Pr Contribution

PR Contribution

Every PR is a proposal to a stranger's codebase. Respect their time, follow their rules, prove your change deserves to exist.

Agent-generated PRs are rejected more often than human PRs — not because the code is wrong, but because they lack context, violate implicit norms, and burden maintainers with unnecessary review work.

References

• PR descriptions — ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pr-descriptions.md Full description anatomy:

summary/body/metadata structure, templates, anti-patterns, scaling description depth to change size

• Agent PR quality — ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/agent-pr-quality.md Why agent PRs get rejected: seven

agent-only failure modes, measurable quality gaps, implicit knowledge problem, trust-building signals

• Fork workflow — ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/fork-workflow.md Fork setup, branch discipline, upstream sync,

pre-submission cleanup, gh CLI submission, review response protocol

• Contribution compliance — ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/contribution-compliance.md CLAs, DCOs, project

guideline discovery, AI contribution transparency

Preparation Pipeline

Before writing any code or opening any PR, complete these checks. Skipping preparation is the primary cause of rejection.

Read the Project

• Read CONTRIBUTING.md — it is authoritative. Follow every instruction it contains.
• Read README.md for project vision, scope, and setup
• Read CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md if present
• Check for a PR template (.github/pull_request_template.md) — you must use it

Check for Duplicates

• Search open AND closed issues for the problem you are solving
• Search open AND closed PRs for similar changes
• If a related issue exists, comment on it before starting work
• If a related PR was rejected, understand why before attempting the same change

Understand Project Norms

• Read 3-5 recent merged PRs to learn:
• Title conventions (imperative mood? conventional commits? ticket references?)
• Description depth and structure
• Commit message style
• Review turnaround expectations
• Identify the project's code style: linter configs, .editorconfig, formatting tools
• Check CI configuration to understand what automated checks will run

Verify Legal Requirements

• Determine if the project requires a CLA or DCO sign-off
• If CLA: sign it before submitting (check for CLA bot on existing PRs)
• If DCO: add Signed-off-by trailer to every commit (git commit -s)
• If contributing on behalf of an employer, verify corporate CLA coverage

Scope the Change

• For non-trivial changes, open an issue first to discuss the approach with maintainers
• Do not solve issues labeled "good first issue" — these are reserved for humans learning the project
• One logical change per PR — never bundle unrelated fixes
• Separate refactoring from behavioral changes into distinct PRs
• Keep PRs small: 100 lines is reasonable, 1000 lines is almost always too large. Reviewers can reject a change solely

for being too large.

• When splitting large work, use concrete strategies: split by layer (model/API/client), split by feature (vertical

slices), or stack dependent changes as a series of PRs

• If work requires multiple PRs, state the plan in the first one
• Include related test code in the same PR as the code change — do not submit tests separately unless they are

independent validations of pre-existing code

PR Titles

The title is the first thing a reviewer reads — it determines whether they engage now, later, or never.

Rules:

• Use imperative mood: "Fix", "Add", "Remove" — not "Fixed", "Adding", "Removed"
• Describe what the change does, not what area it touches
• Be specific enough to distinguish from other PRs in the same project
• Keep under ~70 characters when possible
• Match the project's title convention (check recent merged PRs)
• Include ticket/issue references if the project convention expects them in titles

Calibration examples:

• Bad: "Fix bug"
• Good: "Fix login button unresponsive on Safari"

• Bad: "Update CSS"
• Good: "Refine grid layout for mobile responsiveness"

• Bad: "Changes for tax calculation"
• Good: "Add Swiss tax calculation for new regulation"

• Bad: "Phase 1" / "Add patch" / "Various improvements"
• Good: "Add rate limiting to authentication endpoint"

If the project uses conventional commits for PR titles:

fix(auth): resolve session expiry race condition
feat(api): add rate limiting to public endpoints
docs(readme): update installation instructions for v3

PR Descriptions

The description is a permanent record. It must communicate what changed and why — not just repeat the diff.

Required Elements

• Summary — one sentence stating what the PR does (imperative mood)
• Problem — what was wrong, missing, or needed; link to the issue
• Approach — why this solution; mention alternatives if the choice is non-obvious
• Testing — how changes were verified

Conditional Elements

• Trade-offs — known limitations or deferred work (include when applicable)
• Visual evidence — before/after screenshots for UI changes (always include for visual changes)
• Migration notes — if the change requires action from others
• Scope boundaries — what was explicitly not addressed

Anti-Patterns

• Do not narrate the diff — "Changed X to Y on line 42" adds nothing
• Do not leave descriptions empty — ever
• Do not use filler language: "This comprehensive PR improves...", "I've made the following enhancements..."
• Do not over-explain trivial changes — a typo fix needs one line
• If a PR template exists, fill every section. Do not delete sections; write "N/A" if genuinely not applicable.

For detailed description structure, templates, and scaling guidance, read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pr-descriptions.md.

Fork Workflow

When contributing to a repository you do not have write access to:

• Fork the repository, clone your fork, add upstream remote pointing to the original
• Never commit to your fork's default branch — create a feature branch for each contribution
• Sync with upstream before starting work and before submitting
• Rebase onto latest upstream before opening the PR to minimize merge conflicts
• Enable "Allow maintainer edits" so maintainers can push small fixes to your branch

For complete fork mechanics and gh CLI commands, read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/fork-workflow.md.

