How to Get Started Contributing to Open Source

"I hear, and I forget
I see, and I remember
I do, and I understand."

I was recently asked how to get started contributing to open source. The following is my step-by-step recommendation:

• Pick an open-source project that you enjoy using
• Learn how to build it + run it from from source
• Make a change -- any change -- to a visible part of the application. Start small. Rebuild it, re-run it, and see your change take effect.
• Keep doing this, and try to eventually make changes that add something you personally want to see.
• Don't be afraid of making mistakes. When you screw things up, revert your changes and try again.
• Once you eventually make a change that improves things, then you can learn how to submit it to the main project.

But the first three steps are the most important. There's no substitute for just jumping in and experimenting.

Note that the above steps apply equally well whether you're using agentic development or not. The same steps apply, and there's never any substitute for testing your changes out yourself by hand. You're the judge on quality for whatever patches you submit and sign your name to, no matter where the changes came from.