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Becoming part of the VDA 231-301 Community

Contributing Guidelines for VDA 231-301 repositories

Thank you for your interest in contributing 🙌
This repository is part of the VDA 231-301 standardization activities and supports collaborative development within the VDA and the Eclipse / Tractus‑X ecosystem.

Please read the following information carefully before contributing.

🧭 Scope and Intent of Contributions

This GitHub organization provides working repositories for:

  • the generic VDA 231‑301 JSON schema
  • subschemas extending the generic schema
  • documentation, examples, and discussions

Contributions on GitHub support:

  • transparency
  • technical discussion
  • collaborative development

⚠️ Important:
Activities and content on GitHub do not by themselves constitute an official VDA release or decision.

🤝 Forms of Contribution

You may contribute by:

  • opening Issues to discuss questions or proposals
  • submitting Pull Requests with clarifications, corrections, or improvements
  • participating in technical discussions
  • proposing new subschemas

All contributions are subject to review.

🐞 Reporting Issues

When opening an Issue, please provide:

  • a clear description of the topic or problem
  • references to the affected schema, section, or file
  • rationale and, where applicable, suggested solutions

Use Issues not only for bugs, but also for discussion and clarification.

🔧 Pull Requests (GitHub Level)

Pull Requests may include:

  • editorial improvements
  • technical clarifications
  • schema enhancements
  • documentation updates

Please ensure that:

  • changes are focused and comprehensible
  • terminology and structure remain consistent
  • existing conventions are respected

Pull Requests are reviewed by the maintainers of the respective repository.

🧩 Generic Schema vs. Subschemas

Generic VDA 231‑301 Schema

The generic schema defines the core data structure of the VDA 231‑301 recommendation.

⚠️ Changes to the generic schema:

  • must be carefully evaluated

  • require alignment within the VDA working structures, see Contribution process diagram: German / English

  • are not finalized through GitHub alone

GitHub serves as a technical preparation and discussion platform.

Subschemas

Subschemas:

  • extend the generic schema
  • address specific standards, recommendations, or use cases
  • are typically developed in dedicated repositories

The subschema lifecycle usually includes:

  1. Draft and discussion on GitHub
  2. Technical refinement and alignment
  3. Formal review and release via VDA processes, see Contribution process diagram: German / English

Only after successful completion of the VDA process can a subschema become part of an official VDA publication.

🏛️ VDA Governance and Formal Release

Official decisions regarding:

  • acceptance of changes to the generic schema
  • approval of new subschemas
  • publication as part of the VDA 231‑301 recommendation

are taken exclusively within the formal VDA committees and release processes.

GitHub contributions:

  • support and inform these processes
  • do not replace them

⚖️ Legal and Copyright Notice

This repository references standards and recommendations whose copyrights remain with the respective organizations (e.g. VDA, DIN, ISO).

⚠️ Full standard texts must not be reproduced or published without permission.
Contributors are responsible for ensuring that no protected content is submitted without authorization.

By contributing, you confirm that:

  • you are entitled to submit the content
  • no confidential or proprietary information is included
  • contributions are provided under the repository’s license

📬 Questions and Coordination

If you are unsure whether or how to contribute:

  • open an Issue for discussion
  • or contact the project maintainers

We highly appreciate your contribution and engagement!

Joining the VDA Group

The VDA 231-301 JSON schemas are released under the MIT license, which allows everyone to use, modify, and distribute the schemas freely. However, if you want your contributions to become part of the official VDA recommendation, they need to go through the VDA 231-301 committee.

If you work for a VDA member, ask your contact person if you can join the working group. Everyone is free to raise issues or suggest new improvements to the protocol. The responsible body for the development and maintenance of VDA 231-301 and VDA 231-300 is the VDA Project Group (PG) Digital Material Data Management in the Sampling Process – Implementation and Realization. This project group operates under the leadership of the VDA Materials Committee.

Further information on the VDA's organization and its expert groups can be found here: VDA Expert Group Technical Regulations https://www.vda.de/de/der-vda/organisation/fachabteilungen/fahrzeugtechnologien-und-eco-systeme/fachgruppe-technische-vorschriften

The AP Github serves as a technically contributing group, supporting the project group in its work.

The process of releasing new specialised schemas is shown in the following diagram: Contribution process