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Contribution Requirements

This article summarizes all the requirements you need to satisfy in order to be able to develop content (including code parts, such as Integrations and Automations) and contribute it to Cortex XSOAR.

Before you read this guide, we recommend you familiarize yourself with the different aspects of the product.

If you are not sure whether you should read this, more details can be found here.

Requirements#

Cortex XSOAR#

You need an instance of Cortex XSOAR up and running. You can Sign Up for the Cortex XSOAR Free Edition or, if you're entitled to, contact the Cortex XSOAR Alliances team to have a non-production license.

Development OS#

Our recommended OS for development is either macOS or Linux, as we use bash and docker in some of our validation/testing flows. We also support Windows through WSL.

Windows Users#

If you are working on Windows, you can either work with a Linux VM or utilize Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Note: When using WSL2 you may experience performance issues if working on the Windows mounted file system (for example /mnt/c/). See the following WSL issue for more info. In such cases we recommend using the Linux file system (ext4 partition) WSL2 provides. Meaning that the local demisto content and the SDK will all be located on the WSL file system and using an editor which supports remote WSL. Editors supporting remote WSL include:

Other Operating Systems#

If you successfully manage to develop and contribute on other platforms (native Windows, OpenBSD, etc.), please let us know and we'll add it to the tutorial! (click on Report an issue at the bottom of this page).

GitHub#

You will need a GitHub account, as the contribution process requires you to submit a Pull Request in the Cortex XSOAR Content Repository. To learn more about Pull Requests and contributing , check out the Collaborating with issue and pull requests tutorial on GitHub.

You will also need git - a distributed version control system, installed in your development environment. In the examples, we'll use the git command-line tool. Visit the Git - Getting Started Guide for installing instructions.

Python#

If you are planning on contributing code, (i.e Integration or Automation) you will need to use Python and, more specifically, Python 3.7+. While some content is built via Javascript and Python 2, we require Python 3.7+ for contributions.

note

Note You don't need to be a a Python expert to write a good integration, although some intermediate level knowledge is preferred. Just make sure you adhere to our Code Conventions.

It is also recommended to have a dedicated Python 3 installed on your system: for that purpose, we recommend using pyenv. It allows you to easily manage multiple versions of Python on your system.

Optionally, macOS users can install via homebrew.

PowerShell#

Starting from version 5.5 of Cortex XSOAR, we also support PowerShell. However, we recommend to use it only for advanced users as the amount of content examples is limited at the moment.

Docker#

If you are writing code (i.e. Integrations and Scripts), you will need to run several linters and unit tests to validate your code, as we do in our build process. In this case, you must install docker. Visit the docker site installation page for installation options.

Note: If you're using WSL, you should enable the integration with Docker Desktop.

Node.js and NPM#

Optional. We use Node.js for validating README documentation files for Integrations, Automations and Playbooks. If you are creating README documentation files, we recommend installing Node.js to be able to validate the files locally. Node.js installation instructions for your target platform are available at: https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager/.

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