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GitHub Templates: A Practical Guide to Issue and Pull Request Templates

GitHub Templates: A Practical Guide to Issue and Pull Request Templates

In collaborative software projects, consistency matters. GitHub templates offer a simple, scalable way to guide contributors, collect essential information, and accelerate project triage. By standardizing how issues and pull requests are described, teams reduce back-and-forth, improve searchability, and make it easier for newcomers to contribute. This guide explains what GitHub templates are, how to implement them effectively, and best practices to keep your templates useful over time.

Understanding GitHub templates

GitHub templates come in several flavors, each serving a distinct purpose. The most common are issue templates and pull request templates. In addition, many projects maintain a contributing guidelines document to set expectations for contributors. Together, these templates create a predictable contribution experience and help maintainers surface the most relevant information upfront.

Issue templates

Issue templates are preformatted content that appears when someone opens a new issue. They can be single-file templates or a set of templates that help triage issues by type, such as bugs, feature requests, or documentation improvements. A well-designed issue template asks for essential details (summaries, steps to reproduce, environment, expected vs. actual results) and guides the contributor to provide context that speeds up investigation.

Pull request templates

Pull request templates set expectations for what should be included when proposing changes. They typically request a concise summary, rationale, testing steps, and notes on impact. Clear PR templates help reviewers understand the scope of the change, how to test it, and any potential side effects. This reduces back-and-forth during the review process and accelerates merging legitimate improvements.

Contributing guidelines

A contributing guidelines file (often named CONTRIBUTING.md) is not a template in the same sense as issue or PR templates, but it plays a similar role. It communicates coding standards, review expectations, branch strategies, testing requirements, and how to report problems. When combined with templates, it creates a cohesive onboarding experience for new contributors and sets a professional tone for the project.

How to implement GitHub templates

Implementing templates involves choosing where to store them, writing front matter to configure metadata, and creating the template bodies. The most common approach is to place templates in the repository’s .github directory. This keeps templates versioned alongside code and documentation, ensuring contributors always see the latest guidance.

Directory structure and placement

  • .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ — for multiple issue templates
  • .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ or .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md — for pull request templates
  • CONTRIBUTING.md — optional but recommended for guidelines

When you want more than one issue template, place each template as its own file inside .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/. For a single PR template, you can use .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md. The repository owner can tailor templates to the project’s needs, balancing completeness with ease of use.

Front matter: metadata that shapes the template

Each issue or PR template begins with a YAML front matter block. This block tells GitHub how to present the template and what defaults to apply, such as the template name, a short description, default labels, and default assignees. A typical front matter looks like this:

---
name: Bug report
about: Create a report to help us improve
title: '[BUG] {{title}}'
labels: bug
assignees: ''
---

The values you see in the front matter influence how contributors see and choose templates. For example, name is what appears in the template picker, about gives a short description, and labels helps route issues to the correct triage path.

Sample templates

Below are representative samples you can adapt for your project. They illustrate both the issue and PR templates with practical prompts that gather the right information while staying concise.

Sample Issue Templates

Bug report template:

---
name: Bug report
about: Create a report to help us fix issues
title: '[BUG] {{title}}'
labels: bug
assignees: ''
---

**Describe the bug**
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

**To Reproduce**
1. Steps to reproduce the issue
2. Expected behavior
3. Actual behavior

**Environment**
- OS:
- Browser/Version:
- Any additional context

**Screenshots or logs**
If available, provide visuals or logs that illustrate the problem.

Feature request template:

---
name: Feature request
about: Propose a new feature or enhancement
title: '[FEAT] {{title}}'
labels: enhancement
assignees: ''
---

**Describe the feature**
A clear and concise description of the feature you want.

**Why is this feature beneficial?**
Explain the value or impact.

**Alternatives Considered**
If relevant, mention other approaches you considered.

**Acceptance criteria**
List clear conditions that would indicate the feature is complete.

Sample Pull Request Template

---
name: Pull request
about: Propose changes to the codebase
title: 'WIP: {{title}}'
labels: ''
assignees: ''
---

## Summary
A brief description of the changes.

## Motivation
Why is this change necessary?

## How it was tested
Provide details about testing and validation.

## Checklist
- [ ] Code follows the project style
- [ ] Tests pass
- [ ] Documentation updated

## Related issues
Closes #

Maintaining and extending templates

As projects evolve, templates should be revisited. Schedule periodic reviews, for example during major release cycles or documentation updates. Solicit feedback from contributors about clarity, usefulness, and potential gaps. Consider adding new templates for recurring issue types or removing templates that are no longer relevant.

Best practices for effective templates

  • Keep templates concise and focused. Long, mandatory sections discourage contributors from opening issues or PRs.
  • Ask for essential information first. Prioritize fields that accelerate triage, reproduce issues, and validate fixes.
  • Use optional fields alongside required ones. Reserve mandatory sections for information that is truly critical.
  • Provide guidance within the template. Short hints or placeholders help contributors understand what is needed without guessing.
  • Standardize terminology. Use consistent keywords and definitions to reduce confusion across issues and PRs.
  • Leverage labels and assignees in front matter to route work automatically when possible.

Practical considerations for SEO and discoverability

Although GitHub templates primarily affect contributor experience and project hygiene, they also support discoverability and clarity. A few practical notes:

  • Use descriptive template names and concise about sections so contributors can quickly identify the right template.
  • Ensure the wording mirrors project terminology and common use cases. This reduces misclassification and speeds resolution.
  • Align the front matter with your project’s workflow. Labels and milestones, when used consistently, improve triage and review speed.

Common pitfalls to avoid

  • Overly long templates that require excessive information from contributors.
  • Too many templates causing decision fatigue. Favor a small, well-curated set over dozens of options.
  • Inconsistent templates across repositories. If you manage multiple projects, aim for a shared template pattern.
  • Outdated guidance. Regularly prune or update templates to reflect current practices and tooling.

Maintenance strategy for templates

A lightweight maintenance plan helps keep templates relevant. Consider these steps:

  1. Tag template changes in release notes or changelogs when major updates occur.
  2. Announce template updates to contributors via project newsletters or issue templates’ about sections.
  3. Solicit quarterly feedback from core contributors about template usefulness and any gaps.
  4. Audit templates at least once a year to remove deprecated fields and align with evolving workflows.

Real-world example and implementation checklist

If you’re deploying GitHub templates in a new project, use this compact checklist to stay organized:

  • Define the primary issue types (e.g., bug, feature,Documentation).
  • Create dedicated files for each type inside .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/.
  • Prepare a clean PR template in .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ or as a single PR_TEMPLATE.md.
  • Add a concise CONTRIBUTING.md to set expectations for contributors.
  • Test the template experience by opening issues and PRs in a test fork or a staging repository.

Conclusion

GitHub templates are a practical, low-friction way to improve the quality and consistency of contributions. By planning a small set of clear templates, you help contributors provide the right information the first time, streamline reviews, and accelerate project momentum. With thoughtful front matter, informative bodies, and a light maintenance routine, your templates become a reliable part of your project’s workflow—and they do so without clutter or friction. Embrace the approach, tailor templates to your domain, and let the community contribute more effectively from day one.