First Timers Only
Find the best opportunities to create a pull request for the first time.
About First Timers Only
First Timers Only is a resource site aimed at helping newcomers make their first open source contribution. It curates links to tutorials and aggregator sites such as First Contributions, up-for-grabs.net, goodfirstissues.com, and CodeTriage, along with contribution guides from GitHub ReadME, freeCodeCamp, EddieHub, and others. It also links to a documentary-style training video covering setup of GitHub, Stack Overflow, and blogging for people new to tech.
The site also addresses open source project maintainers, encouraging them to label small, well-documented issues with "first-timers-only" to signal they are reserved for contributors who have never submitted a pull request before. It provides a badge maintainers can add to a repository README, and describes a GitHub app, built by Angie Gonzalez and Arlene Perez, that automates creation of first-timers-only issues from branches named with a "first-timers-" prefix.
The initiative was proposed by Kent C. Dodds and is associated with Scott Hanselman's writing on kindness in open source. The page is hosted on GitHub Pages under the GitHub accounts shanselman and kentcdodds.
Key features
- Aggregates guides and resources to help newcomers make their first open source contribution
- Provides a "first-timers-only" issue label convention for maintainers to mark beginner-friendly issues
- Offers a GitHub app that automates creation of first-timers-only issues from branches named first-timers-
- Links out to related resources like up-for-grabs.net, goodfirstissues.com, and CodeTriage
- Provides a badge maintainers can add to their README to signal first-timers-only friendliness
Frequently asked questions
Is First Timers Only free to use?
Yes, it is a free informational resource and set of conventions with no paid tier mentioned.
Who is this for?
It is for first-time open source contributors looking to make their first pull request, and for OSS project owners wanting to welcome newcomers.
What platforms or tools does it integrate with?
It centers on GitHub, including a GitHub app that automates first-timers-only issue creation and a good-first-issue label/topic on GitHub.
How does the first-timers-only label work?
Maintainers mark issues with the first-timers-only label to signal they are small, well-described, and reserved for contributors who haven't made an open source contribution before.
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