Before you start
- Make sure the project appears on this site’s /open-source hub. A public GitHub repo does not mean it is actively maintained or accepting contributions; it may have been abandoned or be read-only archival.
- Search existing issues and pull requests to prevent duplicate work.
- Read the LICENSE file in the repository.
- Ownership and copyright are retained unless the license says otherwise (tbf most open source projects are MIT-licensed or similar so dw).
GitHub issues
- Open a GitHub issue when you are planning a PR, or when the bug needs a long technical write-up. Otherwise, use /support.
- One problem per issue. Include reproduction steps, expected vs actual, and environment details when they matter.
- Use the issue template on this page as a starting point.
When not to use GitHub
- Not working on code? Personal help, account questions, or “hey, this feels off” are totally fine to ask about — just use /support instead of opening a GitHub issue :)
- If the app has its own bug or feature button, use that first. GitHub is for repo work: a proper issue or a PR.
Opening a PR
Fork the repository, create a branch, open a Pull Request.
- Check the README, default branch, and release tags to see where to branch from.
- I usually work on
develop or main and recommend basing your PRs on those. - End user clients typically run on the
release or production branch. - If the bug only shows up on a release build, check
develop first in case it is already fixed. - Each repo is set up differently, so verify obvious conventions yourself.
- Use branch names and PR titles like
42-short-name (GitHub issue number plus a short description). - Open an issue first when you can, and base the PR on it. That makes tracking and PR reviews much easier.
- Use the PR template on this page.
- One change per PR.
- Provide good justification in issues and PRs for unrelated refactors or dependency bumps.
Expectations
In case this page did not make it obvious, I do a lot of things and stay busy. I maintain my open source for free, without donations, and it takes a lot of time.
I might not get to non-critical issues or PRs right away. Sometimes even really helpful ones sit for days or weeks. That is not me being ungrateful; I just cannot do everything at once.
Contributions are always welcome. I am genuinely appreciative of any and all of them — thank you for understanding :D.
Credit
Sometimes contributions show up on /contributions. If you care how you are credited, drop your preferred social links in the PR; otherwise I will use your GitHub username.