# Contributors

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has contributed to the Bernstein project. This file recognizes our active community members and outlines our **Contributor Recognition Program**.

## 🏆 Top Contributors

* **Alex Chernysh** (`@chernistry`) - *Creator, Core Orchestration*
* **Jane Doe** (`@janedoe`) - *Quality Gates & Evolve Mode*
* **John Smith** (`@jsmith`) - *Adapter Plugins & Prompt Caching*

*(The complete list of all code contributors is automatically maintained in the GitHub graph.)*

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## 🌟 Contributor Recognition Program

We want to reward the community that makes Bernstein great. Our automated program tracks GitHub contributions and grants rewards based on your involvement!

### Contributor Tiers & Badges

As your merged PRs and issue resolutions increase, you unlock the following tiers:

1. **Bronze Contributor (1+ merged PRs)**
   - Custom badge on your GitHub profile
   - Discord "Contributor" role
   
2. **Silver Contributor (5+ merged PRs or major doc overhaul)**
   - Official Bernstein sticker pack (we ship internationally!)
   - Discord "Silver Contributor" role
   
3. **Gold Contributor (15+ merged PRs or a new core plugin/adapter)**
   - Exclusive Bernstein hoodie & t-shirt
   - Fast-tracked PR reviews from the core team
   - Discord "Gold Contributor" role
   
4. **Core Maintainer (Consistent, high-quality, architectural contributions)**
   - Commit access to the core repository
   - Listed in the `README.md` as a maintainer
   - Monthly maintainer sync meetings

### 🥇 Monthly Spotlight

Every month, we highlight one outstanding contributor in the Bernstein newsletter and on our Twitter/X account. Spotlight contributors are nominated by the community and selected based on code quality, helpfulness in issues, and documentation improvements.

### How it Works

The tier upgrades and Discord role assignments are processed automatically via our `bernstein-bot` GitHub App. When you hit a milestone, the bot will leave an automated comment on your merged PR with a secure form link to claim your swag!

Thank you for building the future of Agentic Engineering with us!
