Starter tasks for new contributors

[aglinxinyuan]

Hi everyone,

I went through the open issue backlog and tagged a fresh batch of beginner-friendly issues with the starter-task label — 21 newly labeled, bringing the total to 28 open starter tasks. Each one is self-contained and clearly scoped, picked so a new contributor can land a real change without first needing deep knowledge of the Amber engine or the distributed runtime.

If you're new to Texera and looking for a first contribution, this is a great place to start.

Browse them all: starter-task

What's available

Unit-test coverage — add a focused spec for a single class or component (the gentlest on-ramp):

• add unit test coverage for storage result + dataset model classes #5696 — storage result + dataset model classes
• add unit test coverage for PostgreSQLConnUtil and MySQLConnUtil #5695 — PostgreSQLConnUtil / MySQLConnUtil
• add unit test coverage for visualization chart-config classes #5694 — visualization chart-config classes
• add unit test coverage for MapOpDesc #5664 — MapOpDesc
• add unit test coverage for DeadLetterMonitorActor #5663 — DeadLetterMonitorActor
• add unit test coverage for HeaderField #5662 — HeaderField
• add unit test coverage for URLFetchUtil #5661 — URLFetchUtil
• add unit test coverage for EmptyReplayLogger and ReplayLogGenerator #5550 — EmptyReplayLogger / ReplayLogGenerator
• Add unit tests for VisualizationFrameContentComponent #5474 — VisualizationFrameContentComponent
• Add spec for auth-guard.service.ts #5453 — auth-guard.service.ts
• add unit test coverage for OperatorExecution and RegionExecution #5448 — OperatorExecution / RegionExecution

Small bug fixes — contained bugs with a clear fix location:

• Add timeout and retry to DatasetFileDocument file-service requests #5666 — add a timeout and retry to DatasetFileDocument file-service requests
• JSONUtils.JSONToMap can StackOverflow on deeply nested JSON #5321 — JSONUtils.JSONToMap can StackOverflow on deeply nested JSON
• LogicalLink: writeValueAsString / readValue is not round-trippable for OperatorIdentity fields #5042 — LogicalLink is not JSON round-trippable for OperatorIdentity fields
• Schema missing error #3546 — schema-missing error
• Handling optional properties of operator #3524 — handle optional properties of an operator (enum validator)
• The description of read-only workflows are still editable #3497 — the description of read-only workflows is still editable

Frontend / UI polish — small, visible improvements:

• Limit displayed operator name and description length in the UI #4494 — limit displayed operator name/description length
• Inconsistent vertical divider height across interface panels #3741 — inconsistent vertical divider height across panels
• Fix the page height of the Admin Page #3588 — fix the page height of the Admin page
• Improve Frontend UI for Configuring JVM Memory Size in Computing Unit #3375 — improve the JVM-memory slider UI in the computing unit
• Need the Option to Sort By Last Execution Time in Workflows List #3406 — option to sort the workflows list by last execution time

Small features — bounded enhancements:

• Auto-submit dataset version when exporting workflow results to a dataset #4348 — auto-submit a dataset version when exporting results to a dataset
• Auto-Install latest package version when unspecified when creating Python Virtual Environment #4315 — auto-install the latest package version when none is specified (Python venv)
• Allow users to input a requirements.txt file when creating a Python Virtual Environment #4314 — allow uploading a requirements.txt when creating a Python venv
• Add Schema Constraint for Intersect, Difference, and Other Operators #1956 — add a same-input-schema constraint to Intersect/Union operators

Dependency / config cleanup:

• Drop duplicate praw entry from amber/requirements.txt #5687 — drop the duplicate praw entry from amber/requirements.txt
• Remove restart: always in single node release version #4039 — remove restart: always in the single-node release

How to pick one up

1. Comment /take on the issue (on its own line) to self-assign it — /untake releases it if your plans change.
2. Fork the repo and follow the contributing guide for the fork-based workflow, Conventional-Commit PR titles, and how to run the backend (sbt test) and frontend (ng test) tests.
3. Open a PR with Closes #<issue> in the description.

Questions are very welcome — ask right on the issue or reply here, and a committer will help you scope it. Looking forward to your first PR!