Wild HQ is run by volunteers. People contribute because they want the work to exist, in whatever time they freely choose to give. There are no minimum hours, rosters, attendance checks, or assumed response times.
The instincts explain why Wild HQ makes certain choices. This handbook explains what those choices mean while doing the work.
Your first hour
- Read the instincts and Volunteering at Wild HQ. You do not need to memorise them.
- Join the Wild HQ Discord if you have been invited to work with the team. Discord is the conversation room, not the permanent record.
- Read Getting set up and ask for only the accounts and permissions your current work needs. GitHub organisation access requires multi-factor authentication.
- Use the products and systems map to find the repository and boundary that owns the behaviour.
- Find or create a bounded task in Wildbase Work. Say what you intend to do before investing a large amount of time.
- Follow Task to pull request and open a draft pull request early for code.
If a step is unclear, search this handbook, the task, and the repository instructions first. When the missing answer could change scope, safety, or authority, write the question on the durable task and use Discord to bring attention to it. A focused question asked early is cheaper than a heroic wrong turn.
Wild HQ does not currently maintain a public starter-task queue. Search Wildbase Work for an unclaimed bounded task; if none fits, create one for the smallest useful outcome and share its link in the contributor Discord channel. You may begin reversible public documentation, investigation, or isolated development after making the work visible. Wait for an explicit answer only when the task changes shared state, needs protected access, creates cost, sets policy, or could expose people or data.
Where things belong
| What | Home | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation and quick questions | Discord | Move conclusions somewhere durable. |
| Tasks, bugs, proposals, and decision records | Wildbase Work | This is the source of truth for work status. |
| Code and review | GitHub | Pull requests link back to Wildbase Work. |
| Public working practice | This handbook | Correct it when practice changes. |
| Passwords, tokens, and sensitive personal information | Do not send them | Wild HQ has no secure submission channel. The contact route is ordinary email; use it only for a redacted notice. |
If a Discord conversation changes scope, settles a disagreement, or creates a promise, summarise it on the relevant task or pull request. Someone who was asleep should be able to understand what happened.
Taking on work
Choose work you have the interest and capacity to move. A coordinator may suggest a task, but volunteering is not assignment by default and “no” is a complete answer.
When you claim a task, leave a short note with:
- the outcome you are aiming for;
- the next action you expect to take;
- any important constraint or open question; and
- whether another person is waiting on you.
Claiming a task is a promise to keep its record honest, not a promise that life will never intervene. If you pause or stop, say so when you can and leave enough context for another volunteer to continue.
Before you receive access
Use a password manager, enable multi-factor authentication, and keep access separate from shared or family accounts. Do not put secrets, private customer material, security details, or confidential agreements into Discord, public Wildbase Work objects, GitHub issues, ordinary email, or an online AI tool.
Access is for a task, not a badge. It can be narrowed or removed when it is no longer needed without changing anyone’s standing in the team.
What you can expect
You can expect direct feedback, room to disagree, and an explanation when a proposal is declined. You can also expect other volunteers to be unavailable without notice. Nobody is required to be always online, attend a call, or rescue work they did not accept.
Good-faith mistakes belong to the team. Maintainers may restrict access to stop immediate harm from harassment, coercion, or deliberate privacy or security violations. That is an operational safety action, not an independent conduct finding; Wild HQ currently has no independent conduct-review process.