FAQ for developers

We've started adding questions that we see a lot to this page, but it doesn't cover everything. If you have other questions, the best way to get an answer quickly is to visit us in IRC. You might think, "IRC? For real? Is this 1994 again?"

Yes. I mean, no! Just think of IRC as the open-source equivalent of a Campfire that developers sit around. Links to IRC channels and mailing lists are at the bottom of this page.

How do I get the latest source?

Pull the latest from github.

   git pull

Install any updates to gems:

   bundle install

How do I reset the database to a totally clean state?

   rake db:drop
   rake db:create
   rake db:schema:load

How do I get debug information?

You can use the command

   tail -f log/development.log

to watch the log in development mode.

I have found an issue with federation, how can I debug it?

We actually provide a special configuration for testing server-to-server communication, which produces logs that contain only the events around federation. It involves spinning up two Diaspora* instances which you can use to recreate realistic circumstances and the logs of both sides are recorded into a single file. See Federation Logger

What if my question isn't answered here?

IRC Channels

IRC is the best way to get an answer quickly. Click the link to the join the channel in a new browser window. You can also download and use an IRC client such as <a href="http://colloquy.info/" target="_blank">Colloquy</a> for OS X, [XChat](http://xchat.org/) for GNU/Linux or <a href="http://www.mirc.com/" target="_blank">mIRC</a> for Windows.

<a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=diaspora" target="_blank">#diaspora on irc.freenode.net</a> - general discussion and help for folks installing Diaspora
<a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=diaspora-dev" target="_blank">#diaspora-dev on irc.freenode.net</a> - discussion of the source code and help for new developer contributors
<a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=diaspora-de" target="_blank">#diaspora-de on irc.freenode.net</a> - discussion in German.

Mailing lists

We have two mailing lists, both Google groups. They tend to have a slightly different audience than the IRC channels, so if you can't get your question answered in IRC, you can try here.

[Discussion list](http://groups.google.com/group/diaspora-discuss) - Google group for discussion of non-technical topics
[Development discussion list](http://groups.google.com/group/diaspora-dev) - Google group for discussion of installation, source code, and other technical topics