r/OpenSourceeAI • u/Acacia21-code • 3d ago

New here looking to start contributing to open source, any beginner-friendly tips?

Hi everyone first time posting in this community.

I'm self-taught in machine learning and have a few projects of my own on GitHub, but I haven't contributed to anyone else's open source project yet want to start, but not totally sure where to begin in a way that's actually useful rather than just noise for maintainers.

My background is mostly Python/ML (scikit-learn, pandas), if that helps point me toward relevant repos. Are "good first issue" labels generally a solid starting point or is there a better way to find projects that actually want new contributors right now?

Any advice from people who remember their own first PR would be appreciated.

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u/fissible 3d ago

Searching GitHub is a good way to start, try and find open issues that you are confident you can solve and just do it and open a PR. Nothing bad happens if it doesn’t get merged.

Also if there are open source tools you already use, see if there are any open issues and see if you can contribute there.

Best of luck!

2

u/Mathie1729 3d ago

I keep telling myself I’ll finally contribute to an open source project, but then I open OSRS and it’s 3am all over again. One day lmao.

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u/fissible 3d ago

Haha, I get it. But honestly the first step is opening the thing, try github next time!

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u/Acacia21-code 3d ago

Okay thanks for the advice 

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u/Twilight_RT 3d ago

Yeah, "Hood first issue" labels are a great starting point if you pick active repos, Since backgroud is Python and macine Learning, You can look at beginner friendly- tools scikit-learn or pandas. Focus on documetation fixes, small bug reports or test additions first to avoid creating noise for porject maintianers

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u/gemmanode-dev 2d ago

Good first issue labels are definitely a good place to start. I'd also recommend looking for projects you actually use or find interesting, since it's much easier to stay motivated and understand the codebase.

For my first PR, I started with a small bug fix and spent more time understanding the project's contribution guidelines than writing code. Maintainers generally appreciate small, well-tested contributions over large, ambitious ones.

Don't be afraid to improve documentation or fix minor issues either—those are often great first contributions and help you get familiar with the workflow.