contributing-guide-generator_skill

Overview

This skill generates a complete CONTRIBUTING.md file tailored for open source projects. It produces clear, practical contribution guidelines that follow common open source best practices. The output is ready to add to a repository and focuses on clarity, onboarding, and reproducible processes.

How this skill works

When triggered, the skill composes a full CONTRIBUTING.md in Markdown covering code style, branching, pull request workflow, issue reporting, testing, and contributor code of conduct links. It can include optional sections like CLA, signing commits, release process, and maintainers contact information. The generated file is concise, actionable, and formatted for immediate use in a project.

When to use it

• You want a ready-to-add CONTRIBUTING.md for a new or existing open source repo.
• Preparing a project for external contributors and needing clear onboarding steps.
• Standardizing contribution workflow across multiple repositories.
• Adding a simple, maintainable guide for issue triage, PR reviews, and CI expectations.

Best practices

• Specify communication channels and response expectations (e.g., issue labels, maintainer hours).
• Include example PR templates, issue templates, and minimal reproduction steps.
• Be explicit about required tests, linting, and CI status checks for PRs.
• Define licensing and CLA details up front if required for contributions.
• Keep language concise and use headings so contributors can scan for relevant sections.

Example use cases

• Generate a CONTRIBUTING.md for a new TypeScript library with testing and linting rules.
• Create contribution guidelines for a documentation-only repository to guide edits and reviews.
• Standardize contribution steps for multiple microservices in an organization.
• Provide onboarding instructions for first-time contributors, including how to run tests locally.