Project maintainer checklist (v1)

B y Eddie Jaoude

STEP 1
README LEVEL
This is the most important file in your project! It is the first file
everyone will see because it is previewed on your repo landing
page. Make sure you include: pre-requisites, quickstart,
screenshots. 1

STEP 2
LEVEL LICENSE

1
If you do not have a license your project is NOT Open Source.
There are many great licenses to pick from; two popular licenses
are MIT and GPLv3
Visit http://choosealicense.com

STEP 3
DESCRIPTION, URL, TOPICS LEVEL
The repo has settings for description, url and topics. Make sure to
use these fields and keep them concise and relevant.
1

LEVEL STEP 4
RELEASES, PACKAGES, ENVIRONMENTS
These are super useful sections if you use them. If you are not

1 currently using them, you can remove them in settings, so

that it does not clutter your repo page.
STEP 5

CODE OF CONDUCT LEVEL

This is very often overlooked, but just like licenses it is a very
important file and without it, could be preventing people from
contributing to your project. There are templates for these, you do
NOT need to write one of scratch. 1
Project maintainer checklist (v1)
B y Eddie Jaoude

STEP 1
ISSUES LEVEL
Even if you are the only person working on the project at the
moment, use the issues section. This will help you organise the
project and allow community members to understand what is
happening on the project. 1

STEP 2
LEVEL COMMITS

Commits meesages are required. Be descriptive but concise to

2 add value. Therefore are some great automations that can be
done with GitHub Actions using these commit messages; for
example auto generate changelog.

STEP 3
RELEASES, TAGS LEVEL
It is important to create read only check points for your project,
aka release / tag. These can also include features and bugs fixes
that are contained in that release.
2

LEVEL STEP 4
GITHUB ACTIONS (BEGINNER)
Automation sounds scary, but you can get the benefits

2 starting with a few lines of yaml config. Actions like: stale

items, open source label creation are just a copy and paste
away.
STEP 5

GITHUB ACTIONS (INTERMEDIATE) LEVEL

Now you are familiar with GitHub Actions, you can take it to the
next level and have it run some of your project commands like:
lint, build, test, as well as create releases with a changelog.
3