How to Contribute

Ways to Contribute

There are many ways to contribute to the Epstein Files Hub, regardless of your technical expertise:

Document Submission Guidelines

When submitting documents, please follow these guidelines:

Acceptable Documents

• Court filings from public dockets (PACER, CM/ECF)
• Government releases (FBI, DOJ, FAA, etc.)
• Documents from verified archives (DocumentCloud, Internet Archive)
• Media reports with original source documents
• Public records requests (FOIA) responses

Document Requirements

• Public: Must be publicly available or released
• Relevant: Must relate to the Epstein case
• Verified: Include source information and verification
• Quality: Clear, readable PDFs or images
• Complete: Full documents preferred over excerpts

What NOT to Submit

Submission Process

1. Prepare Document: Ensure it meets all requirements above
2. Gather Source Info: Document URL, case number, date, source
3. Upload: Use our upload page or GitHub
4. Review: Our team will verify and process (1-7 days)
5. Publication: Approved documents are added to the archive

Contributing Code

Technical contributors can help improve the codebase:

Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/IAmSoThirsty/Hub_of_Epstein_Files_Directory.git
cd Hub_of_Epstein_Files_Directory

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Start local server
python -m http.server 8000 --directory web

Areas for Contribution

• Search Improvements: Enhance Lunr.js search functionality
• UI/UX: Improve design, accessibility, mobile experience
• Processing Tools: Better PDF parsing, OCR, metadata extraction
• AI Agents: New agents for specialized tasks
• Documentation: Improve guides and inline documentation
• Testing: Add tests for new features

Pull Request Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes and commit (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to your fork (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request with detailed description
6. Wait for review and address feedback

Content Guidelines

All contributions must adhere to our content guidelines:

Quality Standards

• Accurate and verifiable information only
• Clear citations and source attribution
• Professional, objective tone
• Proper grammar and spelling
• Consistent formatting

Ethical Requirements

• Respect victim privacy and court orders
• No speculation or unverified claims
• Appropriate handling of sensitive material
• Focus on public interest and accountability
• Transparent about limitations and uncertainties

Recognition

We value all contributions to this project:

• Contributors List: All GitHub contributors are listed in our repository
• Changelog Credits: Significant contributions are noted in our changelog
• Community Recognition: Active contributors may be invited to join our volunteer team

Code of Conduct

Questions?

If you have questions about contributing:

• Check our FAQ page
• Search existing GitHub Issues
• Start a GitHub Discussion
• Review our Research Methodology