# Community guidelines

How to take part in issues and discussions on the OTInstaller Registry, and what moderators remove.

Issues, comments and "works for me" answers keep the registry working: they tell maintainers what broke and tell
everyone else what to expect. These guidelines keep that useful and safe.

## Never post personal data about anyone

This is the one rule that matters most in an OSINT registry.

- Do not post names, email addresses, phone numbers, usernames, addresses, photos or results about the people or
  organisations you investigate, or about anyone else.
- To show a problem, use the tool's own test input (on its page under **What you get back**), a value you own, or a
  made-up one such as `example.com` or `user@example.com`.
- Do not paste API keys, tokens or passwords. If you did, revoke them at once; a moderator will remove the post.
- Do not ask for help finding a particular person.

Posts that look like personal data or secrets wait for a moderator before anyone sees them. One flag for personal
data from an established account hides a post straight away. Staff remove such posts for good.

## Keep it useful

- **One problem per issue.** Search the package's issues first, and say "I have this problem too" on an existing one
  instead of opening a duplicate.
- **Say what you ran.** The version, your platform, Docker, Podman or `--native`, and the exit code. The issue form
  asks for these, so you never need to paste a full command line with your target in it.
- **Stay on the tool.** Questions about investigation method belong in the guides' own repositories.
- **Be kind.** Maintainers are often volunteers packaging someone else's tool.

## Not allowed

Harassment, threats, hate, spam, advertising, off-topic posts, impersonating someone, and anything the
[acceptable use policy](https://otinstaller.com/policy/acceptable-use) does not allow.

## Moderation

- New accounts' first day of posts, posts that look like personal data or secrets, and a first post with links are
  checked by a moderator before they are shown.
- The package's maintainers, the registry's triagers and staff can triage issues and lock threads. Maintainers can
  hide comments on their own package's issues.
- Triagers and staff can hide posts and stop an account posting for up to 7 days. Staff can redact posts and ban
  accounts.
- Every moderation action is recorded in the registry's audit log.

Think a moderator got it wrong? Write to [abuse@otinstaller.com](mailto:abuse@otinstaller.com) with the link.

## Your posts

Posts show your handle and avatar. You can edit a post for 24 hours and withdraw it at any time. What the registry
stores, and for how long, is in the [privacy policy](https://otinstaller.com/policy/privacy).