From First Issue to GSoC: A Practical Guide to Contributing to Drupal

Community Health Beginner

Getting started with an open-source project can feel overwhelming, especially when you are looking at an unfamiliar codebase, issue queue, contribution workflow, and community.

In this session, I’ll share my practical journey of going from learning the basics of Drupal and making early contributions to working on a GSoC 2025 project with the Drupal Association.

The session will cover how to get started with Drupal development, understand the issue queue, set up a local environment, navigate an unfamiliar codebase, make your first meaningful contribution, work with Git and GitLab, communicate with mentors, handle reviews and blockers, and gradually take on larger contributions.

Rather than presenting open source as a straight-line success story, I’ll also discuss the challenges, mistakes, and learning process involved in becoming a consistent contributor.

The goal is to give beginners a realistic and actionable roadmap for going from “I want to contribute” to making meaningful contributions to the Drupal project.

You don't need to be an open-source expert to make your first contribution. This practical session breaks down the journey from setting up Drupal and finding a first issue to working with mentors, contributing consistently, and eventually taking on a GS

Code of conduct

I/we will abide by the code of conduct

Speaking experience

Speaking experience details

I have experience speaking at open-source and technology-focused community events, including discussions and sessions around open source, developer communities, and mentorship.

Selected speaking appearances:
FOSS Bengaluru - Talk on my journey from making my first open-source pull request to contributing to production-grade open-source tooling with Hyperledger Fabric and Drupal.
GDG Cloud Mumbai - Technical talk for the developer community, followed by audience discussions, questions, and feature feedback.
Conversation with Arsh Goyal - open-source career and community discussion
Technology Podcast - discussion on my journey and experiences in the developer ecosystem
LFX Project Review - presentation and discussion of my LFX mentorship project
Girls Leading Tech – LFX Mentorship - community session discussing my open-source mentorship experience

I have also participated in open-source community initiatives as a GSoC 2025 contributor and LFX mentee, along with mentoring and knowledge-sharing with student and developer communities.

Online speaking appearances:
https://youtu.be/20SraqgHPo4?si=w0Cvj7ggz4bPc3Cj
https://youtu.be/fLUorIh9iP8?si=Yi9adm6ZtBoY6jkL
https://www.youtube.com/live/QlycAQiW1ms?si=QLhAA7qLQMnKBQSw
https://youtu.be/LqUsr8zHFso?si=o9x42UOLnGBNcC_R

I have not yet spoken at a DrupalCamp or DrupalCon, but I have experience presenting technical and open-source topics to developer and student audiences.