First Contribution GitHub Action Development

Paul Ebose

Completed work

Web Developer

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GitHub

TypeScript

Computer Software

first-contribution

Automatically respond to a user's first issue or pull request in your repository.

Usage

You can respond to first-time contributors when they open new issues and pull requests. You can also respond when those opened issues and pull requests are closed.

All inputs are optional.

All inputs have no default values (except for token which defaults to {{ github.token }}).

If the relevant message is empty, no comment will be made.

If no labels are provided, the issue or pull request labels will remain untouched.

Notes

Labels are only added to new issues and pull requests.

You can use {fc-author} in any of the -msg inputs to reference the issue or pull request author.

You can reuse messages by passing the input parameter name instead. See the Detailed example for more information.

Inputs 📥

- uses: plbstl/first-contribution@v3
  with:
    # The GitHub access token (e.g. secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN)
    # used to add relevant comments and labels.
    # This defaults to {{ github.token }}.
    token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when they open a new issue.
    issue-opened-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when they open a new pull request.
    pr-opened-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when their authored issue is CLOSED AS COMPLETED.
    issue-completed-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when their authored issue is CLOSED AS NOT_PLANNED.
    issue-not-planned-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when their authored pull request is MERGED.
    pr-merged-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Message to reply a first-time contributor with,
    # when their authored pull request is CLOSED without
    # being merged.
    pr-closed-msg: |
      Markdown

    # Comma-separated list of labels that should be added
    # to an issue or pull request opened by a first-time
    # contributor.
    labels: label1, label2

    # Comma-separated list of labels that should be added
    # to an issue authored by a first-time contributor.
    # Takes precedence over the 'labels' input.
    issue-labels: label1, label2

    # Comma-separated list of labels that should be added
    # to a pull request authored by a first-time contributor.
    # Takes precedence over the 'labels' input.
    pr-labels: label1, label2

Important

Make sure to listen to the necessary events, and grant the needed permissions for the different action inputs.

You can check out the examples below.

Outputs 📤

first-contribution GitHub Action provides the following outputs:

Output Type Description type string Where the first contribution was made. issue or pr. number integer Unique number of the issue or pull request. username string GitHub username of the first-time contributor. comment-url string URL to the comment that was made in response to the user's first contribution. This will be empty if no comment was made (e.g. you're only adding labels).

Examples

Add new contributor

Welcome first-time issues and PRs

Detailed

Add new contributor

Add a new contributor after PR merge, using the @all-contributors bot.

name: Add new contributor

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: closed

jobs:
  add-contributor:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - uses: plbstl/first-contribution@v3
        with:
          pr-merged-msg: >
            @all-contributors please add @{fc-author} for ${{ join(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, ', ') }}

Welcome first-time issues and PRs

Welcome first-time contributors when they open new issues and pull requests. Also label the opened issue or PR.

name: Welcome a first-time contributor

on:
  issues:
    types: opened
  pull_request_target:
    types: opened

jobs:
  welcome-first-time-contributor:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - uses: plbstl/first-contribution@v3
        with:
          labels: first contrib
          issue-opened-msg: |
            ### Hey @{fc-author} !

            Looks like it's your first time interacting with (Project Name) here on GitHub.

            Welcome and thank you for taking the time to report an issue :heart:.

            Please check out our [code of conduct](https://github.com/user/repo/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) to learn how to interact with the community.

            Don't forget to star :star: the repo.
          pr-opened-msg: |
            ### Hey @{fc-author} !

            Thank you for taking the time to contribute to (Project Name). Your help is truly appreciated :heart:.

            Please check out the [contribution guide](https://github.com/user/repo/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) which is very useful for working on pull requests.

            Don't forget to star :star: the repo.

Detailed

Add relevant labels to issues and pull requests opened by first-time contributors.

Welcome first-time contributors when they open new issues and pull requests.

Comment on closed issues and pull requests, when the author is a first-time contributor.

Reuse text from other inputs.

name: Welcome a first-time contributor

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, closed]
  pull_request_target:
    types: [opened, closed]

jobs:
  welcome-first-time-contributor:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - uses: plbstl/first-contribution@v3
        with:
          labels: first-timer, new contributor
          pr-labels: pr, first-contribution
          # reuse message text by using the input parameter name. If the reused text is empty, nothing happens.
          # New pull request is OPENED.
          pr-opened-msg: issue-opened-msg
          # Authored pull request is MERGED.
          pr-merged-msg: issue-completed-msg
          # Authored pull request is CLOSED without being merged.
          pr-closed-msg: issue-not-planned-msg
          # messages
          issue-opened-msg: |
            ### Hey @{fc-author}!

            Looks like it's your first time interacting with (Project Name) here on GitHub.

            Welcome and thank you for taking the time to report an issue :heart:.

            Please check out our [code of conduct](https://github.com/user/repo/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) and [contribution guide](https://github.com/user/repo/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) to learn how to interact with and contribute to the community.

            Don't forget to star :star: the repo.
          issue-completed-msg: |
            ### Hey @{fc-author}!

            Thank you for your contribution, feel free to come by anytime.
          issue-not-planned-msg: |
            ### Hey @{fc-author}!

            Thank you for taking the time to make a contribution, don't let this stop you from reaching out again.

Like this project

Completed work

Posted Aug 26, 2025

Developed a GitHub Action to welcome first-time contributors.

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