From 09cc2cc5a10b466be0a03412a61ff684fb3d72f6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Jonathan D.A. Jewell" <6759885+hyperpolymath@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2026 09:38:32 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] refactor(root): relocate the contributing guide into .github/

The estate canonical location is .github/CONTRIBUTING.md, which GitHub
auto-discovers; the root copy is removed and references are updated in the same
change.

  * .github/CONTRIBUTING.md
      (new)
  * CONTRIBUTING.adoc
      (deleted)
  * Justfile
  * MAINTAINERS.adoc
  * docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc
---
 .github/CONTRIBUTING.md                    | 12 ++++++++++++
 CONTRIBUTING.adoc                          |  9 ---------
 Justfile                                   |  2 +-
 MAINTAINERS.adoc                           |  2 +-
 docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc |  2 +-
 5 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .github/CONTRIBUTING.md
 delete mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.adoc

diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0172229
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Contributing
+
+1.  Fork the repository
+
+2.  Create a feature branch
+
+3.  Ensure SPDX headers on all files
+
+4.  Submit a pull request
+
+**Author:** Jonathan D.A. Jewell
+[j.d.a.jewell@open.ac](j.d.a.jewell@open.ac).uk
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.adoc b/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5949bf0..0000000
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.adoc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-== Contributing
-
-[arabic]
-. Fork the repository
-. Create a feature branch
-. Ensure SPDX headers on all files
-. Submit a pull request
-
-*Author:* Jonathan D.A. Jewell j.d.a.jewell@open.ac.uk
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index 91fcb47..725a950 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ verify:
 
     check_either "SECURITY.md" "SECURITY.adoc"
     check_file "LICENSE"
-    check_either "CONTRIBUTING.md" "CONTRIBUTING.adoc"
+    check_either "CONTRIBUTING.md" ".github/CONTRIBUTING.md"
     check_either "README.adoc" "README.md"
     check_file ".machine_readable/STATE.a2ml"
     check_file ".machine_readable/META.a2ml"
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS.adoc b/MAINTAINERS.adoc
index daf8a78..97edfcd 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS.adoc
+++ b/MAINTAINERS.adoc
@@ -62,4 +62,4 @@ For questions about project governance:
 
 * link:GOVERNANCE.adoc[Governance Model]
 * link:CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md[Code of Conduct]
-* link:CONTRIBUTING.adoc[Contributing Guide]
+* link:.github/CONTRIBUTING.md[Contributing Guide]
diff --git a/docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc b/docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc
index fec5a69..c089019 100644
--- a/docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc
+++ b/docs/archive/TEMPLATE-STANDARDS-AUDIT.adoc
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Inventory snapshot at audit time:
 
 | Docs links used `.adoc` files not present
 | legacy `README.adoc` (pre-migration)
-| `CONTRIBUTING.adoc`, `GOVERNANCE.adoc`, `SECURITY.adoc`
+| `../../.github/CONTRIBUTING.md`, `GOVERNANCE.adoc`, `SECURITY.adoc`
 | outdated
 | Actual files are `CONTRIBUTING.md`, no root `GOVERNANCE.adoc`, `SECURITY.md`.
 | Fixed README links to existing files.