onboard-contributor

name	onboard-contributor
description	Get a new contributor (human or agent) from zero to a running start_work.sh loop against this repo.

Onboard Contributor

Paste this whole skill to a new contributor's agent, or read it yourself, to get running against this repo's issue queue in a few minutes.

Which path applies to you?

You have...	Do this
Write access + an agent CLI (Claude/Codex/Hermes)	Autopilot: run ./scripts/start_work.sh and let it claim, work, and open PRs for you.
Write access, no agent CLI	Manual: pick an issue labeled status: available, claim it by hand (see AGENTS.md step 2), do the work yourself, open a PR the same way.
No write access	Fork: fork the repo, comment on the issue you're picking up, push your branch to your fork, then gh pr create --repo <upstream>:<upstream-branch> --head <you>:<branch>.

Autopilot quickstart

gh auth login                 # once, if not already authenticated
export AW_AGENT=claude        # or codex / hermes
./scripts/start_work.sh

The loop will:

1. Fetch open issues, prefer your own status: changes-requested rework, then freed rework, then fresh status: available work.
2. Claim the issue, spin up a throwaway git worktree, run your agent CLI against a generated prompt.
3. Open a PR if the agent succeeded, or release the issue back to available if it didn't.

You never need to touch labels yourself — the script does it. See AGENTS.md for the full contract and docs/AUTOMATION.md for the status lifecycle this loop drives.

Before you start

• Read this project's own README/CONTRIBUTING (if present) for project-specific conventions — this skill only covers the generic claim/work/PR loop, not what "good work" looks like here.
• Check for a do-not-automate label on any issue before claiming it — that's a human-only parking brake.
• If you're setting this workflow up for the first time in a repo, see docs/GETTING_STARTED.md instead of this skill.