First Contributions: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your First Open Source Pull Request

Intro

Open source can feel intimidating. You've been coding for a while, you want to give back, but the barrier to making that first pull request (PR) feels huge. Between cloning a repo, forking, branching, committing, rebasing, and dealing with merge conflicts, it’s easy to get stuck before you even write any code.

That's exactly why First Contributions exists. It's a simple, practical GitHub repository that walks you through making your very first open source PR without the anxiety. No theory, no fluff — just real steps that get you to a green contribution.

What It Does

First Contributions is a GitHub repo that acts as a live tutorial. It contains a list of contributors and a straightforward contribution workflow. The idea is dead simple: you fork the repo, add your name to the list, and open a PR. The repo's own README and companion website give you step-by-step instructions for doing this via the GitHub UI or the command line.

It’s a safe sandbox. You won't break anything, and you'll have a real PR merged into a real open source project within minutes.

Why It’s Cool

This isn't just another tutorial. Here's why it stands out:

• Zero code required. You don't have to write any logic. Just add your name. This removes the "I'm not good enough" mental block.
• Real GitHub workflows. You'll use git clone, git checkout -b, git add, git commit, git push, and the full PR lifecycle. This is exactly what you'll do on any other project.
• Live examples. The repo's README includes visual screenshots and links to a companion website with detailed instructions for both the web UI and terminal approaches.
• Massive community. Thousands of people have used this repo to make their first PR. It's proven to work.
• Interactive extras. The project also has a desktop app and a command-line tool to help you through the process.

The cleverest part? It gamifies the fear out of open source. You don't need to understand the entire codebase. You just need to follow a recipe, and at the end, you get a real green checkmark on your profile.

How to Try It

Getting started takes about 10 minutes.

1. Go to the repo: github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions
2. Click the Fork button in the top right.
3. Clone your fork to your machine.
4. Create a new branch (git checkout -b add-your-name).
5. Open the Contributors.md file and add your name.
6. Stage, commit, and push your changes.
7. Open a pull request on GitHub.

That's it. The repo's README has full instructions with screenshots. If you get stuck, there's even a live chat link.

Final Thoughts

First Contributions is the kind of project that everyone who wants to join open source should bookmark. It strips away the jargon and the fear, and lets you focus on the only thing that matters: actually making a contribution.

If you've been on the fence about contributing to open source because you don't know where to start, this is the place. Do the PR, feel that small rush of success, and then go find a real project to contribute to. You'll already know the process.

Follow us on X: @githubprojects