How Maintainers Review PRs
Ever wonder why a 3-line code change takes two weeks to get merged? Let's take a look behind the curtain.
The Life of a Maintainer
The first thing you need to understand is that 95% of open-source maintainers are unpaid volunteers doing this in their free time on nights and weekends.
When you submit a Pull Request (PR), they have to read your code, understand your logic, run it locally, verify it doesn't break anything else, and deal with CI/CD pipeline failures. That takes time.
What Maintainers Look For (The Checklist)
If you want your PR merged quickly, make sure you check all of these boxes before hitting submit:
- Did you follow the template? Most large repos have a PR template. If you delete it and write "fixed bug", your PR will likely be closed. Fill out the description, testing steps, and checklists.
- Is the scope narrow?
If you fix a bug in
login.js, do not sneak in formatting changes tonavbar.jsin the same PR. Maintainers hate reviewing "mega PRs" that touch 40 files for un-related reasons. Keep PRs small and focused. - Did you write tests? If the project uses automated testing for its code, and you submit a new feature without tests, it won't be merged. Maintainers rely on tests to ensure future updates don't break your code.
- Did you follow the code style?
If the repo uses 2 spaces for indentation, don't submit code with 4 spaces. Run their linter before pushing (usually
npm run lint).
Empathy is Key: If a maintainer requests changes, do not argue. Say "Thanks for the feedback, I'll update that!" Make the change, and push. You are a guest in their house.
How Long Should I Wait?
If a week goes by with no response, it's perfectly fine to leave a polite comment: "Hi @maintainer, just pinging this to see if there is anything I need to change for it to be reviewed. Thanks!"
If no one responds after a month, the project might be abandoned. Move on to a healthier, more active repository!