PlugWiki

oss-governance skill (samber): choose and document open-source governance

Chooses an open-source project's governance model and turns it into decision rules, a succession plan and a GOVERNANCE.md.

Installs
12.7K
on skills.sh
Stars
7
on GitHub
Files
8
besides SKILL.md
Updated
Nov 2026
last repo commit

oss-governance makes your agent first write down how the project really decides things today, then pick the model that returns the most per maintainer hour. It sets decision rules with numbers and timers, aligns repository permissions with the written roles, plans succession, and decides if a fiscal host or foundation is needed.

It triggers on who decides in a project, writing or fixing a GOVERNANCE.md, adding or removing maintainers, bus factor, deadlocks or a foundation donation. SKILL.md says never legal advice. The folder holds SKILL.md and seven reference files and bundles no scripts.

Good for

  • Maintainers whose project has no written rules
  • Co-maintainers worried about bus factor or a single-vendor project
  • Projects preparing a foundation application or answering an adopter who asks who controls the project

Install oss-governance

Claude Code

  1. 1

    Copy this prompt.

    Install the oss-governance skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add samber/developer-relations-skills
/plugin install developer-relations-skills@developer-relations-skills

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.
  2. 2

    Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

The README recommends installing the whole collection because its skills reference each other, and oss-governance names other skills in the collection to hand work to. The whole-collection routes add all 93 skills in the repo (counted from the git tree); the repo holds no hooks, agents, commands or MCP server files, and 14 of its skills bundle a script. Pick one route per agent.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Chooses and documents an open-source project's governance model - decision rights, maintainer roles and promotion, voting and consensus rules, conflict escalation, succession, trademark and asset control, and whether to join a foundation or fiscal host. Use whenever someone asks who decides in their project, wants to write or fix a GOVERNANCE.md, is adding or removing maintainers, worries about bus factor or a single-vendor-controlled project, faces a deadlocked or contested decision, or is preparing a foundation donation - even if they only say the project has no rules. Covers solo, company-backed and multi-vendor projects. Not license, CLA or DCO choice - use samber/developer-relations-skills@oss-license-strategy. Never legal advice.

Sections in SKILL.md

  1. Interview
  2. Step 1 - Surface the governance that already exists
  3. Step 2 - Rank the models by what they return per maintainer hour
  4. Step 3 - Set the decision rules and the escalation ladder
  5. Step 4 - Write the document
  6. Step 5 - Make it enforceable
  7. Step 6 - Separate the assets from any single company
  8. Step 7 - Design succession before it is needed
  9. Step 8 - Decide about a fiscal host or foundation, if the question is real
  10. When each step becomes urgent
  11. Invocation examples
  12. As-is - who decides today, by what implicit rule, where it has failed
  13. Concentration - absence factor, employer spread, credential holders
  14. Recommendation - model chosen, alternative considered, monthly hours and what they buy
  15. Decision rules - per class: who decides, threshold, timer, escalation
  16. Neutrality - trademark, affiliation ratio, contribution agreement, minutes

Key facts

Author
Samuel Berthe (samber)
License
MIT (LICENSE file, SKILL.md, plugin.json and README all say MIT)
Installs on skills.sh
12,680 (as of Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars
8 for the whole collection repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last commit
Nov 1, 2026 (whole repo)
skills.sh audits
Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk pass
What is inside
9 files including SKILL.md: 7 reference files and evals/evals.json
Version in SKILL.md
1.0.1
Needs
SKILL.md lists nothing to install. If the agent can read the repository it uses permissions, code-owner files and release history as evidence
Works in
Claude Code, Claude.ai (plugin marketplace), Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and other Agent Skills-compatible tools
Part of
The developer-relations-skills plugin (one plugin in marketplace.json)
Collection size
93 skills in the repo (counted from the git tree)

What it includes

  • Asks twelve questions one at a time until it knows who decides and what triggered this.

    Questions 10 to 12 (tolerated process, date, one-off or compounding) move the model ranking and can delete federation.

    Interview

  • Writes an "as-is" statement from permissions, code owners, contested PRs, releases.

    It measures the contributor absence factor and adds an inventory of privileged credentials.

    Read · Step 1 - Surface existing governance

  • Ranks four models by value per maintainer hour after two gates remove options.

