Signals of a Healthy Organization

Go to GitHub project → Insights tab

Look for:
- When was last commit? (should be < 1 month)
- How many commits per week? (should be 2+)
- Are there recent issues? (< 1 week old)
- Are PRs being merged? (not sitting stale)

Good sign: "Last commit 3 days ago, 8 commits this week"
Bad sign: "Last commit 6 months ago, no activity"

Pick a recent issue (< 2 weeks old)

Measure:
- Time until first response? (< 3 days = good)
- Is feedback constructive? (helpful, specific)
- Do they respond to follow-ups? (engaged)

Method: Look at issue, click "Show timeline"
See: "opened 5 days ago, commented 4 days ago"

If pattern across 3 issues is:
✓ < 3 days response = healthy
⚠️ 1-2 weeks response = slow
❌ > 2 weeks = unresponsive

Navigate to:
- GitHub → Stars (commits followers)
- GitHub → Contributors
- GitHub → Forks
- Issues → Open count

Numbers that matter:
100-500 stars = Small community (easier to be known)
500-2000 stars = Medium community (good balance)
2000+ stars = Large community (harder to stand out)

Open issues:
< 50 = Well-maintained
50-200 = Healthy (some work needed)
> 200 = Understaffed
> 500 = Likely abandoned

Find a merged PR from last month
Open it → Look at review comments

Score each comment:

✓ GOOD: "This will break X. Let's handle it like the code does in Y file"
  → Specific, educational, constructive
  
✓ GOOD: "Can you add tests for this edge case?"
  → Clear requirement, shows they care about quality
  
❌ BAD: "This is wrong" (no explanation)
  → Dismissive, not helpful
  
❌ BAD: "Just approve, we'll fix later" (in all reviews)
  → Quality doesn't matter to them
  
Sample 3-5 merged PRs:
- If mostly good → healthy community
- If mostly bad → toxic gatekeeping