Good First Issue: How to Find Beginner-Friendly Issues on GitHub

A “good first issue” is not just an easy ticket—it’s a workflow hack. The best beginner issues are curated by maintainers to teach you the repo’s norms without forcing you to understand the entire codebase first. If you treat “good first issue” as a repeatable system (not a one-off lucky find), you’ll get consistent results: fewer stalled PRs, faster feedback, and higher merge rates.

This guide focuses on two problems:

1. how to find truly beginner-friendly issues (not just issues with a friendly label), and
2. how to take an issue from “I can do this” to “merged,” without creating extra work for maintainers.

Key Takeaways #

• Prefer maintainer intent over keywords: labels and contribution docs are stronger signals than popularity or stars.
• Project health beats project fame: active repos with clear docs are easier for first PRs than “famous but chaotic” repos.
• One PR, one idea: the smaller your first PR, the faster it gets reviewed and merged.
• Verification is your superpower: “how to test” plus evidence is what makes maintainers trust your change.
• Use GitHub search well: issue search qualifiers help you find approachable work in minutes, not hours.

What is a “Good First Issue”? #

On GitHub, “good first issue” is commonly used as a label to mark issues that are intentionally approachable for new contributors. The label itself is not magic—what matters is the maintainer intent behind it: “we believe a newcomer can do this safely.”

In practice, a strong good-first-issue has:

• a clear description of the problem and expected behavior,
• reproduction steps (for bugs) or acceptance criteria (for improvements),
• links to relevant files or code areas,
• and a scope that can be completed in a few hours or a weekend.

Open Source Guides puts the emotional reality well:

“Contributing to open source is like walking up to a group of strangers at a party.” — Open Source Guides (GitHub)

Good first issues reduce that “party problem” by giving you a clear path to participate without guessing the social norms.

How to Find Good First Issues (Fast) #

1) Start with GitHub’s “contribute” entry point (when available) #

Many repositories expose a “Contribute” path that highlights beginner-friendly issues and contribution instructions. If a project has this flow, it’s often the fastest way to find issues that maintainers actually want help with.

2) Use labels as filters (maintainer intent) #

Labels are the best “maintainer intent” signal you can query at scale. Common labels include:

• good first issue
• help wanted
• documentation
• bug
• needs repro / needs info

Paraphrased: Use GitHub search qualifiers to filter issues/PRs (like labels, state, and type) so you can quickly narrow to work you can take on. — GitHub Docs, adapted

3) Use GitHub issue search qualifiers #

GitHub supports searching issues and pull requests with qualifiers. Here are practical queries you can copy and adapt:

# Beginner-friendly labels
is:issue is:open label:"good first issue"
is:issue is:open label:"help wanted" label:"documentation"

# Narrow by language (helps match your skills)
is:issue is:open label:"good first issue" language:Python
is:issue is:open label:"good first issue" language:JavaScript

# Narrow to a specific repo (high intent)
repo:OWNER/REPO is:issue is:open label:"good first issue"
repo:OWNER/REPO is:issue is:open label:"help wanted"

If you see many results, add constraints: updated:>2025-01-01, comments:>3, or -label:"needs info" (depending on your target).

4) Project health checklist (before you invest time) #

Picking the right project is half the battle. Before you start coding, check:

• Recent activity: commits/PR merges in recent weeks.
• Responsive maintainers: issues get replies (even if slow).
• Contribution docs: CONTRIBUTING.md exists and is specific.
• Automation: CI runs on PRs or at least instructions exist.
• Clear scope: issues are described well enough to verify.

If a repo is inactive or undocumented, you can still contribute, but your first PR is more likely to stall.

Issue Readiness Scorecard (Pre-Flight Check) #

Not all “good first issues” are actually beginner-friendly. Before you invest time, do a fast pre-flight check. The goal is to answer one question: can a maintainer verify your work quickly and safely?

Use this lightweight scorecard. If you can’t score an issue at least “good enough,” pick a different one.

A simple scoring rule #

• If 3+ signals are missing, the issue is risky for a first PR.
• If the issue is missing verification (no repro steps, no acceptance criteria), treat it as “not ready” and consider helping by clarifying it first.

Helping an issue become “ready” is itself a contribution: add reproduction steps, environment details, screenshots, and a minimal failing example.

Comment Templates (How to Avoid “Claiming” Without Context) #

Many projects don’t “assign” issues to external contributors. You also don’t want to “claim” an issue and then disappear. A short, evidence-oriented comment is the safest approach.

Template: Start work (low friction) #

Hi! I’d like to work on this. I’ll:
1) Reproduce on the latest version
2) Make a small fix (one PR, one idea)
3) Include a short “how to test” section in the PR
If I get blocked, I’ll post what I tried and what I found.

