Open source contributions

One Pull Request = One Story#

Standard build logs in Kairo (kairo review) capture individual commits inside repositories you own. But open source contributions work differently:

• Contributions are multi-commit workflows: You fork, branch, push multiple commits, address maintainer feedback, and resolve review comments.
• External ownership: The upstream repository belongs to another developer or organization.
• The story evolves over time: A contribution starts with a proposal, continues through code reviews, and culminates when the pull request is merged.

kairo publish bridges this gap by dedicating a build log to the entire lifecycle of a Pull Request. It starts as a Private build log visible only to you on your Open Source Journey dashboard, and automatically turns Public once the PR is merged into upstream.

Quickstart#

1. 1. Open a Pull Request on GitHub

   Work on your fork or branch as usual. Push your branch to GitHub and create an open Pull Request targeting the upstream repository.

2. 2. Run kairo publish

   Inside your repository clone:

   kairo publish
   

   Or specify the path to your repository from anywhere, even if the folder path contains spaces:

   kairo publish "D:/open source/DevBoard"
   

   You can also use the -C flag:

   kairo publish -C "D:/open source/DevBoard"
   

3. 3. Automatic context detection

   The CLI inspects your git remotes (handling both origin and upstream forks), resolves your current branch, and finds the corresponding active Pull Request on GitHub:

   Current Repository
   anoopcodehack/DevBoard
   
   Repository
   anoopcodehack/DevBoard
   
   PR
   #601
   
   Status
   Open
   

4. 4. AI draft generation

   Kairo gathers rich context from your pull request — title, description, linked issues (e.g. Fixes #497), commit messages, touched files, and diff line changes. The AI writer produces a cohesive, developer-focused narrative:

   AI Build Log
   ------------------
   
   Added celebratory confetti animation on task completion
   
   Contributed to anoopcodehack/DevBoard: issue #497 done - confetti added
   when the task is completed (in both board view and drag-and-drop).
   
   Touched 2 files across 1 commits (+84/-6). Updated KanbanBoard.jsx, TaskCard.jsx.
   
   Waiting for maintainer review.
   
   Tags: #oss #react #kanban
   ------------------
   
   [P] Publish   [E] Edit   [C] Cancel
   >
   

5. 5. Review and publish

   Type P to save the story, E to edit the title or summary, or C to cancel.

   ✓ Private Build Log created.
   
     Repository   anoopcodehack/DevBoard
     PR           #601
     Status       OPEN
     Visibility   PRIVATE
     URL          https://joinkairo.vercel.app/oss/contributions/cm7...
   

Interactive editing#

If you press E, the CLI prompts you with the drafted title and summary:

• Press Enter to keep the current value.
• Type a replacement text to update it.

Once updated, the CLI displays the refreshed draft and presents the [P] Publish prompt again.

Your Open Source Journey dashboard#

All your published open source contributions appear on your dedicated Open Source Journey dashboard (/oss):

• Filter tabs: Easily filter contributions by All, Open, Merged, Closed, Waiting Review, and Approved.
• Key analytics: Live stats showing total contributions, merged pull requests, active repositories, and lines contributed.
• Interactive timeline: Each contribution has a detailed story page at /oss/[contributionId] showing the chronological timeline of events (PR opened, reviews submitted, approval milestones, and merge commits).

Automatic GitHub synchronization#

Once you publish a contribution build log, you do not need to re-run the CLI as your pull request progresses. The Kairo GitHub App automatically receives webhook events from GitHub:

• Review submitted: When maintainers comment or request changes, an event is logged in your timeline.
• Approved: When an approving review is submitted, your contribution status updates to Approved.
• Merged: When your pull request is merged into upstream, Kairo automatically flips the contribution visibility from PRIVATE to PUBLIC, celebrating your work in the community feed.

CLI reference & options#

# Run in current repository
kairo publish

# Run against a specific directory
kairo publish path/to/repo
kairo publish "D:/open source/MyRepo"

# Using standard -C flag
kairo publish -C "D:/open source/MyRepo"

Environment variables

You can configure the CLI for local development or automated CI pipelines using environment variables:

• KAIRO_API_URL: Overrides the backend endpoint (defaults to https://joinkairo.vercel.app). Set to http://localhost:3000 when running against a local Kairo instance.
• KAIRO_TOKEN: Direct API bearer token, ideal for CI/CD environments.

Troubleshooting#

Have questions? Check our Troubleshooting guide or the FAQ.