A template for starting open source projects with best practices built in. Copy this structure to your repository and customize it for your needs.
Based on well-established open source guidelines and practices. Suitable for any organization that wants a well-structured open source project.
Documentation - Common open source community health files (README, CONTRIBUTING, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, SECURITY, GOVERNANCE, CHANGELOG, CODEOWNERS)
Compliance - Tools for REUSE license setup, publiccode.yml for transparency, security scorecards, commit message standards
Workflows - Example GitHub Actions for quality checks and compliance (.github/workflows/)
Templates - Issue and PR templates for GitHub (.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/)
Translations - Swedish versions of key documents in l10n/
For THIS template project:
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md,CONTRIBUTING.md,SECURITY.md,GOVERNANCE.md- Guidelines for contributing to this templatel10n/sv/- Swedish translations of this project's documentsDEVELOPMENT.md- How to develop and improve this template
For YOUR new project (copy these):
templates/- All files to copy to your project (with INSERT_* placeholders)templates/README.md- Example README structure for your project.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/- GitHub issue templates to copy.github/workflows/- GitHub Actions workflows (customize for your needs)
| Step | Action | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copy template files | Start with files from templates/ - SECURITY, README, CONTRIBUTING, CODE_OF_CONDUCT |
| 2 | Add LICENSE | Must be OSI-approved |
| 3 | Replace placeholders | Search for INSERT_* variables (see below) |
| 4 | Customize content | Adjust all files to match your project needs |
| 5 | Review checklist | Complete the Open Source Checklist |
Core Documentation (in templates/)
- README.md - Project description template
- CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guidelines (replace
INSERT_DAYS) - CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md - Community standards, Contributor Covenant 2.1 (replace
INSERT_CONTACT_METHOD) - SECURITY.md - Security policy (replace
INSERT_CONTACT_METHOD) - GOVERNANCE.md - Decision making and roles
- CHANGELOG.md - Release history, Keep-a-changelog 1.1.0
GitHub Integration (in .github/)
- CODEOWNERS - Maintainers list (GitHub docs)
- ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ - Bug report, feature request templates
- pull_request_template.md - PR template (replace
INSERT_CONTRIBUTING_LINK) - workflows/ - CI/CD workflows (customize for your needs)
Additional Resources
- docs/Open_Source_Checklist.md - Essential questions to answer
- docs/public_code/ - Standard for Public Code assessment
- l10n/ - Swedish translations
- publiccode.yml - Machine-readable project metadata
- REUSE.toml - License compliance configuration
If you clone this repository (instead of copying files):
- Remove the
.gitfolder and create a fresh one (git init) - Remove workflows not applicable to your project (
.github/workflows/) - Remove project-specific files like translations if not needed
To improve this template itself, see CONTRIBUTING and DEVELOPMENT.md.
Questions or bug reports? Please file an issue in this repository's Issue Tracker.
- Guidelines for recommending communication channels for users and developers
- GitLab equivalents of the GitHub-specific templates
- Graphics to make the README more visually appealing
- A simpler CODE OF CONDUCT without enforcement details
- Your suggestions
This project started at Digg when they needed a practical companion to their Open Source Guidelines (see references) for releasing open source projects. It was specifically designed to fulfill the requirements of Appendix B Software documentation in those guidelines.
The initial material was created by Digg's internal Open Source Guild (an informal group with diverse interests across the organization) who reviewed and proposed the base material.
Realizing it could benefit others, we made it as general as possible. We drew inspiration from several existing template projects already out there.
An unofficial summary of Digg's Open Source Policy:
The guidelines for open source software complement Digg's (the Swedish Agency for Digital Government) software procurement and development policy. They're aimed at anyone involved in software development at Digg. These guidelines apply when developing open source software and when Digg participates in open collaborations as a government agency. The documents include advice on procurement and risk analysis related to open source code.
This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal License - see the LICENSE file for details
Most assets are released under Creative Commons CC0-1.0 except for:
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md template:
Copyright: Contributor Covenant License: CC-BY-4.0
For information about the current individual or team maintainers, see CODEOWNERS.
- Keep A Changelog - Changelog format standard
- Contributor Covenant - Code of conduct template
- IEEE Open Source Maintainers Manual - Best practices for maintainers
- Foundation for Public Code - Guidance for public organizations
- Standard for Public Code - Quality criteria for public code
- REUSE Software - License compliance specification
- Conventional Commits - Commit message standard
- OpenSSF Scorecard - Security best practices assessment
- Digg's internal policy and guidance document regarding Open Source - Original policy framework