GitHub Terms

Top 50 GitHub Terms for Bounty Hunters and Open Source Developers

A

Action

An automated workflow in GitHub that can be triggered by specific events like pushes, pull requests, or issue creation.

Assignee

The person assigned responsibility for resolving an issue or implementing a pull request.

B

Base Branch

The branch into which changes from a pull request will be merged.

Blame

A GitHub feature that shows which user last modified each line of a file, useful for understanding code history.

Branch

A parallel version of the repository that allows you to work on changes without affecting the main codebase.

Bug Bounty

A monetary reward offered to developers who identify and report bugs, particularly security vulnerabilities.

C

Clone

Creating a local copy of a remote repository on your machine.

Code of Conduct

A document that establishes expectations for behavior of project participants.

Code Owner

A person or team designated as responsible for specific parts of a codebase, automatically requested for review when those parts change.

Commit

A saved change to files in a repository, recorded with a unique ID and commit message.

Contributing Guidelines

Documentation that explains how people should contribute to a project.

D

Dependency

A library or package that your project relies on to function.

Discord

A commonly used communication platform for open source communities and bounty programs.

Draft Pull Request

A pull request explicitly marked as work-in-progress and not yet ready for review or merge.

F

Fork

A personal copy of another user's repository that lives on your account.

G

Git

The distributed version control system that GitHub is built upon.

GitHub Actions

GitHub's built-in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform.

GitHub Issue

A tracked item in a repository used for reporting bugs, requesting features, or discussing tasks.

Good First Issue

An issue labeled specifically for newcomers to the project, typically simpler to address.

H

Hacktoberfest

An annual event encouraging participation in open source during October with rewards for contributions.

Hooks

Scripts that run automatically when certain events occur in a repository.

I

Issue Template

A pre-defined format for creating new issues that helps contributors provide necessary information.

K

Kanban Board

A project management tool in GitHub that organizes issues and pull requests into columns representing different stages of work.

L

Label

A tag applied to issues or pull requests for categorization and filtering.

License

A legal document specifying how others can use, modify, and distribute your project's code.

M

Maintainer

Someone who manages a repository and is responsible for its direction and quality.

Markdown

A lightweight markup language used for formatting text on GitHub (like this document).

Merge

The act of combining changes from one branch into another.

Merge Conflict

A situation that occurs when Git can't automatically resolve differences between merged branches.

Milestone

A grouping of issues and pull requests that track progress toward a specific goal or release.

O

Open Source

Software for which the original source code is freely available and may be redistributed and modified.

P

PR (Pull Request)

A method for submitting contributions to a project by requesting that maintainers review and merge your changes.

Protected Branch

A branch with rules that control how and when changes can be merged into it.

Push

Sending committed changes from your local repository to the remote repository.

R

README

A file that introduces and explains a project, typically including installation and usage instructions.

Release

A software package created from a specific point in a repository's history, often with version numbers.

Repository (Repo)

A storage location for a project containing all of its files and each file's revision history.

Review

The process of examining code changes before they are merged into the main codebase.

S

Security Advisory

An announcement about a security vulnerability in a project, often including remediation information.

Squash

Combining multiple commits into a single commit before merging.

SSH Key

A secure method for authentication between your computer and GitHub.

Star

A bookmark or expression of appreciation for a repository.

T

Tag

A label that marks a specific point in a repository's history, often used for release versions.

Template Repository

A repository that serves as a starting point for new projects with predefined files and settings.

U

Upstream

The original repository from which you forked your copy.

V

Version Control

A system that records changes to files over time so you can recall specific versions later.

Vulnerability

A weakness in code that can be exploited for unauthorized access or damage.

W

Workflow

A configurable automated process in GitHub Actions made up of one or more jobs.

Webhooks

A way for applications to receive real-time notifications when specific events occur in a repository.