openDesk opens up for more contributions

openDesk is open source — and that should be more than just a label. That's why we have established a process that enables developers outside the core team to contribute to it's evolution. In this post, we explain how it works and what you need to get started.

Why a Dedicated Contribution Process?

openDesk is developed on the openCode platform, a GitLab instance operated specifically for the German public sector. Personal project spaces on openCode are only available to members of German public entities. To ensure that everyone can participate — whether you're an IT service provider, a freelance developer, or part of the international community — we have set up a structured path via a Contributor License Agreement (CLA).

Three Steps to Your First Contribution

Step 1: Set Up Your GitLab Profile

The starting point is an account on openCode. Make sure your username and full name are correctly configured and that you are able to produce signed commits — either via GPG or SSH.

Step 2: Request Access

To sign the CLA, you need Developer access to the CLA Signer project. Simply open an issue with the words "Access request" in the title. An automated job checks for new issues every 15 minutes, grants access, and closes the issue automatically.

Step 3: Sign the CLA

The Contributor License Agreement documents the rights you grant to the openDesk project for your contributions. It is available in German and English.

There are two ways to sign:

Digital: You create a merge request that adds your entry to the cla-signers.txt file — using a signed commit with a predefined commit message that confirms your acknowledgment of the CLA. The openDesk team will review and merge your MR as soon as possible.

Classical: You print the document, sign it by hand, scan it, and send it by email to opendesk@zendis.de. We will then add your entry to the signers list on your behalf.

Where You Can Contribute

Once your CLA has been signed successfully, you will automatically receive a personal group space within the openDesk Contributions group on openCode. There you can create forks of openDesk repositories and open merge requests against the upstream projects.

Contributions are particularly welcome in the following areas: deployment and the central openDesk configuration, tooling, documentation, as well as container images and Helm charts for platform-owned components.

Guidelines for Good Contributions

openDesk follows the Deutsche Verwaltungscloud-Strategie (DVS) and packages components as Helm charts. Kubernetes Operators and Custom Resource Definitions are deliberately avoided to ensure portability across all DVS-compliant platforms. New tooling dependencies should also be discussed with the team beforehand.

For all contributions: please familiarize yourself with the existing workflow conventions — especially regarding commit messages and branching. For larger undertakings, we recommend opening an issue first to align the planned approach with the team and avoid duplicate work.

Every Contribution Counts

openDesk thrives on public administration and its ecosystem working together on a sovereign office solution. Whether it's a bugfix, a documentation improvement, or a new feature — every contribution matters. Full details on the entire process can be found in the contributing documentation on openCode.

We look forward to your first merge request!

A Process That Grows With You

The contribution process we are presenting here is a first step. We know that a good contribution process can only prove itself in practice — and that there will be friction along the way. That's why we will continuously improve the workflow based on the experience we gather and the feedback you provide.

One topic we will actively address is how to handle AI-assisted contributions. Coding assistants like OpenCode or Claude are becoming increasingly commonplace in software development — raising questions around transparency, quality assurance, and legal responsibility. The Linux kernel project has established a pragmatic framework with its AI Coding Assistants policy: AI-assisted code is welcome as long as a human takes full responsibility and the use of AI is transparently documented via an Assisted-by tag. We are closely following these developments and will develop our own guidelines for handling AI-assisted contributions to openDesk.

If you notice anything we could do better — whether in the CLA process, in the collaboration via forks, or in the documentation — please let us know. The easiest way is via an issue on openCode or by email to opendesk@zendis.de.