About
The first stop for the next generation of developers.
Good First Issue helps new developers turn real open source contribution into durable portfolio evidence.
The problem
AI has made it easier than ever to produce plausible code, resumes, and project writeups. That makes it harder for new developers to prove what they can actually ship.
A portfolio needs more than generated demos. It needs public evidence: real problems, real review, and real maintainers who can see the work happen.
Why open source, why now
Open source creates a public trail that AI cannot manufacture. Every issue, pull request, review comment, and merged change shows how a developer understands context, works with constraints, and improves software other people use.
For beginners, the hardest part is finding work that is small enough to start, current enough to matter, and connected to maintainers who can review it.
What we do
GoodFirstIssue is the first stop. We collect beginner-friendly issues from active open source projects and make them easier to browse, evaluate, and turn into shipped contributions.
The goal is simple: help the next generation of developers move from private practice to public work that shows judgment, follow-through, and maintainer-ready collaboration.
Data source
Good First Issue indexes data from public GitHub repositories and public GitHub issues. Indexed data may include repository metadata, issue metadata, labels, counts, body text, and links back to GitHub.
GitHub remains the source of truth. The indexed copy on Good First Issue can be stale, incomplete, or different from what is currently shown on GitHub.
Indexing and freshness
Issue freshness is maintained by regular scheduled background syncs. Syncs help keep discovery useful, but they do not guarantee that every repository, issue, label, or status change appears immediately.
Repository inclusion and issue quality depend on public signals that are visible on GitHub. Read the maintainer guide for detailed indexing and recommendation guidance.
Beginner-friendly signals
Beginner-friendly discovery currently treats good first issue and help wanted labels as signals.
Labels are discovery signals, not guarantees. Issue quality still depends on clear scope, enough context, setup notes, and maintainer responsiveness.
Independence and feedback
Good First Issue is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by GitHub.
For repository inclusion, feedback, corrections, or removal requests, use the contact page or GitHub Discussions.
Start with work maintainers can review.
Find a focused issue, follow the contributor guide, and ship a small public change.