# Contributing to Zeus

Zeus is open. The protocol belongs to everyone.

## Ways to Contribute

- **Submit a ZEP** — propose new concepts, standards, or dimensions for the protocol
- **Improve existing ZEPs** — refine, challenge, or extend accepted proposals
- **Share research** — academic, experimental, or personal findings that advance any domain
- **Build implementations** — create products and tools that implement Zeus principles, and share what you learn
- **Write case studies** — document personal augmentation experiments: what worked, what didn't, and why
- **Raise questions** — challenge the protocol's assumptions and open new ethical discussions
- **Translate** — bring the protocol to other languages and cultural contexts

## Rules

1. **The atomic unit is always one person.** If your contribution doesn't serve an individual, it doesn't belong in Zeus.
2. **No vendor lock-in.** The protocol must be implementable with any technology, any provider, any stack.
3. **Open by default.** Everything contributed to Zeus is public.
4. **Honesty over optimism.** If something doesn't work, say so. The protocol improves through candor.

## Submitting a ZEP

Every ZEP must follow the Prolog-Story-Epilog structure defined by ZEP-1:

- **Prolog** — what problem or gap does this address? What's the context?
- **Story** — the proposal itself. What is being added, defined, or changed?
- **Epilog** — implications, open questions, connections to other ZEPs and domains

### Process

1. Fork this repository
2. Create `zeps/zep-{number}.md` using the structure above
3. Submit a pull request with a clear title: `ZEP-{N}: {Title}`
4. Discussion period: 30 days (standard) or 90 days (major proposals)
5. The Core reaches consensus on acceptance, deferral, or requests modifications

### ZEP Header Format

```
# ZEP-{N}: {Title}
**Status:** Draft · **Author:** {Name} · **Date:** {Date}
**Domain:** {Which domain(s) this relates to, or "Meta" for protocol-wide proposals}
```

## Code of Conduct

Be direct. Be honest. Respect the individual. Argue ideas, not people. The protocol is serious — treat contributions seriously.

## Questions?

Open an issue or reach out via [X](https://x.com/egordeev).