Contributor onboarding

Contributors are made, not found: someone used the software, hit an edge, and the project either made the path from "I could fix this" to a merged PR walkable - or it did not. Onboarding is engineering that path deliberately, for external contributors and equally for the new student or teammate joining the project (the same path, walked faster). The funnel framing keeps it honest: user -> first contact -> first contribution -> second contribution -> regular; each transition can be measured (rseng-community-metrics) and fixed.

Good first issues: curation, not labeling

A good first issue is a real, wanted task that is genuinely doable without tribal knowledge - and the label is a promise:

• Curate each one: state the problem, point at the relevant files, sketch the approach, name the definition of done and the test to add (rseng-testing) - fifteen minutes of curation per issue, repaid by every newcomer it serves. An agent can draft these from the backlog well (rseng-project-tracking).
• Keep the shelf stocked and fresh: a handful available, claimed ones released after inactivity, solved ones replaced - an empty or stale good-first-issue shelf tells newcomers the invitation was decoration (directories like goodfirstissue.dev index the label; being indexed with stale issues hurts).
• Non-code first issues count: docs gaps, example datasets, FAQ entries (rseng-user-support's pipeline generates them naturally) - often the truest first contribution for research audiences.

The walkable path

• The onboarding trail is testable: CONTRIBUTING.md's setup steps (rseng-community-governance) run cleanly from a fresh clone - verify it the clean-room way (rseng-reproducibility) and keep it verified in CI where feasible; a broken dev-setup step loses more contributors than any hard bug.
• Generate the project-specific onboarding checklist from the repository: where things live (architecture notes - rseng-software-design's ADRs), how to run tests, how review works, who to ask what - the knowledge-transfer document that also cuts the bus factor (rseng-maintenance-sustainability). For team members, add accounts, data access (rseng-regulatory-compliance where sensitive) and the project glossary.
• First-PR shepherding: respond fast (the retention predictor - rseng-community-metrics), review kindly with the first-contribution bar - correctness yes, style nits no (rseng-pair-programming's blocking-vs-preference split), and land it; a merged small PR beats a perfect stalled one. Credit immediately (rseng-citation-metadata's first-merged-PR trigger).
• Mentorship structure, sized honestly: a named point of contact for a newcomer's first weeks beats a formal program a two-person team cannot staff; buddy pairing for cohorts (students, sprint attendees - rseng-trainer for the teaching craft). First-timer-friendly conventions (firsttimersonly.com collects them) set the tone.

Measure the funnel, fix the leak

Where do people stall? Issues claimed but never PRed (setup or scoping problem), PRs opened but abandoned (review latency or harsh feedback), first PRs merged but no second (no next step offered - suggest one at merge time). The funnel numbers (rseng-community-metrics) point at the stage; the fix is usually in this skill or rseng-user-support. Ask leavers when possible - one honest exit answer outweighs a dashboard.

Working with this skill

This skill is source-independent: it encodes contributor onboarding practice for research software. It is the funnel between rseng-user-support (users with questions) and rseng-community-governance (contributors with rights), measured by rseng-community-metrics.

Learn more (verified):

• https://opensource.guide - open source guides (finding and welcoming contributors)
• https://goodfirstissue.dev - good first issue directory
• https://www.firsttimersonly.com - first-timers-only conventions
• https://www.cscce.org - CSCCE community engagement

Related skills

Check whether any of these applies before moving on:

• rseng-community-governance - rules and CONTRIBUTING newcomers follow
• rseng-community-metrics - measures funnel conversion
• rseng-pair-programming - kind first-PR review bar
• rseng-reproducible-environments - fresh-clone dev setup must work
• rseng-trainer - teaching cohorts and students
• rseng-user-support - active answerers become contributors