Template: Clarify expectations (when scope is unclear) #

Quick question to confirm expected behavior:
- Should it behave like X or Y in this edge case?
If you confirm, I can submit a small PR with a test + fix.

These templates work because they reduce uncertainty for maintainers: you’re not asking them to design the solution, but you’re also not surprising them with a PR that doesn’t match intent.

When to Walk Away (and Pick a Better Issue) #

It’s not “quitting” to choose a healthier issue. Walk away when:

• the project hasn’t merged PRs or replied to issues in months,
• the issue has unclear requirements and no maintainer answers,
• setup is broken and even maintainers can’t reproduce,
• or the “good first issue” label is clearly outdated (many stalled newcomers).

You’ll learn faster by shipping a small PR in an active repo than by waiting weeks for feedback in an inactive one.

Step-by-Step: From “Good First Issue” to a Merged PR #

This workflow is optimized for first-time contributors and maintainers who are short on time.

1. Pick one issue and read everything: issue description, comments, linked PRs, and project docs.
2. Confirm scope in a comment (especially if not assigned):
   • what you plan to change,
   • how you’ll verify it,
   • and roughly when you’ll share progress.
3. Set up locally using the project’s official instructions. Don’t invent your own workflow first.
4. Reproduce (if it’s a bug) and write down the minimal steps that trigger it.
5. Create a small branch and make a minimal change:
   • one PR, one idea,
   • avoid “drive-by” refactors.
6. Run the project’s checks (tests, lint, build). Fix failures before opening a PR when possible.
7. Open your PR with evidence:
   • link the issue,
   • include “how to test”,
   • paste the commands you ran,
   • attach screenshots/logs when relevant.
8. Respond to review quickly and keep scope tight until merge.

Minimal PR Checklist (Copy/Paste) #

When in doubt, a boring PR checklist beats clever writing. Use this as a final pre-submit check:

• The PR is small and focused (one idea, no unrelated refactors).
• The PR links the issue and explains expected vs actual (or the exact improvement).
• “How to test” is included (commands + expected output).
• CI is green (or you explained why a check is failing and what you tried).
• Screenshots/logs are attached when the change affects UI or user-visible output.
• You followed the repo’s PR template / checklist (if it exists).
• You’re ready to respond to review feedback and iterate without expanding scope.

Comparison Table: Issue Types That Work Well for Beginners #

Best Practices That Increase Merge Rate #

1. Match project conventions: formatting, lint, naming, and directory structure.
2. Be explicit about verification: “I ran X; expected output is Y.” This saves maintainer time.
3. Prefer additive changes: small fixes are easier to roll back than large refactors.
4. Use respectful, low-drama communication: maintainers are collaborators, not customers.
5. Keep your PR description structured: summary → motivation → how to test → screenshots/logs.

Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) #

1. Picking “easy” issues that are actually unclear: a label doesn’t guarantee good scoping.
2. Starting work without reading CONTRIBUTING.md: you may miss required steps (tests, formatting, CLA).
3. Bundling unrelated changes: it increases review time and rejection risk.
4. Submitting without evidence: “works for me” is not a test plan.
5. Ghosting after feedback: stalled PRs get deprioritized and often closed.

Frequently Asked Questions #

What is a “good first issue”? #

A good first issue is a beginner-friendly task curated by maintainers. It’s usually small, clearly described, and easy to verify—so newcomers can participate without deep project context.

What’s the difference between “good first issue” and “help wanted”? #

“Good first issue” is typically scoped for newcomers. “Help wanted” signals the project wants contributor help, but the task may be larger or more context-heavy.

Do documentation PRs count as real contributions? #

Yes. Docs PRs often have high impact: they reduce onboarding time and prevent repeated support questions. They’re also an excellent first PR because verification is straightforward.

Should I ask before starting work? #

If the issue is labeled “good first issue,” you can often start immediately. For other issues, it’s polite and practical to comment first to confirm scope and avoid duplicated effort.

How do I make sure my PR is reviewable? #

Keep changes small, follow the repo’s contribution docs, include “how to test,” and provide evidence (commands, logs, screenshots) so reviewers can verify quickly.

Conclusion #

Good first issues are less about difficulty and more about maintainer intent. Use labels and search qualifiers to find issues that are truly beginner-friendly, choose healthy projects with clear docs, and ship small PRs with strong verification. If you do that consistently, you won’t just get a first merge—you’ll learn the collaboration skills that matter in real engineering teams.

References #

1. GitHub Docs: Finding ways to contribute to open source on GitHub
2. GitHub Docs: Using search to filter issues and pull requests
3. GitHub Docs: Creating a pull request from a fork
4. GitHub Docs: Syncing a fork
5. Open Source Guides (GitHub): How to Contribute to Open Source