Chef's Pick OSS Starter

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This template gives a new open source repository every file it needs to collaborate. Each module uses a pick the community already recognizes, ready to use out of the box, and every choice states its source, its adoption evidence, and the date it was verified — never just the author's taste.

This is the template's setup guide page. Your own project README lives at README.md; once you finish setup and delete this page, that file becomes the repository's front page.

What you get

Required

• README.md — Project readme (M01)
• LICENSE — License (M02)
• .gitignore — Ignore rules (M03)

Recommended

• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — Code of conduct (M04)
• CONTRIBUTING.md — Contributing guide (M05)
• SECURITY.md — Security policy (M06)
• .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml — Issue forms (M07)
• .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md — Pull request template (M08)
• CHANGELOG.md, .github/release.yml — Changelog and release notes (M09)
• .github/workflows/ci.yml — Continuous integration (M11)
• .github/dependabot.yml — Dependency updates (M12)

Optional

• .editorconfig — EditorConfig (M13)
• .pre-commit-config.yaml — Pre-commit hooks (M14)
• .github/CODEOWNERS — Code owners (M15)
• .github/FUNDING.yml — Funding (M16)

Changelog automation (M10) ships as a recommendation only: it adds no files, and you pick the tool that suits your project.

The picks at a glance

Module	Pick	Adoption	Verified
M01 README	Best-README-Template	★ 16,360 (othneildrew/Best-README-Template)	2026-09-18
M02 License	choosealicense.com (MIT)	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M03 Ignore rules	github/gitignore (Global)	★ 175,816 (github/gitignore)	2026-09-18
M04 Code of Conduct	Contributor Covenant 2.1	De facto standard (454 adopters)	2026-09-18
M05 Contributing guide	GitHub Open Source Guides	★ 15,685 (github/opensource.guide)	2026-09-18
M06 Security policy	GitHub security policy + private vulnerability reporting	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M07 Issue forms	GitHub Issue Forms	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M08 Pull request template	GitHub pull request template	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M09 Changelog & release notes	Keep a Changelog 1.1.0 + SemVer 2.0.0	★ 6,702 (olivierlacan/keep-a-changelog)	2026-09-18
M10 Changelog automation	changesets, git-cliff, release-please (recommendation only)	★ 12,408 (changesets/changesets)	2026-09-18
M11 Continuous integration	actions/starter-workflows' Simple workflow	★ 12,082 (actions/starter-workflows)	2026-09-18
M12 Dependency updates	GitHub Dependabot	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M13 EditorConfig	EditorConfig	★ 3,450 (editorconfig/editorconfig)	2026-09-18
M14 Pre-commit hooks	pre-commit + pre-commit-hooks	★ 15,581 (pre-commit/pre-commit)	2026-09-18
M15 Code owners	GitHub CODEOWNERS	Official platform feature	2026-09-18
M16 Funding	GitHub sponsor button	Official platform feature	2026-09-18

Full selection list

How we pick

Picks follow a fixed order, and star counts alone are not enough:

1. The option with higher community adoption wins.
2. When adoption is comparable, the option that is easier to start with wins — fewer steps, no extra dependency, or built into the platform.
3. Only when options remain equally qualified does the author's preference decide, and it is labeled as such.

Adoption evidence always states its type: exact stars, rounded stars, estimated users, official platform feature, de facto standard (with named adopters), or not available. Numbers are recorded as measured, never guessed.

Quick start

1. Click Use this template to create your own repository.
2. Work through the Setup checklist; it takes about 15 minutes.
3. Whenever you want to know what a module does, read the Module guide.

(Optional) Once the project has grown into a multi-person effort, see Growing into a team project

Set up with an agent (optional)

If you use a coding agent, it can do the setup checklist for you: create a new repository from this template, or bring an existing repository — including one made from an older version of this template — up to date. It shows you every change before making it and asks before touching anything you already have. Copy this into your agent:

Use the Chef's Pick OSS Starter skill to set up or align this repository.
Read https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chefs-pick-oss-starter/chefs-pick-oss-starter-skill/main/skills/chefs-pick-oss-starter/SKILL.md
and the files it links to, and follow them as the rules for this task.
Before changing anything, show me the full plan and wait for my approval.
Never overwrite or delete my existing files, change repository settings,
or push without asking me about that specific item first.

To keep it around, install the skill once instead; see the skill repository. Without an agent, the quick start above works exactly as before.

Good to know

• The bundled issue forms override your account-level defaults. Because this template ships valid issue forms and config, the default issue templates in your account-level .github repository stop applying entirely.
• Private vulnerability reporting and Discussions must be enabled by hand. Both are repository settings that no template can switch on for you; the setup checklist covers them.
• A repository generated from this template does not track it. To follow later changes, watch the template's CHANGELOG and port what you want.

Clean up when done

Once setup is done, remove the guide layer: your own readme becomes the repository's front page, and nothing of the template's own identity remains.

git rm -r .github/README.md .github/README.zh-CN.md .github/chefs-pick
git commit -m "chore: remove template guide"

On the web, delete .github/README.md, .github/README.zh-CN.md and the .github/chefs-pick directory; the result is the same.

Feedback and contact

• The root CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md and SECURITY.md are skeletons for you to fill in: their contact addresses and issue links are placeholders and do not work in the template repository itself, so please do not use them to reach us.
• For a security issue in this template repository, report it privately from the Security tab with Report a vulnerability.
• For anything else, open an issue here or start a discussion; for a serious code of conduct problem, you can report the content to GitHub itself (the "reported content" setting is only available to public repositories owned by an organization).

License

• This template is released under the MIT license; see LICENSE.
• Projects generated from this template need not keep any attribution to it: replace the copyright holder, or choose a different license entirely.
• The body of CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md comes from the Contributor Covenant under CC-BY-4.0, and its Attribution section must be kept.