User Approval Gate

Do not create the pull request until the user explicitly approves it. After completing the pre-submission checklist, present the full draft to the user — title, description, target repository, base branch, and any labels. Wait for explicit approval before executing gh pr create or any equivalent action. The user may request changes; iterate until approved.

GitHub / gh CLI

When the target project is on GitHub, use gh for PR creation:

# Check for existing PRs and issues first
gh search prs --repo OWNER/REPO "keywords" --state all
gh search issues --repo OWNER/REPO "keywords" --state all

# Create PR from fork
gh pr create \
  --title "Fix login timeout on slow connections" \
  --body "$(cat pr-description.md)" \
  --base main

# Create draft PR for early feedback
gh pr create --draft --title "[WIP] Add rate limiting" --body "..."

# Check CI status after submission
gh pr checks

For non-trivial changes, open a draft PR early — before the work is complete. This gets feedback on approach before heavy investment, and signals to maintainers that you're working on the problem.

Agent-Specific Discipline

AI agents producing PRs must apply extra rigor to avoid the failure patterns that cause maintainer distrust.

• Prove the change was requested — link to an issue, discussion, or maintainer request. PRs that appear from nowhere

with no connected issue trigger suspicion.

• Demonstrate understanding — the PR description must show you understand the problem and the codebase, not just

that you generated code that compiles.

• Do not over-engineer — solve exactly the stated problem. Do not add abstraction layers, configuration flags,

helper classes, or "comprehensive" features nobody asked for. A five-line fix should not become a new module.

• Do not produce oversized PRs — agents tend to generate larger changes than necessary. Split aggressively. If a

reviewer has to set aside 30+ minutes, the PR is likely too large.

• Match the project's voice — mirror the style, terminology, and level of formality you see in the project's

existing PRs and documentation. Do not use a different register.

• Review your own output — before submitting, review the diff as a skeptical maintainer would. Look for: dead code,

debug artifacts, unnecessary formatting changes, over-catching exceptions, hardcoded values, missing error handling.

• Respect the project's AI policy — projects like LLVM, Selenium, and Django require human review and explanation of

all AI-generated content. Some ban autonomous agent contributions entirely. If the project prohibits AI-generated contributions, stop and inform the user — do not submit the PR. If no policy exists, be transparent about AI assistance when asked.

For detailed rejection data, failure modes, and trust-building strategies, read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/agent-pr-quality.md.

Worked Example

Scenario: You fixed a bug where the login button becomes unresponsive on Safari when Content Security Policy headers are strict. Issue #247 reported the problem.

Preparation:

1. Read CONTRIBUTING.md — requires: conventional commit titles, DCO sign-off, tests for bug fixes.
2. Searched PRs — no prior attempts to fix #247. Found #201 (closed, related Safari issue, different root cause).
3. Read 3 recent merged PRs — titles use fix(scope): format, descriptions use the project template.
4. Verified DCO — git commit -s on all commits.
5. Scoped: one logical fix, 47 lines changed (well under review threshold).

Title: fix(auth): resolve login button unresponsive on Safari with strict CSP

Description:

## What

Fix login button click handler failing silently on Safari when
Content-Security-Policy headers block inline event handlers.

Closes #247.

## Why

Safari enforces CSP `script-src` more strictly than Chrome/Firefox
for dynamically attached event listeners. The login handler used
`setAttribute('onclick', ...)` which Safari blocks under strict CSP.

## How

Replace `setAttribute('onclick', ...)` with `addEventListener('click', ...)`
in the auth module. This is CSP-compliant across all browsers.

See also #201 (different Safari auth issue, confirmed unrelated).

## Testing

- Added integration test: login flow with strict CSP headers (Safari UA)
- Verified existing auth tests pass
- Manual test on Safari 17.2, Chrome 120, Firefox 121

## Trade-offs

None — `addEventListener` is strictly better here. No behavioral change
for Chrome/Firefox users.

Integration

• issue-writing — sibling skill. Use when filing issues. If reporting a bug and then submitting a fix, invoke both

skills — file the issue first, then reference it in the PR.

Pre-Submission Checklist

Before opening the PR, verify:

• [ ] Read CONTRIBUTING.md and followed its instructions
• [ ] Searched for duplicate issues and PRs
• [ ] One logical change per PR — no unrelated bundled changes
• [ ] All existing tests pass
• [ ] New tests cover the changes
• [ ] Code matches project style (linting, formatting)
• [ ] Commit history is clean — no "fixup" or "oops" commits
• [ ] CLA signed or DCO sign-off on all commits (if required)
• [ ] PR title is specific, imperative, matches project convention
• [ ] PR description explains what and why, links to issue
• [ ] PR template filled completely (if one exists)
• [ ] Self-reviewed the diff for accidents (debug code, unrelated changes, secrets)
• [ ] Branch is rebased on latest upstream
• [ ] Full draft presented to user and explicitly approved before submission

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: xobotyi
• Source: xobotyi/cc-foundry
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.