Finding the Right Projects
ℹ️
The Most Critical Decision
Choosing the wrong project is the #1 reason contributors quit. Spend time here—it's not wasted.
The Project Selection Framework
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PROJECT SELECTION FUNNEL │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ALL PROJECTS │ │
│ │ (Millions) │ │
│ └───────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ [Language Filter] │
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────────────▼─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ LANGUAGE MATCH │ │
│ │ (Thousands) │ │
│ └───────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ [Activity Filter] │
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────────────▼─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ACTIVE PROJECTS │ │
│ │ (Hundreds) │ │
│ └───────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ [Beginner-Friendly] │
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────────────▼─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ BEGINNER-FRIENDLY │ │
│ │ (Dozens) │ │
│ └───────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ [Health Check] │
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────────────▼─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ YOUR TOP 2-3 │ │
│ │ PROJECTS │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Discovery Sources
GitHub Search Queries
Basic Searches
# Good first issues in JavaScript
label:"good first issue" language:javascript
# Help wanted in Python projects
label:"help wanted" language:python
# Beginner issues updated recently
label:"good first issue" pushed:>2024-01-01
# React projects needing help
language:javascript topic:react label:"help wanted"Advanced Searches
# Active projects with good first issues
language:typescript stars:>100 pushed:>2024-01-01
label:"good first issue" is:open
# Projects in your timezone (by contributor location)
# (Check contributor profiles manually)
# Specific domain
topic:cli language:rust label:"good first issue"Project Health Indicators
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PROJECT HEALTH MATRIX │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ INDICATOR HEALTHY UNHEALTHY │
│ ═════════ ═══════ ═════════ │
│ │
│ Last commit < 1 month ago > 6 months ago │
│ Open issues 10-500 0 or 5000+ │
│ PR response time < 2 weeks > 2 months │
│ Stars 100+ N/A (not critical) │
│ Contributors 5+ 1-2 (bus factor) │
│ CONTRIBUTING.md Exists & detailed Missing │
│ Issue labels Organized None or chaotic │
│ CI/CD Green checks Failing or none │
│ License MIT, Apache, GPL None or custom │
│ Code of Conduct Exists Missing │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Quick Health Check
- Last commit within 30 days
- At least 5 contributors
- PRs get responses within 2 weeks
- Has CONTRIBUTING.md
- Uses issue labels (especially "good first issue")
- CI checks pass on main branch
- Has a clear license
- Maintainers are polite in issue comments
Red Flags to Avoid
⚠️
Walk Away From These
Not every project deserves your time. Recognizing red flags early saves you frustration.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🚩 RED FLAGS 🚩 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ INACTIVITY │
│ • No commits in 3+ months │
│ • Many open PRs with no reviews │
│ • Issues unanswered for months │
│ │
│ TOXICITY │
│ • Maintainers are rude in comments │
│ • Contributors argue frequently │
│ • No Code of Conduct │
│ • Dismissive responses to questions │
│ │
│ CHAOS │
│ • No clear contribution guidelines │
│ • No issue templates │
│ • Inconsistent code style │
│ • Broken CI that's been failing for weeks │
│ │
│ OVERLOAD │
│ • 1000+ open issues │
│ • 100+ open PRs │
│ • Single maintainer burnt out │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Project Size Considerations
| Size | Stars | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny | < 100 | Fast reviews, personal attention | Might be abandoned, less resume value |
| Small | 100-1K | Responsive maintainers, meaningful impact | Less structured processes |
| Medium | 1K-10K | Good balance, real-world experience | More competition for issues |
| Large | 10K-50K | Resume boost, learn from experts | Slow reviews, complex codebase |
| Huge | 50K+ | Major recognition | Very competitive, long onboarding |
💡
Start Medium
For your first contributions, target projects with 500-5,000 stars. They're active enough to merge PRs but not so large that you get lost.
Domain Matching
Choose projects you'll actually use or care about:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DOMAIN SUGGESTIONS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ If you're a... Look at... │
│ ═══════════════ ══════════ │
│ │
│ Web developer UI component libraries │
│ Static site generators │
│ CSS frameworks │
│ │
│ Backend developer API frameworks │
│ Database tools │
│ CLI applications │
│ │
│ DevOps engineer CI/CD tools │
│ Container tools │
│ Infrastructure as code │
│ │
│ Data scientist Visualization libraries │
│ ML frameworks │
│ Data processing tools │
│ │
│ Mobile developer Cross-platform frameworks │
│ Native libraries │
│ Development tools │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Your Project Shortlist
After researching, create a shortlist:
| Project | Stars | Language | Last Commit | Good First Issues? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Project 1] | ___ | ___ | ___ | Yes/No | ___ |
| [Project 2] | ___ | ___ | ___ | Yes/No | ___ |
| [Project 3] | ___ | ___ | ___ | Yes/No | ___ |
For each project on your shortlist:
- Read their README completely
- Check their CONTRIBUTING.md
- Browse recent issues and PRs
- Look at maintainer responses
Sample Beginner-Friendly Projects
These are examples—find projects that match YOUR skills:
JavaScript/TypeScript:
- freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp
- facebook/react (has good first issues)
- microsoft/vscode
- vercel/next.js
Python:
- pandas-dev/pandas
- python/cpython
- scikit-learn/scikit-learn
- django/django
Rust:
- rust-lang/rust
- denoland/deno
- starship/starship
Go:
- kubernetes/kubernetes
- gohugoio/hugo
- prometheus/prometheus