How to submit a Helium hotspot manufacturer application
We use GitHub to manage the Helium Improvement Proposal process, which includes the hotspot manufacturer approval process (aka HIP19, adopted Nov 2020)
This guide is meant to help folks who are new to GitHub submit a new manufacturer application, no command-line magic required.
You will be using the github.com website to copy a TEMPLATE file, paste in your document, and submit a pull request to either the helium/hip repository (for HIPs) or the dewi-alliance/hotspot-manufacturers repository (if you want to build Helium hotspots)
From there the community and MOC (Manufacturing Oversight Committee) will post comments or contact you with any further questions. New applications are also generally shared in the #hip-19-third-party-manufacturers channel on the Helium Discord server.
It is assumed you’ve already created a GitHub account
Go to github.com/dewi-alliance/hotspot-manufacturers and fork the relevant TEMPLATE file:
- If you’re submitting a manufactuer application, use the file TEMPLATE.md
- If you’re submitting a normal HIP, use the file 0000-template.md from helium/HIP
Click the tiny “Edit” icon on the right to start editing your own copy
Edit and submit the document, which is formatted with markdown
I recommend copying this template into a text editor (preferably with markdown support), editing there, then just pasting it back in here when you’re ready.
Before you press save, remember to rename the file from TEMPLATE.md to your-company-name.md. It must have an .md suffix, no spaces, and all lowercase or it will be rejected.
Add a commit message too. It’s good etiquette.
You are now about to submit your first GitHub pull request, congrats! Just press “create pull request”
GitHub also has some good tutorials: Mastering Markdown, Creating A Pull Request
How to get your “rendered view” link
It’s also good etiquette to post a direct link to the .md file you just created, which makes it easier to read. You’ll notice the “Rendered view: …” links that are included in the description or first comment of a new PR, like this:
In order to always show the latest version, you need to link to the file inside your fork. First, go to your fork:
Then navigate to your file, usually inside the 0019-third-party-manufacturers directory:
Right click and copy, then paste into your GitHub PR.
It should contain your username (e.g. jamiew/HIP) and should not contain a long commit hash like f38fkajsdi3478fhkjasdflhjk3… the latter means you’re linking directly to the file at that specific commit, rather than the latest version.
Now when you make updates to your HIP, folks who click the rendered link will always see your latest version!
tags: Helium HIPs Governance