GitContribute

Contribution research for agents: check repository guidance, related work, code context, and validation before writing a patch.

Quick start · Workflow · CLI · MCP · Safety · Documentation

gitcontribute is available as a CLI, terminal UI, and MCP server for coding agents.

GitHub can show you open issues. It cannot tell you whether an issue is still relevant, already being implemented, appropriate for an outside contributor, or supported by enough evidence to work on safely.

GitContribute collects repository guidance, related issues and pull requests, code context, accepted contribution patterns, and validation results in a local SQLite corpus. Results identify missing or stale coverage.

find work -> understand it -> check competing work -> prove the change -> prepare the handoff

[!IMPORTANT] GitContribute never writes to GitHub. It prepares local research and drafts for you to review.

Quick start

Run the guided setup with Node.js 18 or newer:

npx --yes gitcontribute@latest setup

Choose MCP to use GitContribute from a supported coding agent, CLI for the terminal and TUI, or Both. The wizard shows every planned change before applying it. Adding a repository during setup does not contact GitHub or start a sync.

After setup, start with a repository or an exact issue:

Task	Coding agent	CLI
Find candidates	Find contribution candidates in owner/repo. Rank them by contribution fit, evidence, scope, and coordination risk.	gitcontribute archive sync owner/repo``gitcontribute radar owner/repo --limit 10
Research an issue	Investigate owner/repo#42. Check guidance, discussion, code, prior fixes, competing work, and missing evidence.	gitcontribute archive sync owner/repo --numbers 42``gitcontribute research brief issue:owner/repo#42

Results include source references, coverage gaps, and suggested next steps.

Other installation options

Install a persistent command:

npm install --global gitcontribute@latest
gitcontribute setup

Pin GitContribute to a project:

npm install --save-dev gitcontribute
npm exec -- gitcontribute setup --mode mcp --codex --token-source none --yes

Build from source with Go 1.26 or newer:

go install github.com/morluto/gitcontribute/cmd/gitcontribute@latest

Native npm binaries are included for macOS ARM64/x64, Linux ARM64/x64, and Windows x64. You also need git. The gh CLI is optional and can provide authentication through gh auth token.

Contribution workflow

1. Find a candidate

Search a repository or rank its open issues by available evidence, scope, risks, blockers, and signs that maintainer coordination is needed.

Find contribution candidates in golang/go. Exclude issues with active
implementation work and explain why each remaining candidate is worth
investigating.

The ranking only covers stored observations. Results report incomplete coverage.

2. Research an issue

Build a research brief from the issue, repository guidance, discussion, linked work, indexed code, and historical contributions. Extracted maintainer text and checkboxes are not presented as complete acceptance criteria.