Most open-source projects "do DevRel" by writing a CONTRIBUTING.md and hoping. This is what doing it systematically looks like.
These four playbooks compose into a complete contributor flywheel — from "stranger lands on your repo" to "Core Contributor with a LinkedIn certificate."
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
┌───────▼──────────┐ ┌──────────┴───────────┐
│ 02 · Issue │ │ 03 · Recognition │
│ Pipeline SOP │ │ System │
│ │ │ │
│ • lifecycle │ │ • README wall │
│ • triage bot │ │ • monthly spotlight │
│ • 24h SLA │ │ • points leaderboard │
│ • health checks │ │ • certificates │
└────────┬─────────┘ │ • affiliate program │
│ └──────────▲───────────┘
│ │
▼ │
┌──────────────────┐ ┌──────────┴───────────┐
│ 01 · Good First │ │ 04 · PR Layer │
│ Issue System │──contributor─▶│ Operations │
│ │ picks up │ │
│ • detection │ │ • step-by-step guide │
│ formula │ │ • PR template │
│ • label matrix │ │ • mentor SLA │
│ • mentor map │ │ • commit conventions │
│ • AI prompts │ │ • review etiquette │
└──────────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘
PR merged → points awarded → recognition triggered → loop
| You are... | Read in this order |
|---|---|
| Setting up a brand-new open source project | 02 → 01 → 04 → 03 |
| Already have a repo + GitHub Actions, want better triage | 02 → 04 |
| Have contributors but losing them after first PR | 03 → 01 |
| Have first-PR contributors but no second-PR retention | 03 → 04 |
| Want to attract students / build resume value | 03 (focus: certificates) |
These playbooks are opinionated but not religious. Skip what doesn't fit:
- No paid product? → Skip the Affiliate section in
03. Keep certificates and recognition. - Solo maintainer, no mentor team? → In
01, just be your own mentor for all areas; the SLA still helps. - No money for swag? → In
03, certificates + leaderboard alone work surprisingly well for student contributors.
Yes. Every framework in these 4 playbooks has been shipped in a real open-source project — including the Good First Issue formula (B AND C) AND (A OR D), the 24h response SLA, the contribution pool health checks, and the all-contributors + monthly leaderboard combo.
What's been removed for X-Studio: project-specific issue numbers, real mentor names, internal team assignments, product-specific UI strings. What's been kept: every formula, template, label color, SLA timing, and ratio that actually matters.
- Copy these 4 files to your own repo (or link back here)
- Rename
<your-project>→ your project name everywhere - Pick the smallest viable subset for your stage:
- Pre-launch: just
01(define what GFI means) - First 10 contributors: add
04(PR process) - First 100 contributors: add
02and03
- Pre-launch: just
- Don't copy the success metrics blindly — set your own M1/M2/M3 numbers based on your starting point
../00-competitive-seed-pipeline.md— sister playbook for acquisition-side ops../../skills/— atomic skills you can compose into these playbooks../../research/— ecosystem signals that inform "what kind of contributor are you trying to attract"