https://github.com/agent-sh/can-i-help
Find where to contribute to any project - matches developer skills to project needs
https://github.com/agent-sh/can-i-help
ai ai-agents automation claude contributor devtools good-first-issue javascript llm open-source productivity
Last synced: about 1 month ago
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Find where to contribute to any project - matches developer skills to project needs
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/agent-sh/can-i-help
- Owner: agent-sh
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-03-16T09:48:24.000Z (3 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-03-22T20:08:23.000Z (2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-04-04T14:48:01.222Z (2 months ago)
- Topics: ai, ai-agents, automation, claude, contributor, devtools, good-first-issue, javascript, llm, open-source, productivity
- Language: JavaScript
- Size: 36.1 KB
- Stars: 2
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- License: LICENSE
- Agents: AGENTS.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# can-i-help
Contributor guidance for any project - matches developer skills to test gaps, stale docs, bugspots, and open issues.
Part of the [agentsys](https://github.com/agent-sh/agentsys) ecosystem.
Point a contributor at a project and get specific, data-backed suggestions for where they can help. Collects project health signals automatically, asks about the developer's background, then matches skills to needs with concrete next steps.
## Why this plugin
- Use this when onboarding a new contributor and need to match work to their skills
- Use this when looking for good-first-issue candidates backed by actual project data
- Use this when a project needs help but maintainers don't know where to direct people
- Use this when you want to contribute to an open-source project but don't know where to start
## Installation
```bash
agentsys install can-i-help
```
## Quick start
```
/can-i-help
```
Three phases run in sequence:
1. **Collect** (automatic, no LLM) - gathers project metadata + contributor-specific signals
2. **Match** (Sonnet agent) - asks about developer background, matches skills to project needs
3. **Guide** (interactive) - for each recommendation, reads relevant code and explains what to do
## Contributor signals
Beyond base project data (manifest, structure, git), the collector gathers signals specific to contribution opportunities:
| Signal | Source | What it reveals |
|--------|--------|-----------------|
| Good-first areas | `repo-intel can-i-help` | Areas with clear patterns, low coupling, easy entry |
| Test gaps | `repo-intel test-gaps` | Hot source files without co-changing test files |
| Doc drift | `repo-intel doc-drift` | Documentation with low code coupling (likely stale) |
| Bugspots | `repo-intel bugspots` | Files with high bug-fix density |
| Open issues | `gh issue list` | GitHub issues with labels and assignees |
## How matching works
The Sonnet agent tailors recommendations based on developer profile:
| Developer says... | Recommended areas |
|-------------------|-------------------|
| "New to the stack" | Good-first areas with clear patterns and examples |
| "Experienced developer" | Hard problems in pain-point areas, architectural improvements |
| "I want to write tests" | Test gaps in frequently-changed files |
| "I want to fix bugs" | Bugspot files + relevant open issues |
| "I want to improve docs" | Stale documentation with concrete code examples |
Each recommendation includes:
- **What** - specific file, area, or issue
- **Why** - data-backed reason (bug rate, test gap, staleness)
- **How** - reads relevant code and explains what needs doing
- **First step** - exact action to take
## Usage
```
/can-i-help # Current repo, normal depth
/can-i-help /path/to/repo # Specific repo
/can-i-help --depth=deep # Include AST symbol data
```
## Validated on 100 repos
The collector passes on 100 open-source repositories across 8 languages (JS/TS, Rust, Go, Python, C/C++, Java, Deno). Contributor signal queries validated on 8 repos with manual cross-checking against actual code: phantom directories filtered, source code prioritized over test/doc dirs, generated data excluded from recommendations.
## Requirements
- Git repository with history
- [agent-analyzer](https://github.com/agent-sh/agent-analyzer) for contributor signals (optional - prompts to generate if missing)
- GitHub CLI (`gh`) for open issues (optional)
## Related plugins
- [onboard](https://github.com/agent-sh/onboard) - codebase orientation (what the project is and how it works)
- [repo-intel](https://github.com/agent-sh/repo-intel) - unified repository analysis (data source for all contributor signals)
## License
MIT