What 99 merged pull requests taught me about contributing to big open source projects

Description and use

The author shares how 99 small bug‑fix pull requests were merged into large projects by proving bugs with tests, making minimal changes, and clearly explaining root causes.

Problem

Contributing small bug fixes to large open‑source projects can be challenging due to review load, conventions, and the need for clear root‑cause explanations.

Outcome

The author achieved 99 merged PRs, learned that small, root‑cause focused fixes are preferred, and gained insights into maintainer expectations and review practices.

Workflow

• 1. Identify a bug that can be proven with a failing test.
• 2. Search open/closed PRs and issues to avoid duplication.
• 3. Write a minimal change that fixes the root cause.
• 4. Add a test that fails before the change and passes after.
• 5. Follow repository conventions (commit style, PR template, CLA/DCO).
• 6. Run linters/formatters and ensure signed commits if required.
• 7. Submit PR with a concise description explaining the root cause.
• 8. Respond promptly to review comments.

Evidence

I recently passed 99 merged pull requests across 41 organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, NVIDIA, Netflix, Samsung, Uber, plus projects like Bootstrap, Excalidraw, three.js, MUI, Tailwind CSS and Puppeteer.

Source

The best contributions I made all had one thing in common: before touching the code, I could write a test that failed.

Source

I also follow each repository's own conventions: commit message style, PR template, changelog or changeset files, CLA or DCO.

Source