简体中文
EnglishWhere to Get Help and Ask Questions About ROS
Updated
For ROS help, start with the official documentation and tutorials for ROS 2 on ros.org. If you have a specific question, post it on Robotics Stack Exchange. For open-ended discussions and announcements, use the ROS Forums (Open Robotics Discourse). For direct conversation with maintainers and the community, use Zulip Chat. Each channel serves a different purpose, so choosing the right one gets you a faster, more useful answer.
Match the Channel to Your Need
| Your situation | Best channel | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Learning ROS 2 or looking up how something works | Documentation and tutorials on ros.org | Official guides and reference material for ROS 2 |
| Stuck on a concrete technical problem | Robotics Stack Exchange | A question-and-answer format where you ask and get answers |
| Following news, announcements, or broader discussions | Forums (Open Robotics Discourse) | The latest community discussions and posts |
| Want to talk with maintainers and other users | Zulip Chat | Real-time chat with the maintainers and the community |
How to Use Each Channel
Documentation and tutorials
Go to the documentation section of ros.org for ROS 2 documentation and tutorials. Use this first for installation, concepts, and how-to material. The site also points to installation pages for specific releases, such as Lyrical Luth (the latest ROS 2 long-term release, supported until 2031 and targeted at Ubuntu 26.04 and Windows 11) and Jazzy Jalisco (a ROS 2 LTS release targeted at Ubuntu 24.04 and Windows 10). Check the release page before installing so your OS matches the supported target.
Robotics Stack Exchange
Use this when you have a question that has a correct answer. State your ROS version, your OS, the exact error or behavior, and what you already tried. A reproducible example gets better answers than a general description.
Forums (Open Robotics Discourse)
The forums host the latest discussions and Open Robotics Discourse posts, including release news and community announcements. Use them for topics that are open-ended or not yet a clear technical question.
Zulip Chat
Zulip is where you chat with the maintainers and the community. It suits quick clarifications and informal back-and-forth. For anything you may need to find again later, a forum or Stack Exchange post is easier to search.
A Practical Order to Try
- Search the ROS 2 documentation and tutorials for your topic.
- Search Robotics Stack Exchange for an existing answer to the same error or question.
- If nothing fits, post on Robotics Stack Exchange with your ROS version, OS, and a minimal reproducible example.
- For discussion or announcements, use the Forums; for quick conversation, use Zulip.
Common Pitfalls
- Posting a question in chat that belongs on Stack Exchange. Chat scrolls away; Q&A posts stay searchable.
- Leaving out your release and OS. ROS 2 behavior and supported platforms differ by release, so include both.
- Skipping the docs. Installation and setup issues are usually already covered in the official tutorials.
The site also links to ROSCon material, including recordings from ROSCon 2025, which can help if you want talks and walkthroughs beyond written documentation.