13 - Picking a Project¶

What this session is¶

About 30 minutes plus browsing. What "Kubernetes-adjacent" OSS looks like and how to evaluate one.

What kinds of projects accept first contributions¶

With Kubernetes skills (without needing deep Go programming), you can contribute to:

Helm charts - fixes, defaults, docs, examples.
Kustomize bases / overlays - same idea.
kubectl plugins - small CLIs that extend kubectl.
Operators (read-only) - docs, sample manifests, bug reports.
Documentation - k8s.io itself, controller docs, chart docs.
GitHub Actions for K8s - useful tooling.
CRD examples / starter manifests.

For deep code contributions (operators, controllers, kubectl itself), you'll need Go fluency - see Go from scratch.

10-minute evaluation¶

Same as other beginner paths:

Signal	Target
Stars	100-50000
Last commit	Within a month
Open PRs	Some, not 200+
Recent PR merge time	Under 14 days
`good first issue` count	≥5
CONTRIBUTING.md exists	yes
Local install works (helm install or kubectl apply)	yes

Candidates¶

Tier 1 - Helm charts (small surface)¶

bitnami/charts - Bitnami's chart collection. Each chart is a separate component. Excellent labels, very responsive.
prometheus-community/helm-charts - Prometheus ecosystem.
grafana/helm-charts - Grafana, Loki, Tempo, Mimir.
cert-manager/cert-manager - TLS automation. Has its own chart + docs.

These accept Helm-only PRs - chart value defaults, missing values examples, README clarifications.

Tier 2 - kubectl plugins and small tools¶

derailed/k9s - terminal UI for K8s. Active, Go.
stern/stern - multi-pod log tail. Go.
ahmetb/kubectx - kubectx/kubens. Small Go.
kubectl-plugin-list - search for kubectl plugins; many small ones exist.
vmware-tanzu/velero - K8s backup/restore tool.

These often have Go code; some have shell or YAML-only changes available too.

Tier 3 - bigger projects, with K8s focus¶

argoproj/argo-cd - GitOps for K8s. Big project, well-organized.
fluxcd/flux2 - alternative GitOps tool.
kubernetes-sigs/... - many smaller projects under the kubernetes-sigs org. Each is more focused than the main kubernetes/kubernetes repo.

Tier 4 - don't start here¶

kubernetes/kubernetes itself - huge, slow review, CLA required.
prometheus/prometheus - popular but big.

Finding issues¶

Project's Issues → Labels. Filter by: - good first issue - help wanted - documentation - helm (if Helm-specific)

Comment to claim. Wait for maintainer.

What counts¶

Real contributions for someone with K8s skills:

Fix a chart value default that's broken on a specific platform (ARM, EKS, etc.).
Add a missing example to a chart's README.
Improve the documentation for a CRD field.
Add a missing app.kubernetes.io/version label.
Fix a broken example in the docs.
Add a kubectl plugin to a curated list.
Add a missing test for a Helm template helper.
Improve an Ingress example to include TLS and HTTPS redirect.

All real. All count.

Exercise¶

Browse three Tier 1 / Tier 2 projects.
10-minute evaluation.
Pick the most responsive with good first issues.
Read CONTRIBUTING.md.

Clone:

git clone https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>
cd <repo>

If it's a Helm chart, try installing it locally:

helm install test ./charts/<chartname> -n test --create-namespace
helm uninstall test -n test

Browse good first issue tickets; pick two candidates. Don't claim yet.

What you might wonder¶

"What if I'm intimidated by the Operator/controller projects?" Skip them. There's plenty of work that's pure YAML / Helm / docs. Operators are Go code with deep K8s API knowledge - a separate skill set.

"What's a CNCF project?" The Cloud Native Computing Foundation hosts many of the most-used K8s ecosystem projects (Prometheus, Envoy, Helm, Argo, Linkerd, etc.). CNCF projects tend to have well-defined governance and contribution processes. Browse cncf.io/projects.

Done¶

Articulate K8s-OSS contribution shapes.
Run a 10-minute evaluation.
Have specific candidate projects.

Next: Anatomy of a K8s-related OSS project →