7-step beginner’s guide to open-source contribution on GitHub

Contributing to open-source projects not only adds value to the project but also drives the entire community forward. Besides we all want to build a nice GitHub profile and earn those shiny contribution badges to showcase on profile.

Let’s take an example that I want to contribute to the following Repository: https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs

Step 1 — Fork the target repository to contribute

This will fork the target repository to your own GitHub. From here on I will call this repo as “your forked repo”.

Target Repo: https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs Forked Repo: https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs

Step 2 — Clone the forked repository

Example: git clone [https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git)

Note: Remember this is the forked repository and not the target repository

Step 3 — Adding upstream remote

• Change the directory to the forked repository: cd awesome-rl-envs

• Add the target repository as upstream remote: git remote add upstream [https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git)

• Use git remote -v to verify the changes. It should look like this:

origin [https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git) (fetch)
origin [https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/nitesh4146/awesome-rl-envs.git) (push)
upstream [https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git) (fetch)
upstream [https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git](https://github.com/clvrai/awesome-rl-envs.git) (push)

Step 4 — Keep your cloned repository Up-to-date

Make sure that your cloned repository is updated to latest changes in the target repository. To do this pull the upstream remote using : git pull upstream master

Step 5 —Make your awesome contributions

Make changed to your local repository files as needed for meaningful contributions

Step 6 —Add, Commit and Push the changes

• Stage your changes with following command: git add -A

• Commit the changes: git commit -m "DESCRIPTION MESSAGE"

• Push to branch (master in this case)— git push origin master

Step 7 — Create Pull Request

Reload your forked repository and you should see an option to create a pull request. Verify your changes and add a brief description of your contribution(s).

Hope you all find this minimal step-wise post helpful. Let me know your first-time contributions in the comments.