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  <h1>Pull request checklist</h1>
  <p class="lead prose">
    Run through this before you click "Create pull request". It is the
    difference between a PR merged in an hour and one that goes back and
    forth for three days.
  </p>
  <p class="muted">Ticks are saved in your browser, so you can come back to
  this page.</p>

  <h2>Before you open it</h2>
  <ul class="checklist">
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c1"><label for="c1"><strong>The issue is assigned to me.</strong> I commented <code>/claim</code> and a bot assigned it. A PR on an unclaimed issue gets closed.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c2"><label for="c2"><strong>I am on a branch, not <code>main</code>.</strong> <code>git status</code> tells me which.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c3"><label for="c3"><strong>My branch is named properly</strong> — <code>feat/</code>, <code>fix/</code>, or <code>docs/</code> followed by a short description.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c4"><label for="c4"><strong>I only changed files this issue is about.</strong> <code>git diff --stat upstream/main</code> shows nothing unexpected.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c5"><label for="c5"><strong>I ran the project and my change works.</strong> Not "it should work" — I actually ran it.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c6"><label for="c6"><strong>Tests pass</strong> if the project has them.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c7"><label for="c7"><strong>No debugging leftovers</strong> — no stray <code>print()</code>, <code>console.log()</code>, or commented-out code.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c8"><label for="c8"><strong>No secrets.</strong> No API keys, tokens, passwords, or <code>.env</code> files.</label></li>
  </ul>

  <h2>Writing the pull request</h2>
  <ul class="checklist">
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c9"><label for="c9"><strong>The description contains <code>Closes #&lt;number&gt;</code>.</strong> This is required. Without it the PR gets closed.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c10"><label for="c10"><strong>The title says what changed</strong>, e.g. "fix: footer link pointed at a page that no longer exists" — not "update" or "changes".</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c11"><label for="c11"><strong>I explained how I tested it.</strong> One line is enough: "Opened index.html in Chrome and Firefox at 375px, nav still works".</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c12"><label for="c12"><strong>Screenshots for anything visual</strong>, terminal output for anything that runs in a terminal. This is the fastest way to get merged.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c13"><label for="c13"><strong>I filled in the template</strong> rather than deleting it.</label></li>
  </ul>

  <h2>After you open it</h2>
  <ul class="checklist">
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c14"><label for="c14"><strong>The CI checks are green.</strong> If one is red, I clicked "Details" and read why.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c15"><label for="c15"><strong>I have notifications on</strong> so I see review comments.</label></li>
    <li><input type="checkbox" id="c16"><label for="c16"><strong>If changes were requested, I pushed more commits to the same branch.</strong> The PR updates itself — I do not need to open a new one.</label></li>
  </ul>

  <hr>

  <h2>What gets a PR rejected</h2>

  <div class="callout callout--stop">
    <p class="callout__title">These are marked as spam and do not count</p>
    <ul>
      <li>Changing whitespace, commas, or formatting in Markdown and nothing else</li>
      <li>Adding your name or a link to a README without being asked to</li>
      <li>AI-generated code pasted in without being read, that fails the linter or has no tests</li>
      <li>A PR with no linked issue</li>
      <li>Duplicating a pull request that is already open</li>
      <li>Renaming variables or "improving" code nobody asked to change</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <div class="callout callout--tip">
    <p class="callout__title">These are always welcome</p>
    <ul>
      <li>Fixing a real bug, however small</li>
      <li>Adding a test that was missing</li>
      <li>Rewriting documentation that confused you, so it does not confuse the next person</li>
      <li>Improving an unhelpful error message</li>
      <li>Accessibility fixes</li>
      <li>Telling us our setup instructions are wrong</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2>What happens next</h2>
  <ol class="steps">
    <li>
      <h3>Within 48 hours, a maintainer replies</h3>
      <p>That is a commitment. If it has been longer, say so in a comment on your
      pull request — you are not nagging, we dropped the ball.</p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <h3>They may request changes</h3>
      <p>This is the normal case, not a failure. It happens to people who have
      been writing code for twenty years. Push another commit to the same
      branch and the PR updates itself.</p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <h3>It gets merged</h3>
      <p>Your contribution is now part of the project, permanently, with your
      name on it.</p>
    </li>
  </ol>

  <div class="callout callout--tip">
    <p class="callout__title">Then do another one</p>
    <p>Keep going. The second one is much easier than the first.</p>
  </div>

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