open-source-maintainer-kit

Open Source Maintainer Kit

Purpose

Prepare repositories for open-source collaboration with contribution rules, issue templates, governance, and release hygiene.

Use this skill to produce clear, actionable work. Avoid generic advice. Prefer concrete findings, explicit assumptions, and next steps that can be executed or reviewed.

Use When

• Publishing a GitHub repo
• Accepting contributors
• Improving project professionalism

Required Context

Ask for missing context only when it blocks a correct answer. Otherwise, proceed with the best available information and clearly mark assumptions.

• Project scope
• License preference
• Contribution model
• Maintainer rules

Workflow

1. Ensure README, license, contributing, security, and code of conduct exist.
2. Create useful issue and PR templates.
3. Define labels, branch conventions, and release process.
4. Document support boundaries and governance.
5. Make the repository welcoming without losing technical rigor.

Guardrails

• Do not invent facts, files, commands, credentials, or project state.
• Separate confirmed information from assumptions.
• Prefer concise recommendations over long theoretical explanations.
• Make trade-offs explicit.
• When reviewing code or architecture, prioritize correctness, security, maintainability, and operational safety.
• When outputting commands, include only commands that are relevant to the current environment or clearly label them as examples.

Output Contract

Always structure the final answer with these sections when applicable:

• Repo checklist
• Templates
• Governance notes
• Release process
• Maintainer workflow

Quality Bar

A strong result from this skill should be specific enough that a developer, reviewer, maintainer, or product owner can act on it without needing a second clarification round.