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docs: add guidance on discussing features before opening PRs #1760

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docs: add guidance on discussing features before opening PRs
maxisbey Dec 9, 2025
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docs: strengthen contributing guidelines
maxisbey Dec 11, 2025
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31 changes: 31 additions & 0 deletions CONTRIBUTING.md
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Thank you for your interest in contributing to the MCP Python SDK! This document provides guidelines and instructions for contributing.

## Before You Start

We welcome contributions! These guidelines exist to save everyone time, yours included. Following them means your work is more likely to be accepted.

**All pull requests require a corresponding issue.** Unless your change is trivial (typo, docs tweak, broken link), create an issue first. PRs without a linked issue will be closed.

Having an issue doesn't guarantee acceptance. Wait for maintainer feedback or a `ready for work` label before starting. PRs for issues without buy-in may also be closed.

Use issues to validate your idea before investing time in code. PRs are for execution, not exploration.

### The SDK is Opinionated

Not every contribution will be accepted, even with a working implementation. We prioritize maintainability and consistency over adding capabilities. This is at maintainers' discretion.

### What Needs Discussion

These always require an issue first:

- New public APIs or decorators
- Architectural changes or refactoring
- Changes that touch multiple modules
- Features that might require spec changes (these need a [SEP](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol) first)

Bug fixes for clear, reproducible issues are welcome—but still create an issue to track the fix.

### Good Candidates for Contribution

Issues labeled [`good first issue`](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) or [`help wanted`](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22) are great starting points. Issues labeled [`ready for work`](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22ready+for+work%22) have been triaged and are ready for implementation.

Issues labeled `needs confirmation` or `needs maintainer action` are **not** good candidates—wait for maintainer input before starting work.

## Development Setup

1. Make sure you have Python 3.10+ installed
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