We provide several mechanism for getting help. Whether you have run into a problem using Autoware, or you just want more information about some aspect of it not covered in the documentation, one of the below options should have you covered.

!!! warning

Before asking for help, search and read this documentation site carefully.
Also, follow the [discussion guidelines](../contributing/discussion-guidelines/index.md) for discussions.

Choose appropriate resources depending on what kind of help you need and read the detailed description in the sections below.

• Documentation
  • GitHub Discussions
  • GitHub Issues
  • ROS Discourse
• How not to get help

Documentation

The Autoware wiki provides information mainly on contributing to Autoware, including developer guidelines. If you are interested in contributing a bug fix, a new feature, or an entire new module to Autoware, stop by the wiki first and check the Developer's Guide. Complying with the Developer's Guide will ensure that your pull request gets merged faster.

GitHub Discussions

If you encounter a problem with Autoware, check existing issues and questions and search for similar issues first.

• Issues

  Note that Autoware has multiple repositories listed in autoware.repos. It is recommended to search across the repositories.

• Questions

If no answer was found, create a new question thread here. If your question is not answered within a week, then @mention the maintainers to remind them.

!!! warning We no longer accept new feature request for Autoware.AI beyond end of 2020. For new feature development, consider transitioning to Autoware Core/Universe.

Tips: Adding the autoware.ai label helps others to search for Autoware.AI related topics

GitHub Issues

If you have a problem and you have confirmed it is a bug, find the appropriate repository and create a new issue there. If you can't determine the appropriate repository, ask the maintainers for help by creating a new discussion in the Q&A category.

!!! warning

Do not create issues for questions or unconfirmed bugs. If such issues are created, maintainers will transfer them to GitHub Discussions.

If you want to fix the bug by yourself, discuss the approach with maintainers and submit a pull request.

ROS Discourse

If you want to widely discuss a topic with the general Autoware and ROS community or ask a question not related to Autoware's bugs, post to the Autoware category on ROS Discourse.

!!! warning

Do not post questions about bugs to ROS Discourse!

How not to get help

Please don't post support requests that are not related to Autoware, or are about general programming problems. There are more appropriate venues for those, such as Stack Overflow.

Do not contact the developers directly. Using the correct channels means everyone can see your question, and you are more likely to get a response. If you contact a few developers directly, that is a lot less eyes on your problem (and a lot more annoyed busy developers), and it also means that others cannot see the solution to your problem.

Do not post a request for help that just says "It doesn't work." No one will know how to help you.