AI can generate code in seconds, but contributing successfully to a real open-source project requires much more than producing a patch.

In this practical session, we will walk through the journey from finding a GitHub issue to getting a pull request ready for review and merge. Using examples from the FOSSASIA eventyay project, we will look at how AI can help developers understand an unfamiliar codebase, trace relevant code paths, explore existing patterns, draft changes and create tests.

The session will also cover the parts that still require engineering judgment: choosing the right issue, verifying the root cause, keeping changes within scope, following project architecture, testing real behavior and responding to maintainer feedback.

The goal is to show that you do not need to understand an entire large codebase before contributing. With the right workflow, AI can significantly reduce the barrier to entry — while the contributor remains responsible for making the change correct, maintainable and useful to the project.

Participants will leave with a concrete workflow they can use to start contributing to FOSSASIA and other open-source projects.