# Code of Conduct
## 🤝 Our Pledge
We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
## 📋 Our Standards
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
### ✅ Positive Behavior
- **Demonstrating empathy and kindness** toward other people
- **Being respectful** of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- **Giving and gracefully accepting** constructive feedback
- **Accepting responsibility** and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience
- **Focusing on what is best** not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community
- **Using welcoming and inclusive language**
- **Being patient with newcomers** and those learning
- **Celebrating contributions** of all community members
### ❌ Unacceptable Behavior
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
- Public or private harassment
- Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission
- Conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting
- Dismissing or attacking inclusion-oriented requests
- Sustained disruption of community discussions
- Intimidating behavior or stalking
## 🏢 Business Model Considerations
### Open-Core Respect
- **Respect the open-core model** - Understand that some features are commercial
- **No license circumvention** - Don't attempt to bypass license restrictions
- **Constructive feedback** - Provide feedback on commercial features respectfully
- **Support sustainability** - Understand that commercial features support project development
### Feature Discussions
- **Open source focus** - Keep open source discussions focused on open source features
- **Commercial inquiries** - Direct commercial feature requests through appropriate channels
- **Pricing discussions** - Keep pricing discussions constructive and professional
## 🛡️ Enforcement Responsibilities
Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.
## 🌍 Scope
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.
## 📊 Enforcement
### Reporting Guidelines
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement at:
**conduct@chessvector.ai**
All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
### What to Include in a Report
When reporting a Code of Conduct violation, please include:
1. **Your contact information** (so we can get in touch with you)
2. **Names (usernames, real names) of any individuals involved**
3. **When and where the incident occurred** (please be as specific as possible)
4. **Your account of what occurred**
5. **Any additional context** you believe is relevant
6. **If you believe the incident is ongoing**
### Confidentiality
We respect the confidentiality of the reporter. We will not share your identity with the accused or others without your explicit permission.
## ⚖️ Enforcement Guidelines
Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
### 1. Correction
**Community Impact**: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
**Consequence**: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
### 2. Warning
**Community Impact**: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
**Consequence**: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.
### 3. Temporary Ban
**Community Impact**: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.
**Consequence**: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
### 4. Permanent Ban
**Community Impact**: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
**Consequence**: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.
## 🎯 Community Guidelines
### For Contributors
- **Be welcoming to newcomers** - Help new contributors get started
- **Provide constructive feedback** - Focus on code/ideas, not the person
- **Be patient with questions** - Remember everyone was a beginner once
- **Share knowledge** - Help others learn and grow
- **Respect different skill levels** - Not everyone has the same experience
### For Maintainers
- **Lead by example** - Demonstrate the behavior you want to see
- **Be transparent** - Explain decisions and reasoning when possible
- **Be responsive** - Acknowledge contributions and feedback promptly
- **Foster inclusivity** - Actively work to include diverse perspectives
- **Balance commercial and open source** - Fairly manage open-core tensions
### For Community Members
- **Stay on topic** - Keep discussions relevant to the project
- **Use appropriate channels** - Post in the right forums/channels
- **Be respectful of time** - Value others' volunteer contributions
- **Follow up** - Update issues and discussions with outcomes
- **Celebrate successes** - Acknowledge good work and contributions
## 🤔 Frequently Asked Questions
### Q: What if someone violates the Code of Conduct in external spaces?
A: We generally only enforce our Code of Conduct within our community spaces. However, if external behavior significantly impacts our community, we may take action.
### Q: Can I report anonymously?
A: Yes, you can report violations anonymously, though it may limit our ability to follow up with you for additional information.
### Q: What about disagreements on technical decisions?
A: Technical disagreements are normal and healthy. Focus on the technical merits, be respectful, and accept that maintainers make final decisions.
### Q: How do commercial features affect community discussions?
A: Community discussions should focus on open source features. Commercial feature requests should be directed to appropriate business channels.
## 📞 Contact Information
- **Code of Conduct Team**: conduct@chessvector.ai
- **General Community**: hello@chessvector.ai
- **Security Issues**: security@chessvector.ai
## 📝 Acknowledgments
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the [Contributor Covenant](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/), version 2.1, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct.html.
Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder.
For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the FAQ at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq. Translations are available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations.
## 📅 Updates
This Code of Conduct may be updated from time to time. We will announce any significant changes to the community.
Last updated: 2025-06-22