gh-contribute — Clean PRs to Upstream Repos

Turn local changes into a clean, professional pull request against an upstream repo you don't own. Handles the full fork → branch → commit → push → PR pipeline, and splits work into multiple PRs when the changes span unrelated concerns.

When to Use

• User wants to contribute to an open-source project they don't have write access to
• User already has local edits and needs them shipped as a PR upstream
• User asks to "fork this repo and send a PR"
• User has mixed changes (e.g. docs + feature + refactor) and wants them split properly

Non-Goals

• Does not write code changes — assumes the user (or a prior step) already has the desired modifications in the working tree or in their head
• Does not review the project's own PRs (see

  gh-tidy

  )
• Does not mirror to GitLab/Gitea — GitHub only

Workflow (MANDATORY)

Execute steps in order. Do not skip confirmations.

Step 1: Identify the target repo

Determine the upstream

owner/repo

:

1. If the user pasted a URL or

   owner/repo

   string → use it
2. Otherwise run

   git remote -v

   in the current directory and pick the

   origin

   (if origin is already the user's fork, find the upstream via

   gh repo view --json parent

   )

Record three facts:

• UPSTREAM

  — e.g.

  ZenMux/zenmux-doc

• DEFAULT_BRANCH

  — from

  gh repo view $UPSTREAM --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name

• USER_LOGIN

  — from

  gh api user -q .login

Step 2: Read the contribution rules

Fetch

CONTRIBUTING.md

and

CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

from upstream (if present) and skim for: commit message format, DCO/CLA requirements, branch naming, PR template. Carry these constraints into subsequent steps.

gh api repos/$UPSTREAM/contents/CONTRIBUTING.md -q .content 2>/dev/null | base64 -d

If the repo has

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

, use it as the PR body skeleton.

Step 3: Survey the changes

Gather the change set that needs to become PR(s):

git status --porcelain
git diff --stat $DEFAULT_BRANCH...HEAD        # committed
git diff --stat                                # unstaged
git diff --stat --cached                       # staged

Classify files into logical groups. Typical axes:

• By concern: docs / feature / bugfix / refactor / test / chore
• By subsystem: unrelated top-level directories usually = separate PRs
• By dependency: if PR B needs PR A merged first, split and note the dependency

Step 4: Propose a PR plan and confirm

Use

AskUserQuestion

to present the plan. Options must include at least:

• Single PR — all changes together. Recommended when changes are cohesive.
• Split into N PRs — show the proposed titles and file groupings.
• Abort — something is off, let the user redirect.

Show the plan like:

PR #1 (docs): Update CLAUDE.md to reflect current scripts
  - CLAUDE.md
PR #2 (feat): Add gh-contribute skill bootstrap
  - scripts/new.ts
  - .prompts/contribute.xml

Do not proceed until the user picks an option.

Step 5: Fork (idempotent)

gh repo view $USER_LOGIN/$REPO_NAME >/dev/null 2>&1 \
  || gh repo fork $UPSTREAM --clone=false --remote=false

Ensure a

fork

remote exists in the local clone:

git remote get-url fork 2>/dev/null \
  || git remote add fork git@github.com:$USER_LOGIN/$REPO_NAME.git

If origin already points at the user's fork, skip the

fork

remote and use

origin

.

Step 6: Create branches and commits per PR

For each PR in the plan:

1. Start from a clean, up-to-date base:

   git fetch origin $DEFAULT_BRANCH
   git checkout -b $BRANCH_NAME origin/$DEFAULT_BRANCH
   

2. Apply only the files belonging to this PR (use

   git checkout <sha> -- <paths>

   or

   git stash

   + selective

   git checkout

   from a working branch).
3. Commit with a conventional message. If upstream uses Conventional Commits, match:

   <type>(<scope>): <subject>

   . Otherwise mirror the style of the last 10 commits on

   $DEFAULT_BRANCH

   .
4. Sign off if

   CONTRIBUTING.md

   requires DCO:

   git commit -s ...

   .

Branch naming (when upstream doesn't dictate):

<type>/<short-slug>

, e.g.

docs/update-claude-md

,

feat/add-contribute-skill

.

Step 7: Push to fork

git push -u fork $BRANCH_NAME

If origin is already the fork, use

origin

instead.

Step 8: Open the PR

gh pr create \
  --repo $UPSTREAM \
  --base $DEFAULT_BRANCH \
  --head $USER_LOGIN:$BRANCH_NAME \
  --title "$TITLE" \
  --body "$BODY"

PR body template (adapt to PR template if present):

## Summary

<1-3 bullets explaining what and why>

## Changes

- <bullet per logical change>

## Test plan

- [ ] <how to verify>

## Related

<!-- Link follow-up PRs if split, e.g. "Depends on #123" or "Part 2 of 3" -->

When opening multiple PRs, cross-link them in each body:

## Related
- PR 1/3: #<url>
- PR 2/3: (this PR)
- PR 3/3: #<url>

Step 9: Report back

Output a compact summary:

Opened 2 PRs against ZenMux/zenmux-doc:
  #201 docs: update CLAUDE.md            → https://github.com/.../pull/201
  #202 feat: add gh-contribute skill      → https://github.com/.../pull/202

Splitting Heuristics

Prefer one PR when:

• All changes serve a single user-visible outcome
• Total diff < ~300 lines across ≤ 5 files
• The changes would be awkward to review in isolation

Prefer multiple PRs when:

• Docs-only changes sit alongside code changes (docs PR lands fast)
• Refactor + feature — land the refactor first, feature on top
• Unrelated subsystems touched (e.g.

  scripts/

  +

  docs_source/

  )
• One change is trivially correct and another needs discussion

When in doubt, ask the user.

What NOT to Do

• Never force-push to a branch that already has a PR with review comments unless the user explicitly asks
• Never edit upstream's default branch directly — always branch first
• Never push to upstream — always to the user's fork
• Never bypass hooks (

  --no-verify

  ) or skip signing (

  --no-gpg-sign

  ) unless CONTRIBUTING.md says to or the user explicitly says so
• Never batch unrelated concerns into one PR just to "ship faster"
• Never fabricate a PR body — if you can't describe the change, ask the user

Dependencies

# gh CLI (https://cli.github.com/)
brew install gh      # macOS
gh auth login        # one-time

No Python dependencies. This skill is pure

gh

+

git

orchestration.