Open Source Contribution Skill

A Claude Code skill that helps you contribute to open source projects without getting your PR auto-closed for format violations.

The Problem

Many open source projects have strict CI checks that automatically close PRs within 2 hours if they don't follow contributing guidelines. Common mistakes:

• Using Related to #123 instead of Fixes #123 or Closes #123
• Not using the official PR template
• Missing required sections in PR description
• Not reading CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting

This skill prevents these mistakes by checking everything before you submit.

Features

• ✅ Reads and parses CONTRIBUTING.md automatically
• ✅ Checks Issue linking format (Fixes # / Closes # vs Related to #)
• ✅ Validates PR template compliance
• ✅ Pre-submission checklist
• ✅ Common pitfalls reference
• ✅ Command templates for gh CLI

Installation

# Clone to your Claude Code skills directory
cd ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/JinHanAI/open-source-contribution-skill.git

Or copy the SKILL.md file to your skills directory manually.

Usage

This skill is automatically triggered when you mention:

• "contribute to [project]"
• "submit a PR"
• "open source contribution"
• "GitHub PR"

Or invoke it directly:

/open-source-contribution

What It Checks

Phase 1: Project Guidelines Check

Check	Description
CONTRIBUTING.md	Reads and parses contribution guidelines
PR Template	Checks .github/pull_request_template.md
Issue Templates	Checks .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/

Phase 2: Format Validation

Format	Correct?	Notes
Fixes #123	✅	Auto-closes issue on merge
Closes #123	✅	Auto-closes issue on merge
Related to #123	❌	Does NOT trigger auto-close
#123	❌	Incomplete format

Phase 3: Pre-submit Checklist

• Read CONTRIBUTING.md
• Issue created with correct format
• PR description uses official template
• Issue linked with Fixes # or Closes #
• Local tests passed
• No unrelated changes included

Real Example

❌ Wrong (PR #17757 - Auto-closed)

• Issue link: Related issue: #17753
• PR description: Custom format
• Result: Auto-closed after 2 hours

✅ Correct (PR #17811 - Merged)

• Issue link: Closes #17753
• PR description: Official template
• Result: All CI checks passed, merged successfully

Quick Reference

# Check PR status
gh pr view <number> --repo <owner/repo>

# Check CI status
gh pr checks <number> --repo <owner/repo>

# Update PR description
gh pr edit <number> --repo <owner/repo> --body "new content"

# View PR comments
gh pr view <number> --repo <owner/repo> --comments

File Structure

open-source-contribution-skill/
├── README.md               # This file
├── README.zh.md            # Chinese documentation
├── SKILL.md                # Skill definition for Claude Code
├── LICENSE                 # GPL 3.0
├── CHANGELOG.md            # Version history
├── CONTRIBUTING.md         # How to contribute
└── .github/
    ├── CODEOWNERS          # Code owners
    ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
    └── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
        ├── bug_report.md
        └── feature_request.md

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

GPL 3.0

Author

Victor.Chen | GitHub

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Created from a real lesson learned: PR #17757 was auto-closed, PR #17811 was merged.