Open Source Contribution Checklist

17 items · Technical · Medium difficulty · 1 hour

A practical checklist to guide your first open source contributions.

• Identify projects that match your interests and skills

  Search by language, topic, or organization to find work you care about.

• Filter issues labeled 'good first issue' or 'help wanted'

  Use repo labels and GitHub search filters for beginner-friendly tasks.

• Read the README and CONTRIBUTING.md thoroughly

  Follow repo-specific contribution steps, coding standards, and requirements.

• Check the repository license and code of conduct

  Confirm you can contribute and that you’ll follow the project's behavior rules.

• Comment on the issue or open a discussion to propose your approach

  Announce your plan to avoid duplicate work and get early feedback.

• Fork the repository to your GitHub account
• Clone your fork locally and add the upstream remote

  git clone <your-fork> && git remote add upstream <original-repo>

• Create a new branch with a clear, descriptive name

  Include the issue number and short purpose, e.g., issue-123-fix-typo.

• Make a small, focused change that addresses the issue

  Keep each PR atomic and limited to one concern for easier review.

• Run and update tests and linters locally

  Fix failing tests and style issues before committing and pushing.

• Run the project's test suite locally

  Use the repo's test command (e.g., npm test, pytest, mvn test).

• Run linters/formatters and fix style issues

  Follow repo rules (prettier, eslint, black) and autofix where possible.

• Write clear, conventional commit messages

  Use a format like type(scope): short summary — e.g., fix(parser): handle null.

• Push your branch to your fork

  git push origin <branch-name>

• Open a pull request with a clear title and detailed description

  Explain what, why, and how; reference the issue number and any tests run.

• Respond to review feedback and update the PR promptly

  Address requested changes, add tests if asked, and explain choices in replies.

• Delete the branch after merge and note your learnings

  Clean up local/remote branches and record tips for next contribution.

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