Added CoC, contribution guide, and updated readme (#133)

* Added CoC, contribution guide, and updated readme
* Fixing paths for crates in README
* Typos, PR feedback on README

CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+
+# Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct
+
+## Our Pledge
+
+We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our
+community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body
+size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender
+identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status,
+nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual
+identity and orientation.
+
+We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming,
+diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
+
+## Our Standards
+
+Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our
+community include:
+
+* Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
+* Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
+* Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
+* Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes,
+  and learning from the experience
+* Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall
+  community
+
+Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
+
+* The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of
+  any kind
+* Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
+* Public or private harassment
+* Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address,
+  without their explicit permission
+* Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a
+  professional setting
+
+## Enforcement Responsibilities
+
+Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of
+acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in
+response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive,
+or harmful.
+
+Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject
+comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are
+not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation
+decisions when appropriate.
+
+## Scope
+
+This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when
+an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces.
+Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address,
+posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed
+representative at an online or offline event.
+
+## Enforcement
+
+Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be
+reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement at
+[email protected].
+All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
+
+All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the
+reporter of any incident.
+
+## Enforcement Guidelines
+
+Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining
+the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
+
+### 1. Correction
+
+**Community Impact**: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed
+unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
+
+**Consequence**: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing
+clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the
+behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
+
+### 2. Warning
+
+**Community Impact**: A violation through a single incident or series of
+actions.
+
+**Consequence**: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No
+interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with
+those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This
+includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels
+like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent
+ban.
+
+### 3. Temporary Ban
+
+**Community Impact**: A serious violation of community standards, including
+sustained inappropriate behavior.
+
+**Consequence**: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public
+communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or
+private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction
+with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period.
+Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
+
+### 4. Permanent Ban
+
+**Community Impact**: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community
+standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an
+individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
+
+**Consequence**: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the
+community.
+
+## Attribution
+
+This Code of Conduct is adapted from the [Contributor Covenant][homepage],
+version 2.1, available at
+[https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct.html][v2.1].
+
+Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by
+[Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder][Mozilla CoC].
+
+For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the FAQ at
+[https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq][FAQ]. Translations are available at
+[https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations][translations].
+
+[homepage]: https://www.contributor-covenant.org
+[v2.1]: https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct.html
+[Mozilla CoC]: https://github.com/mozilla/diversity
+[FAQ]: https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq
+[translations]: https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+<!---
+Copyright 2025 The Hugging Face Team. All rights reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+-->
+
+# Contribute to xet-core
+
+Everyone is welcome to contribute, and we value everybody's contribution. Code
+contributions are not the only way to help the community. Answering questions, helping
+others, and improving the documentation are also immensely valuable.
+
+It also helps us if you spread the word! Reference the library in blog posts
+about the awesome projects it made possible, shout out on Twitter every time it has
+helped you, or simply ⭐️ the repository to say thank you.
+
+However you choose to contribute, please be mindful and respect our
+[code of conduct](https://github.com/huggingface/xet-core/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
+
+**This guide was heavily inspired by the awesome [scikit-learn guide to contributing](https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md).**
+
+## Ways to contribute
+
+There are several ways you can contribute to xet-core:
+
+* Fix outstanding issues with the existing code.
+* Submit issues related to bugs or desired new features.
+* Contribute to the examples or to the documentation.
+
+> All contributions are equally valuable to the community. 🥰
+
+## Fixing outstanding issues
+
+If you notice an issue with the existing code and have a fix in mind, feel free to [start contributing](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request) and open
+a Pull Request!
+
+## Submitting a bug-related issue or feature request
+
+Do your best to follow these guidelines when submitting a bug-related issue or a feature
+request. It will make it easier for us to come back to you quickly and with good
+feedback.
+
+### Did you find a bug?
+
+The xet-core library is robust and reliable thanks to users who report the problems they encounter.
+
+Before you report an issue, we would really appreciate it if you could **make sure the bug was not
+already reported** (use the search bar on GitHub under Issues). Your issue should also be related to bugs in the 
+library itself, and not your code. 
+
+Once you've confirmed the bug hasn't already been reported, please include the following information in your issue so 
+we can quickly resolve it:
+
+* Your **OS type and version**, as well as your environment versions (versions of rust, python, and dependencies).
+* A short, self-contained, code snippet that allows us to reproduce the bug.
+* The *full* traceback if an exception is raised.
+* Attach any other additional information, like screenshots, you think may help.
+
+### Do you want a new feature?
+
+If there is a new feature you'd like to see in xet-core, please open an issue and describe:
+
+1. What is the *motivation* behind this feature? Is it related to a problem or frustration with the library? Is it 
+   a feature related to something you need for a project? Is it something you worked on and think it could benefit 
+   the community?
+
+   Whatever it is, we'd love to hear about it!
+
+2. Describe your requested feature in as much detail as possible. The more you can tell us about it, the better 
+   we'll be able to help you.
+3. Provide a *code snippet* that demonstrates the feature's usage.
+4. If the feature is related to a paper, please include a link.
+
+If your issue is well written we're already 80% of the way there by the time you create it.
+
+## Do you want to add documentation?
+
+We're always looking for improvements to the documentation that make it more clear and accurate. Please let us know 
+how the documentation can be improved such as typos and any content that is missing, unclear or inaccurate. We'll be 
+happy to make the changes or help you make a contribution if you're interested!
+
+## I want to become a maintainer of the project. How do I get there?
+
+xet-core is a project led and managed by Hugging Face. We are  more than 
+happy to have motivated individuals from other organizations join us as maintainers.
+
+If you are such an individual (or organization), please reach out to us and let's collaborate.