the Apache ICLA. The CLA preserves the option to relicense forward (the Grafana 2014 to 2021 pivot pattern) if a hyperscaler-fork threat ever materializes; the active codebase is permissive today.

Quick start

The toolkit is a single Rust workspace. One binary (dbmd); all logic lives in crates/dbmd-core, and crates/dbmd-cli is a thin arg-parse/format wrapper.

bash

git clone https://github.com/carloslfu/db.md.gitcd db.md
make build   # cargo build --workspacemake test    # cargo test --workspacemake lint    # cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings

What we will merge

Bugs. File an issue first, then PR with a test.
Spec extensions. Additive only. Propose a new optional type: or frontmatter field, not a change to existing semantics.
dbmd subcommands. Deterministic file/data operations on a store. New work lands in crates/dbmd-core (the library); the CLI stays a thin wrapper.
New example stores. The examples/ directory should grow over time.
Documentation. README, SPEC.md, examples, code comments.

What we won't merge

Schema lock-in. db.md is intentionally a primitive, not a product. Custom type: values must pass through; nothing in the spec or parser should reject them.
Vendor-specific assumptions. db.md must be usable on a plain Obsidian vault, a research project, or anyone's markdown folder, without any account or hosted service.
AI/LLM dependencies. dbmd is deterministic and ships zero AI: no provider SDKs, no API keys, no model calls, and no embeddings, vectors, or ANN, ever. The user's own agent harness does all the intelligence; dbmd is the dumb, fast tool it drives.
Heavy or restrictively-licensed dependencies. Keep the tree small. Every new crate and its license go in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES; licenses must be MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD, Unlicense, or MPL. No GPL, AGPL, or LGPL-static.

CLA

First-time PRs trigger the CLA Assistant bot. Sign the Apache ICLA by replying:

I have read the CLA Document and I hereby sign the CLA

The full CLA text lives at CLA.md.

Security

Report vulnerabilities privately via GitHub's "Report a vulnerability" on the db.md repo. Do not file public issues for security problems.

Project

db.md is an independent open standard. It is usable on its own, with no platform, account, or vendor required. No product owns it; db.md works the same in any folder of markdown.

The project lives at carloslfu/db.md under Apache-2.0, with the Apache ICLA on contributor code.

Quick start

The toolkit is a single Rust workspace. One binary (dbmd); all logic lives in crates/dbmd-core, and crates/dbmd-cli is a thin arg-parse/format wrapper.

What we will merge

Bugs. File an issue first, then PR with a test.

Spec extensions. Additive only. Propose a new optional type: or frontmatter field, not a change to existing semantics.

dbmd subcommands. Deterministic file/data operations on a store. New work lands in crates/dbmd-core (the library); the CLI stays a thin wrapper.

New example stores. The examples/ directory should grow over time.

Documentation. README, SPEC.md, examples, code comments.

What we won't merge

Schema lock-in. db.md is intentionally a primitive, not a product. Custom type: values must pass through; nothing in the spec or parser should reject them.

Vendor-specific assumptions. db.md must be usable on a plain Obsidian vault, a research project, or anyone's markdown folder, without any account or hosted service.

AI/LLM dependencies. dbmd is deterministic and ships zero AI: no provider SDKs, no API keys, no model calls, and no embeddings, vectors, or ANN, ever. The user's own agent harness does all the intelligence; dbmd is the dumb, fast tool it drives.

Heavy or restrictively-licensed dependencies. Keep the tree small. Every new crate and its license go in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES; licenses must be MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD, Unlicense, or MPL. No GPL, AGPL, or LGPL-static.