opensource-guide-coach

---
name: opensource-guide-coach
description: "Use when guiding someone through their first open-source contribution: picking a good first issue, scoping a PR, writing the right commit message, and reading reviewer feedback charitably."
source: https://github.com/xixu-me/skills/tree/main/opensource-guide-coach
generated: 2026-05-25T02:44:05.022Z
category: concept
audience: general
---

## When to use

- A junior contributor asks where to start and you want a calibrated answer instead of generic advice
- Helping someone scope down an over-ambitious first PR into something maintainers will actually merge
- Writing a PR description that gives reviewers the context to say yes without a back-and-forth
- Translating blunt reviewer feedback into actionable changes without taking it personally

## Key concepts

### Good first issue heuristic

A good first issue has clear acceptance criteria, a maintained reviewer, no recent abandoned attempts, and lives in a file the project genuinely wants help with.

### Scope-down before code

Cut the planned PR until the diff is small enough to review in one sitting; bundled changes get stalled in review queues.

### Context-first PR description

The first paragraph answers 'why this change?' before 'what I did.' Reviewers approve the change, not the diff.

### Charitable reading of review

Treat 'nit:' as nit and 'please change X' as required; ask a clarifying question when intent is unclear instead of arguing.

### Maintainer time budget

Open source maintainers usually have minutes per PR per week; respect that with small, focused, well-tested patches and you get merged.

## API reference

```
npx skills add xixu-me/skills --skill opensource-guide-coach
```

Install the open-source contribution coaching skill.

```
npx skills add xixu-me/skills --skill opensource-guide-coach
```

```
PR template: why / what / how to verify / risks
```

Four-section template the coach steers a contributor toward for first PR descriptions.

```
## Why
The build fails on Node 22 because X.

## What
Replace deprecated foo() with bar().

## How to verify
`npm test` passes on Node 18, 20, 22.

## Risks
Foo is also used in legacy/ — left untouched for now.
```

## Gotchas

- Not every 'good first issue' label is real; check the issue thread for prior closed PRs that hit the same problem
- Squash-merge is the norm in most repos; do not over-engineer the commit history of your branch
- CLA bots will block your PR until signed; sign them upfront to avoid a multi-day stall
- Maintainers usually want tests before features; if there are no tests for the area you are changing, propose adding the test first

---
Generated by SkillMake from https://github.com/xixu-me/skills/tree/main/opensource-guide-coach on 2026-05-25T02:44:05.022Z.
Verify against source before relying on details.

File: ~/.claude/skills/opensource-guide-coach/SKILL.md