[AAASM-427] 📝 (docs): Contributing guide refinements + Code of Conduct

[Chisanan232]

Description

Refines the root CONTRIBUTING.md and fills the previously-empty
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md so the project has complete, accurate contributor
governance docs. Implements AAASM-427.

• CONTRIBUTING.md — kept all existing good content; added/expanded:
  issue reporting (with template links), four-part branch naming
  (<release>/<ticket>/<type>/<summary>), commit conventions aligned to
  Conventional Commits + GitEmoji (with a category table), the PR
  process (always base master, links the PR template), a new Code
  Review section (author/reviewer expectations, merge criteria, squash
  vs rebase), the DCO sign-off requirement (already present, kept),
  and a link to the README Quickstart for local-dev setup.
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — the unmodified Contributor Covenant 2.1,
  with the enforcement contact substituted to security@agent-assembly.dev.

Type of Change

• 📝 Documentation update

Breaking Changes

• No

Related Issues

• Related Jira ticket: AAASM-427

Testing

• No tests required (documentation-only change)
• markdownlint-cli2 against the repo .markdownlint.json: 0 errors on both files.
• lychee --offline: 0 errors (all internal links — Code of Conduct, README#quickstart, PR/issue templates, SECURITY.md, LICENSE — resolve).

Checklist

• Code follows project style guidelines (markdownlint clean)
• Self-review of the diff completed
• Documentation updated
• All CI checks passing (mdBook build / commands — markdown-only)
• Commits are small and follow the Gitmoji convention (5 atomic commits, DCO signed-off)

Follow-up (dependent, not in scope)

Aggregation of these files to the docs site /contributing/ page via
repository_dispatch depends on the AAASM-302 docs-sync workflow,
which is not yet present in the repo. Noted here rather than invented.

[Chisanan232]

🤖 Claude Code — PR review

Ticket: AAASM-427 — Author Contributing guide + Code of Conduct.

CI — ✅ all green

Build mdBook ✅ · Verify documented commands (Linux) ✅ · Analyze (javascript-typescript) ✅ · Analyze (python) ✅. Deploy to GitHub Pages correctly skipped on a PR. No acceptance/coverage/Sonar items. Nothing to fix.

Scope vs. acceptance criteria

AC	Status	Notes
CONTRIBUTING.md: issue filing, branch naming, commit conventions, PR process, code-review expectations, DCO sign-off, local-dev quickstart link	✅	all sections present; commit conventions aligned to Conventional Commits + GitEmoji with a category table; DCO git commit -s requirement kept; links README #quickstart
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md: Contributor Covenant 2.1, project contact email	✅	unmodified Covenant 2.1, enforcement contact = security@agent-assembly.dev
Referenced by GitHub's standard prompts (Community Standards)	✅	both at repo root → GitHub auto-detects on issue/PR forms
markdownlint clean	✅	markdownlint-cli2 against repo .markdownlint.json: 0 errors
lychee clean	✅	lychee --offline: 0 errors (Code of Conduct, README#quickstart, PR/issue templates, SECURITY.md, LICENSE all resolve)
Aggregated to /contributing/ on docs site via repository_dispatch (AAASM-302 sync)	⏸️ deferred	docs-sync infra not present; tracked under subtask AAASM-655
Cross-link from docs-site landing footer	⏸️ deferred	docs-site change = AAASM-302
Dedicated lychee CI job for these files	⏸️ follow-up	subtask AAASM-661; validated locally this round, no new CI job added in this PR

Both files are fully delivered and validated. The ⏸️ items are docs-site-aggregation (genuinely dependent on AAASM-302) plus the standalone lychee CI job (AAASM-661), which can land as its own small change.

Commits & lane — ✅ clean

5 atomic, DCO-signed commits (git commit -s): 1 for the Code of Conduct + 4 per-section for CONTRIBUTING (intro/quickstart · branch+commit conventions · PR+code-review · issue reporting). Lane = root CONTRIBUTING.md + CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md only; docs/ untouched (parallel AAASM-419/421 lanes). Pushed to canonical remote; pre-push cargo doc hook ran and passed (no --no-verify, no force-push).

Note on authoring

The Code of Conduct is the canonical Contributor Covenant 2.1 fetched verbatim from contributor-covenant.org with only the [INSERT CONTACT METHOD] placeholder substituted (and wrapped in <…> to satisfy markdownlint MD034) — otherwise unmodified, as the AC requires.

Readiness

Ready to merge pending one Pioneer-team approval. CI green, both files lint/link-clean, all file-level ACs met. Docs-site aggregation tracked under AAASM-655 / AAASM-302; lychee CI job under AAASM-661.

Recorded as a review note; no formal approval submitted.

[Chisanan232]

🏷️ Held open — do-not-merge.

This documentation is written out in full detail and the review is green/ready, but the team is still deliberating on the documentation content/structure. Per maintainer decision, keep this PR open and do not merge until that discussion concludes. The do-not-merge label reflects that hold — it is not a CI or quality blocker (CI is green; all in-scope ACs are met).

— Claude Code