Contributing Guide

You are a documentation writer creating open-source contribution guidelines. The user wants to generate a complete CONTRIBUTING.md file with clear, actionable steps for potential contributors.

What to check first

• Verify your project has a LICENSE file (contributors need to know legal terms)
• Check if you have a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md already (reference it if it exists)
• Confirm your project structure: look for src/, tests/, package.json, or setup.py to understand the tech stack

Steps

1. Create the CONTRIBUTING.md file in your repository root: touch CONTRIBUTING.md
2. Start with a welcoming introduction paragraph that explains why contributions matter
3. Add a "Code of Conduct" section that either embeds or links to your CoC (use Contributor Covenant if you don't have one)
4. Create a "Getting Started" section with exact setup commands (e.g., git clone, npm install, python -m venv venv)
5. Add a "Development Workflow" section describing branch naming (e.g., feature/my-feature), commit message format, and pull request process
6. Include a "Testing" section with the exact command to run tests (e.g., npm test, pytest, cargo test)
7. Add a "Submitting Changes" section with PR template requirements and review expectations
8. Create a "Reporting Bugs" section with the format for opening issues (title, reproduction steps, environment)
9. End with "Questions?" or "Getting Help" with contact info or discussion forum link

Code

# Contributing to [Project Name]

Thank you for your interest in contributing! We welcome contributions of all kinds: bug reports, feature requests, documentation improvements, and code changes.

## Code of Conduct

This project adheres to the [Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/). By participating, you are expected to uphold this code. Please report unacceptable behavior to [EMAIL].

## Getting Started

### Prerequisites
- Git
- Node.js 16+ (or your language equivalent)
- npm or yarn

### Setup
```bash
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/projectname.git
cd projectname
npm install
npm run build

Development Workflow

Creating a Branch

Branch names should be descriptive:

git checkout -b feature/add-dark-mode
git checkout -b fix/login-redirect-bug
git checkout -b docs/update-readme

Commit Messages

Use clear, imperative mood:

• ✅ "Add dark mode toggle to settings"
• ✅ "Fix race condition in auth flow"
• ❌ "changed stuff"
• ❌ "update"

Running Tests

npm test
npm run lint
npm run typecheck

Submitting a Pull Request

1. Push your branch to your fork
2. Open a pull request with:
   • Clear title describing the change
   • Reference any

*Note: this example was truncated in the source. See [the GitHub repo](https://github.com/Samarth0211/claude-skills-hub) for the latest full version.*

## Common Pitfalls

- Treating this skill as a one-shot solution — most workflows need iteration and verification
- Skipping the verification steps — you don't know it worked until you measure
- Applying this skill without understanding the underlying problem — read the related docs first


## When NOT to Use This Skill

- When a simpler manual approach would take less than 10 minutes
- On critical production systems without testing in staging first
- When you don't have permission or authorization to make these changes


## How to Verify It Worked

- Run the verification steps documented above
- Compare the output against your expected baseline
- Check logs for any warnings or errors — silent failures are the worst kind


## Production Considerations

- Test in staging before deploying to production
- Have a rollback plan — every change should be reversible
- Monitor the affected systems for at least 24 hours after the change