    Maintainer council, written solo authority with a succession plan, federated subprojects and an elected steering committee. An absence factor of 1 makes every shared model unadoptable.

    Step 2 - Rank the models

  • Fixes who decides, threshold, clock and escalation for eight decision classes.

    Routine change, breaking change, new maintainer, removal, scope change, release, security response and amendment.

    Step 3 - Decision rules and escalation

  • Writes the smallest GOVERNANCE.md and checks the repository matches it.

    Merge rights, protected branches, code owners and who holds signing and publishing rights should match the roles as written.

    Write · Step 4 and 5 - Write and enforce

  • Audits who holds the trademark, domains, registry accounts and the contribution deal.

    It treats code-license openness and governance openness as separate questions.

    Step 6 - Separate assets from one company

  • Designs a target absence factor, a contributor-to-maintainer path and an end state.

    Be generous with the ladder and slow with the keys: signing keys and publish tokens are granted on months of evidence.

    Step 7 - Succession

  • Opens the question only if the project handles money or must prove vendor neutrality.

    Otherwise it says so and stops.

    Step 8 - Fiscal host or foundation

  • Delivers a ten-section review, agreed one section at a time.

    As-is, Concentration, Recommendation, Decision rules, Neutrality, GOVERNANCE.md, Enforcement, Succession, Foundation and Review date.

    Try: “Write a GOVERNANCE.md for my library”

    Governance review

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

The agent reads repository permissions and may write a GOVERNANCE.md, so review the draft and make permission and credential changes yourself.

What it can do

  • Read your data
  • Create and change things
  • Delete things
  • Read-only mode

Watch out for

  • It reads repository permissions and credential holders

    Steps 1 and 5 have the agent inspect merge rights, code owners and who can publish. Our advice: share only what you are comfortable with, and make any permission or credential change yourself. github.com

  • It may keep notes in devrel-context.md

    SKILL.md tells the agent to store a few details about the current task or project, and to use a file called devrel-context.md when its memory lives in a file. Our advice: open that file before you commit or share the folder. github.com

  • The plugin route installs the whole collection

    The README's plugin and extension routes add every skill in the repo; its git tree holds 93. The repo has no hooks, agents, commands or MCP server files, and 14 of its skills bundle a script. Our advice: use the skills CLI command for this skill if you want only it. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details
Turning on read-onlySKILL.md describes no read-only mode.
Scopes

  • May read repository permissions, code-owner files, pull requests and release history (Step 1)

  • May write a GOVERNANCE.md into your repository (Step 4)

Questions

How do I install oss-governance?

The README says to install every skill in the collection, because its skills reference each other. In Claude Code that is the plugin route in the install box above, which adds all 93 skills in the repo. The skills CLI can add just this one. Our advice: pick one route per agent.

What do I get at the end?

A ten-section governance review ending in a GOVERNANCE.md ready to commit, plus the repository and credential changes needed to match it and a review date. A five-point health check measures use, not completeness.

Is this legal advice?

It is not. SKILL.md says "Never legal advice" and sends licensing, contributor agreements, trademark filings and employment questions to counsel.

oss-governance vs oss-license-strategy?

Use this skill for who decides and who holds the keys, and oss-license-strategy for the license and CLA or DCO choice. SKILL.md says "Not license, CLA or DCO choice", and the README describes the other skill as choosing the license and contribution policy as one decision.

Will it change my repository settings?

SKILL.md has the agent read settings and diff them against the document and lists the settings and credential changes needed in an Enforcement section. It does not say the agent applies them, so apply them yourself.

Does oss-governance need an API key, and where does it work?

SKILL.md names no API key, account or environment variable. The README documents installs for Claude Code, Claude.ai (add the repo as a plugin marketplace), Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and any Agent Skills-compatible tool through the skills CLI. The install box has the steps for each.

Is oss-governance safe to install?

It is instructions plus seven reference files, and the folder bundles no scripts. SKILL.md has the agent read repository permissions, code-owner files and release history, and it may write a GOVERNANCE.md and save notes to devrel-context.md. Our advice: review the GOVERNANCE.md it drafts, and change permissions and credentials yourself.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository
samber/developer-relations-skills
Folder
skills/oss-governance

samber/developer-relations-skillsskills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 2
  1. developer-relations-skills README · github.com
  2. oss-governance SKILL.md · github.com

Updated Nov 2, 2026.