chore: add vouch system for first-time contributors#375
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johntmyers merged 4 commits intomainfrom Mar 16, 2026
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Add a trust gate that auto-closes PRs from unvouched external contributors. Org members and collaborators bypass automatically. Maintainers vouch users by commenting /vouch on a Vouch Request discussion, which appends the username to .github/VOUCHED. Also adds AI usage policy and good-first-issue guidance to CONTRIBUTING.md. Signed-off-by: John Myers <johntmyers@users.noreply.github.com>
Replace custom vouch-check and vouch-command workflow scripts with the mitchellh/vouch GitHub Actions. Handles bot exemption, race conditions, denouncement, and the .td file format out of the box. Signed-off-by: John Myers <johntmyers@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: John Myers <johntmyers@users.noreply.github.com>
drew
approved these changes
Mar 16, 2026
Signed-off-by: John Myers <johntmyers@users.noreply.github.com>
pimlock
approved these changes
Mar 16, 2026
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Summary
Add a vouch system that gates first-time external contributor PRs behind maintainer approval. Inspired by Ghostty's contributor trust model. Org members and collaborators bypass automatically.
Changes
vouch-check.yml— auto-closes PRs from unvouched users (bots exempted)vouch-command.yml— handles/vouchcommand in Discussion comments, appends username to.github/VOUCHED.github/VOUCHED— flat-file allowlist of approved contributor usernames.github/DISCUSSION_TEMPLATE/vouch-request.yml— structured template for vouch requestsCONTRIBUTING.md— added "The Critical Rule", "AI Usage", "First-Time Contributors", and "Finding Work" sectionsAGENTS.md— added Vouch System section and updated PR conventions.github/CODEOWNERS— added ownership for VOUCHED file.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml— added vouch request as first contact linkManual Setup Required
After merge, a repo admin needs to:
good-first-issueto populate the link in CONTRIBUTING.mdTesting
mise run pre-commitpassesChecklist