offer-dont-grablisted

To work an issue that's assigned to a maintainer, is the maintainer's own design, or has a dormant prior attempt: check whether the assignment is actually dormant (last activity, has the assignee ever commented, any linked PR), build a TDD-verified fix, then OFFER it — credit the prior work, ask the design question, open the PR on the maintainer's nod. Do NOT silently open a PR that grabs owned work. Assigned ≠ actively-worked; the rule is offer-don't-grab, not avoid-don't-touch. Use when the best-fit issue is already owned or has a stalled attempt. Trigger terms: assigned issue, dormant, stalled PR, "I'll take this", credit predecessor, revive, take over.
serhiy-bzhezytskyy/contrib-receipts · ★ 1 · AI & Automation · score 77

Install: claude install-skill serhiy-bzhezytskyy/contrib-receipts

# Offer, don't grab ## Purpose The best-fit issue is often already owned — assigned to a maintainer, or their own old design, or carrying a stalled prior attempt. The reflex "assigned, don't touch" leaves real value on the floor; the opposite reflex, silently opening a PR that grabs the work, burns trust. The right move is in between: confirm the assignment is *dormant*, do the hard verification work yourself, then **offer** the result and hand the maintainer the design authority. An assigned issue being taken is informative, not discouraging — it means you're reading the valuable area correctly. This is the **owned/dormant** case, distinct from greenfield triage where grabbing fresh unclaimed work is right. ## When to use - The prime-fit issue is assigned to a maintainer or is their own design. - There's a dormant prior PR/branch/POC on the issue. - You have (or can build) a real, tested fix and want to contribute it without stepping on the owner. ## When NOT to use The issue is genuinely unclaimed greenfield work — then just grab it; the offer ritual is for owned/dormant work, not fresh unassigned tickets. ## The practice (checklist) **1. FIND — confirm the assignment is dormant (a signal, not a stop sign)** - [ ] Check staleness: last activity date, **has the assignee ever commented**, is there any linked PR? Long-idle + assignee-never-commented + no PR = dormant triage-assignment, legitimately offerable. **2. VERIFY — earn the offer (do this BEFORE