---
title: "Code of Conduct"
description: "Standards and enforcement for the Mellea community."
# diataxis: reference
---

Mellea adopts the [Contributor Covenant](https://www.contributor-covenant.org)
(version 3.0) as its Code of Conduct. This page is the authoritative reference
for community standards and enforcement procedures.

## Our pledge

As members, contributors, and leaders, we pledge to make participation in the
Mellea community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age,
body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender
identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status,
nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity
and orientation.

We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming,
diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.

## Our standards

### Positive behaviors

Behavior that contributes to a positive environment includes:

- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
- Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by mistakes, and
  learning from the experience
- Focusing on what is best not just for individuals, but for the overall community

### Unacceptable behaviors

Unacceptable behavior includes:

- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
- Public or private harassment
- Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without
  their explicit permission
- Other conduct that could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

## Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces and when an individual
officially represents the community in public spaces. Examples of representing
the community include using an official email address, posting via an official
social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or
offline event.

### Community spaces

This Code of Conduct applies to all Mellea project spaces, including:

- GitHub repository (issues, pull requests, discussions, code reviews)
- Discord server
- Project mailing lists and email communications
- Official social media accounts
- In-person and virtual events, meetups, and conferences
- Any other forums created by the project team for community communication

## Enforcement responsibilities

Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing standards of
acceptable behavior. They will take appropriate and fair corrective action in
response to any behavior they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject
comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not
aligned to this Code of Conduct. They will communicate reasons for moderation
decisions when appropriate.

### Who are community leaders?

Community leaders include project maintainers, core contributors with commit
access, and individuals explicitly designated by the Mellea project team to
moderate community spaces.

## Enforcement

### How to report

Report instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior by
contacting the project team at **[melleaadmin@ibm.com](mailto:melleaadmin@ibm.com)**. All complaints are
reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.

When reporting a violation, include:

- **What happened** — a clear description of the incident
- **When and where** — date, time, and location (e.g., GitHub issue #123, Discord channel)
- **Who was involved** — GitHub usernames, Discord handles, or other identifiers
- **Evidence** — links to relevant conversations or screenshots (if available)
- **Impact** — how the incident affected you or others

### Response timeline

- **Acknowledgment:** within 2 business days
- **Outcome or update:** within 5 business days (complex cases may take longer,
  with a timeline update provided)

### Confidentiality

All reports are kept confidential. Information is shared only with those who need
it to investigate and resolve the issue.

### Appeals

If you believe an enforcement decision was made in error, request a review by
emailing [melleaadmin@ibm.com](mailto:melleaadmin@ibm.com) with "Appeal" in the subject line. Reviews are
handled by a different maintainer where possible.

## Enforcement guidelines

Community leaders follow these Community Impact Guidelines when determining
consequences for violations:

### 1. Correction

**Community impact:** Use of inappropriate language or behavior deemed
unprofessional or unwelcome.

**Consequence:** A private, written warning from community leaders that explains
the nature of the violation and why the behavior was inappropriate. A public
apology may be requested.

### 2. Warning

**Community impact:** A violation through a single incident or series of actions.

**Consequence:** A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction
with the people involved — including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing
the Code of Conduct — for a specified period. This covers community spaces and
external channels such as social media. Violating these terms may lead to a
temporary or permanent ban.

### 3. Temporary ban

**Community impact:** A serious violation of community standards, including
sustained inappropriate behavior.

**Consequence:** A temporary ban from any interaction or public communication with
the community for a specified period. No public or private interaction with the
people involved — including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code
of Conduct — is permitted during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a
permanent ban.

### 4. Permanent ban

**Community impact:** A pattern of violating community standards, including
sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression
toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.

**Consequence:** A permanent ban from any public interaction within the community.

## Attribution

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the
[Contributor Covenant](https://www.contributor-covenant.org), version 3.0,
available at
[https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/code_of_conduct.html](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/code_of_conduct.html).

Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by
[Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder](https://github.com/mozilla/inclusion).

For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the
[Contributor Covenant FAQ](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq).
Translations are available at
[https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations).

---

**See also:** [Contributing to Mellea](../community/contributing-guide)
