Red Flags You Should Never Ignore

Know when to walk away.

Immediate Deal-Breakers

🚫 Harassment or Discrimination

Any form of harassment based on:

• Gender, gender identity, or expression
• Sexual orientation
• Race or ethnicity
• Religion or disability
• Appearance or age

Action: Leave immediately. Report to GitHub/community.

🚫 Lack of Code of Conduct

• No CoC = No protection
• Even worse: CoC that's not enforced

🚫 Maintainer Abuse

Signs of abusive maintainers:

• Condescending responses to newbies
• Mocking questions in public
• Retaliatory PR closures
• Banning for disagreements

Major Red Flags

🚩 Stale Project

6 months no commits
+ 
Dozens of unanswered issues
+
No communication on status
=
DEAD PROJECT

🚩 Active Hostility

• Regular arguments in issues
• "This is too simple" gatekeeping
• "We only accept X type of contributions"
• Making fun of contributors

🚩 Poor Technical Practices

• No tests whatsoever
• Merging without review
• Ignoring security vulnerabilities
• Breaking changes without notice

🚩 One-Person Project with Burnout

Signs:

• Frustrated tone in responses
• "I can't maintain this anymore"
• Closing issues without response
• Taking 6-month hiatuses

Reality: One person gets exhausted. You may be abandoned.

🚩 Forced Monetization

• "I'll only review PRs if you donate"
• Selling access to documentation
• Demanding payment for maintenance

🚩 Drama or Politics

Indicators:

• Regular public conflicts
• Faction-based contributions
• Maintainers leaving publicly
• Community split/fork wars

🚩 Ownership Disputes

• Unclear who owns the project
• Conflicting maintainers
• Copyright disputes
• License confusion

Subtle Red Flags

The Stalling PR

You submit PR on Month 1
No response for Month 1-2
Maintainer comes back with massive critique
You're frustrated
PR dies

Common in projects where:

• Reviews are done in batches (not ongoing)
• Maintainers have other priorities
• Standards are unclear

The Invisible Hand-Off

Project moving from active maintainers to someone new, nobody told you.

The Silent Zombie

• Project is "maintained"
• But only security patches, no features
• No communication about direction
• You're second-guessing if it's dead

Questions That Reveal Red Flags

1. "What should I work on first?" - Listen to the response tone
2. "What's your contribution process?" - Should be clear, not vague
3. "How often do you release?" - Should have a pattern
4. "What happened to that PR from 6 months ago?" - Watch reaction
5. "How do you handle disagreements?" - Reveals conflict resolution style

Decision Tree

Does project have CoC?
  No  → Walk away
  Yes → Continue

Is there active harassment?
  Yes → Walk away
  No  → Continue

Last commit < 6 months ago?
  No  → Risky, be cautious
  Yes → Continue

Any responses in 100 recent issues?
  None → Dead project
  Some → Continue
  All  → Responsive!

Overall feel during research?
  Nervous → Trust your gut
  Excited → Good sign

If You Discover Red Flags Later

1. You can always switch projects
2. Keep your contributions public (your portfolio)
3. Learn from the experience
4. Share learnings to warn others

Never ignore your gut feeling. If something feels wrong, it probably is. There are thousands of healthy projects. Don't waste time on toxic ones.