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Kpeale Legbara
Kpeale Legbara

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How to make your first open source contribution

#webdev #opensource #developer #womenintech

I Just Made My First Open Source Contribution — And Honestly, I Don’t Know How to Feel 😂

To be sincere, I actually feel very happy, and I’ve realized it’s not as complicated as I thought.

Contributing to open source can feel overwhelming. Yesterday, I had tons of tabs open on my browser because I was trying to understand how to contribute, but I was still confused and frustrated. I even watched several YouTube videos, yet nothing clicked. I eventually closed all my tabs and decided to try again this morning… and guess what? I made my first open source contribution.

I’m writing this article so that anyone who feels lost like I did can learn from my mistakes and finally make their first open source contribution too.

How to Make Your First Open Source Contribution

I know there are websites that help you find projects to contribute to, but honestly, I think you should avoid relying on them at first. Most of these platforms recommend very big projects with strict contribution rules, or inactive projects that haven’t been updated in months (or even years). Neither of those is what you want for your first contribution.

Instead, go to your GitHub search bar and type this query:

is: issue is: open "good first issue" language: JavaScript stars:<200
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OR

is:public stars:<150 "help wanted" language:TypeScript
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This query tells GitHub to show repositories that:

  • Have open issues
  • Have a “good first issue” label
  • Use JavaScript (feel free to change the language, I primarily write JavaScript, which is why I used JavaScript there).
  • Have less than 200 stars (because smaller repositories are usually easier to contribute to)

The search results will look something like this:

Results for the search query

Click on the Issues tab to see more projects, then check the repositories one by one and pick the one that aligns with your values and skills — and one you can actually solve.

What to Check Before Contributing

Before you start working on any repository, make sure it checks these boxes:

  • A license file: This confirms the project is open to contributions.
  • A CONTRIBUTING.md or guidelines file: Most maintainers outline how they want contributions to be made.
  • Active maintainers: Check the issues tab to see if maintainers reply quickly, give feedback, or appreciate contributors. You don’t want to contribute to a repo where nobody responds.

If the repository ticks all the boxes, go through the issues and find one that is unassigned or not actively being worked on. Leave a comment showing interest.

For my first open source contribution, I contributed to a Python project by updating their README file. I left a comment, and the maintainer replied almost immediately.

comment on issues

Forking the Project

Once you’re ready, fork the repository so it becomes your personal copy.

fork repo button

Then open Git Bash or Command Prompt on your machine and clone your fork:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/REPO-NAME.git
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Next, create a new branch — this is good practice:

git checkout -b update-readme
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Open the folder in your IDE and make the changes you want. After you’re done, commit your changes:

git add README.md
git commit -m "Improve README documentation"
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(Change the commit message to match what you actually did.)

Then push the changes to your fork:

git push origin update-readme
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Making the Pull Request

Congratulations! You just made your first open source contribution. 🎉

Now it’s time to submit your pull request.

Go back to the original repository on GitHub (the one you forked). You’ll see a button saying “Compare & pull request.” Click it, write a short message explaining what you improved, and submit your PR.

That’s it.

You’re officially an open source contributor. 🚀

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