Hacktoberfest: The Couchbase Quest Awaits—Are You Ready?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: contribute to Couchbase open source this Hacktoberfest and dive deep into IDEs, web frameworks, CLIs and more.

Couchbase has a tremendous amount of open source projects spanning a wide range of areas ready for your participation! In this blog post, we’re going to explore some of these projects and highlight ways you can get involved this Hacktoberfest season.

Ready to start? Let’s go!

Couchbase Starter Kits

Our first stop on our tour is a brand new project, Couchbase Starter Kits.

What is a Couchbase starter kit? Well, it’s a streamlined way to start building a new project in your favorite language and framework with everything you need to use Couchbase built in.

For example, maybe you are creating a new GenAI side project (that does seem to be the trendy thing to do nowadays) and you want to use Ruby on Rails, because Rails is still one of the fastest ways to launch a new project. You also know that Couchbase is excellent for storing and searching through your vector embeddings. Do you need to scaffold a Rails app with Couchbase from scratch? No, not at all! Simply use the Rails Couchbase starter kit and get going.

The same is true if you are building with Java or Python right now. We want this to be true for even more languages and frameworks, and that’s where you can make a big impact.

Go explore the Contributing Guide, specifically the open Issues to discover high demand languages and frameworks to build new starter kits with. The Contributing Guide has everything you need to start building, including sample configuration files that are ready for you to modify for your language or framework’s needs and add them to your starter kit.

Couchbase Shell

Next up on our journey is an incredibly powerful tool for developers: Couchbase Shell.

What exactly is Couchbase Shell? Think of it as your command-line companion for interacting with Couchbase data in a fast, efficient, and flexible way. Whether you’re querying data, managing your cluster, or even running complex scripts, Couchbase Shell provides a streamlined interface that gets you up and running in no time.

For example, you can read, mutate and remove documents in your Couchbase bucket right from the shell, like in this example:

> doc upsert my-doc {"hello": "world"}

╭───┬───────────┬─────────┬────────┬──────────┬───────────╮
│ # │ processed │ success │ failed │ failures │  cluster  │
├───┼───────────┼─────────┼────────┼──────────┼───────────┤
│ 0 │         1 │       1 │      0 │          │ dev.local │
╰───┴───────────┴─────────┴────────┴──────────┴───────────╯

Let’s say you’re developing a new microservices-based application, and you need to query your Couchbase bucket frequently to ensure everything is working as expected. Instead of diving into a UI, you can rely on Couchbase Shell for quick, real-time interactions.

If you’re working with Couchbase in a Docker, Kubernetes, or CI/CD environment, Couchbase Shell can simplify and supercharge your operations. For example, when you’re deploying new changes or running automated tests, you can easily integrate Couchbase Shell into your pipelines to streamline cluster management and data interactions.

The best part? You can make it even better. The project is open source, which means you can contribute features, fix bugs, or suggest improvements to further enhance this command-line tool. Check out the Couchbase Shell repository, browse the Issues tab, and see where you can make an impact. Whether it’s improving existing functionality or adding support for new operations, your contributions are what will keep this tool evolving.

This project is also our special shout out to all the Rustaceans 🦀 out there! If you are interested in contributing to a fully open source project entirely written in Rust, then come and dive into Couchbase Shell.

VSCode and JetBrains extensions

Next, let’s explore two powerful IDE integrations: the Couchbase VSCode and JetBrains extensions.

These plugins provide a seamless way to interact with Couchbase right within your favorite development environments.

Couchbase VSCode extension

The Couchbase VSCode extension brings Couchbase right into your editor. This tool allows you to manage clusters, query databases, and handle documents without ever leaving your IDE. Whether you’re working with Couchbase Server or Capella, you can easily connect, manage, and query your clusters through the extension’s interface.

Some features include:

• SQL++ Query Workbench: Execute complex queries and visualize results in JSON format.
• Document Management: Easily view, edit, and manage Couchbase documents.
• Capella iQ Integration: Leverage AI to write smarter queries.

The extension also supports GitHub Codespaces, Google IDX and more. Indeed, the extension works with any IDE that consumes extensions from the Open VSX Registry, thereby enabling remote development directly in the cloud, so you can build and test Couchbase applications from anywhere.

Couchbase JetBrains plugin

For JetBrains IDE users, the Couchbase JetBrains plugin offers similar functionality as the VSCode extension. You can query databases, manage Couchbase clusters, and interact with documents directly from your development environment. The plugin ensures that Couchbase fits naturally into your workflow, allowing you to focus on coding rather than switching between tools​.

Both extensions are open source, and you can contribute by improving existing features or adding new ones. Dive into the VSCode repository and JetBrains plugin repository to explore opportunities to enhance these tools.

Furthering your adventure

We are not done with our journey yet! The next stop takes to several key areas where you can get involved as an open-source contributor. Whether you’re interested in creating example projects, extending existing tools, or experimenting with new ideas, there are various ways to participate. Below are three areas where your contributions can make a difference.

Couchbase Examples repository

The Couchbase Examples repository hosts numerous quickstart projects and tutorials that help developers get started with Couchbase. These examples cover a wide range of technologies such as Python, Java, ASP.NET, Kotlin, and more. If you want to contribute here, you can:

• Suggest new projects: Join us on our Discord server and start a conversation on a new example project before you start building.
• Improve existing examples: Update projects to reflect new Couchbase features, fix bugs, or enhance the documentation to help users better understand the examples.
• Review and test: Test examples in different environments to ensure they work as intended, especially after updates or new releases.
• Explore the open issues in the existing repositories to see where you can contribute or propose a new example if you have an idea.

Couchbase Ecosystem projects

The Couchbase Ecosystem repository contains tools, plugins, and connectors that integrate Couchbase with various platforms and development environments. Projects here include the Couchbase plugins for IDEs like VSCode and JetBrains, as well as libraries and integrations, like the Couchbase Ruby ORM. You can get involved by:

• Contributing to existing plugins: Help improve the functionality of IDE plugins, adding features or fixing issues that enhance developer productivity.
• Building new integrations: If there’s a tool or platform that Couchbase does not yet integrate with, you can propose and develop a new integration.
• Documentation and examples: Help improve documentation or add examples to make it easier for developers to use these tools in their own projects.
• Check the issues and pull requests to see where you can lend a hand.

Couchbase Labs

Couchbase Labs is a space for experimental and innovation. It’s where new tools and technologies are tested and iterated upon. If you enjoy working on experimental features or prototypes, this is the place to be. You can contribute by:

• Collaborating on experimental projects: Work on cutting-edge projects that explore new uses for Couchbase, such as integrating it with AI tools or improving performance.
• Proposing new experiments: If you have an idea for a feature or tool that hasn’t been explored yet, you can propose it and start building a proof of concept.
• Testing and providing feedback: Participate in testing experimental tools and features, providing valuable feedback that can shape their future development.

Take a look at Couchbase Labs projects to see what’s currently being worked on, at the open Issues in existing repositories, or submit your own idea for an experiment.

Choose your next mission

Now that you’ve explored the many ways to contribute to Couchbase, the question is: what will your next mission be?

Hacktoberfest is the perfect opportunity to make your mark. Whether you decide to build a new quickstart for the Examples repository, work on an existing tool in the Ecosystem, or dive into experimental projects in Couchbase Labs, there’s a place for your skills and ideas. By participating during Hacktoberfest, you’ll not only contribute valuable open-source work, but also have the chance to level up your exclusive Hacktoberfest digital badge as you complete more challenges!

• Access the Couchbase Starter Kits on GitHub
• Participate in Hacktoberfest