CONTRIBUTING.md Quick Start: focus on langchain core; clarify docs and experimental are separate (#10906)

follow up to https://github.com/langchain-ai/langchain/pull/7959 ,
explaining better to focus just on langchain core

no dependencies

twitter @cjcjameson

libs/experimental/README.md

@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ Some of the code here may be marked with security notices. However,
 given the exploratory and experimental nature of the code in this package,
 the lack of a security notice on a piece of code does not mean that
 the code in question does not require additional security considerations
-in order to be safe to use.
+in order to be safe to use.

libs/langchain/Makefile

@@ -14,33 +14,6 @@ coverage:
 		--cov-report xml \
 		--cov-report term-missing:skip-covered
 
-######################
-# DOCUMENTATION
-######################
-
-clean: docs_clean api_docs_clean
-
-
-docs_build:
-	docs/.local_build.sh
-
-docs_clean:
-	rm -r docs/_dist
-
-docs_linkcheck:
-	poetry run linkchecker docs/_dist/docs_skeleton/ --ignore-url node_modules
-
-api_docs_build:
-	poetry run python docs/api_reference/create_api_rst.py
-	cd docs/api_reference && poetry run make html
-
-api_docs_clean:
-	rm -f docs/api_reference/api_reference.rst
-	cd docs/api_reference && poetry run make clean
-
-api_docs_linkcheck:
-	poetry run linkchecker docs/api_reference/_build/html/index.html
-
 # Define a variable for the test file path.
 TEST_FILE ?= tests/unit_tests/
 
@@ -98,7 +71,6 @@ spell_fix:
 
 help:
 	@echo '===================='
-	@echo '-- DOCUMENTATION --'
 	@echo 'clean                        - run docs_clean and api_docs_clean'
 	@echo 'docs_build                   - build the documentation'
 	@echo 'docs_clean                   - clean the documentation build artifacts'
@@ -120,3 +92,4 @@ help:
 	@echo 'test_watch                   - run unit tests in watch mode'
 	@echo 'integration_tests            - run integration tests'
 	@echo 'docker_tests                 - run unit tests in docker'
+	@echo '-- DOCUMENTATION tasks are from the top-level Makefile --'

libs/langchain/tests/README.md

@@ -1,12 +1,52 @@
-# Readme tests(draft)
+# Langchain Tests
 
-## Integrations Tests
+## Unit Tests
+
+Unit tests cover modular logic that does not require calls to outside APIs.
+If you add new logic, please add a unit test.
+
+To run unit tests:
+
+```bash
+make test
+```
+
+To run unit tests in Docker:
+
+```bash
+make docker_tests
+```
+
+## Integration Tests
+
+Integration tests cover logic that requires making calls to outside APIs (often integration with other services).
+If you add support for a new external API, please add a new integration test.
+
+**warning** Almost no tests should be integration tests.
+
+  Tests that require making network connections make it difficult for other
+  developers to test the code.
+
+  Instead favor relying on `responses` library and/or mock.patch to mock
+  requests using small fixtures.
+
+To install dependencies for integration tests:
+
+```bash
+poetry install --with test_integration
+```
+
+To run integration tests:
+
+```bash
+make integration_tests
+```
 
 ### Prepare
 
-This repository contains functional tests for several search engines and databases. The
-tests aim to verify the correct behavior of the engines and databases according to their
-specifications and requirements.
+The integration tests exercise several search engines and databases. The tests
+aim to verify the correct behavior of the engines and databases according to
+their specifications and requirements.
 
 To run some integration tests, such as tests located in
 `tests/integration_tests/vectorstores/`, you will need to install the following
@@ -15,14 +55,6 @@ software:
 - Docker
 - Python 3.8.1 or later
 
-We have optional group `test_integration` in the `pyproject.toml` file. This group
-should contain dependencies for the integration tests and can be installed using the
-command:
-
-```bash
-poetry install --with test_integration
-```
-
 Any new dependencies should be added by running:
 
 ```bash
@@ -70,4 +102,20 @@ pytest tests/integration_tests/vectorstores/test_elasticsearch.py --vcr-record=n
 pytest tests/integration_tests/vectorstores/test_elasticsearch.py --cov=langchain --cov-report=html
 start "" htmlcov/index.html || open htmlcov/index.html
 
-```
+```
+
+## Coverage
+
+Code coverage (i.e. the amount of code that is covered by unit tests) helps identify areas of the code that are potentially more or less brittle.
+
+Coverage requires the dependencies for integration tests:
+
+```bash
+poetry install --with test_integration
+```
+
+To get a report of current coverage, run the following:
+
+```bash
+make coverage
+```