Welcome Contributors!

You don’t need to ask permission to contribute to this site. Anyone can open a pull request to make changes, improvements, or additions to publicai.network. We actively encourage it!

Whether you want to:

  • Fix a typo
  • Add an event
  • Update contributor information
  • Improve documentation
  • Add a new page
  • Suggest design improvements

Just open a PR! We’re excited to see your contributions.

Why Contribute?

The Public AI Network is a community effort to build AI as public infrastructure. This website is itself a public resource, and we believe it should be as open and collaborative as the movement it represents.

Your contributions help:

  • Keep information accurate and up-to-date
  • Share knowledge with the broader community
  • Make public AI resources more accessible
  • Strengthen the movement for public AI

How to Contribute

1. Direct GitHub Contribution

The traditional way - fork, edit, and submit a PR:

  1. Visit the publicai.network repository
  2. Fork the repository
  3. Make your changes
  4. Submit a pull request
  5. Wait for review and feedback

Tech Details:

  • This is a Jekyll site built with Markdown
  • Pages are .md files in the root or subdirectories
  • Navigation is configured in _config.yml
  • Styling is in assets/css/ and _sass/

We have AI-powered infrastructure to make contributing even easier:

In our Slack workspace, just type:

@Cursor [describe the change you want to make]

Examples:

@Cursor Add my name to the contributors page. 
I'm Sarah Chen from MIT, focused on AI safety and public interest tech.

@Cursor Update the upcoming events section to include 
the Public AI meetup on March 25th in Berlin.

@Cursor Fix the broken link on the libraries page 
- it should point to https://example.com

The Slack bot will:

  • Understand your request
  • Make the necessary code changes
  • Create a branch and open a PR
  • Report back with a link to review

You can even ask Cursor to merge changes directly by pinging someone with write access (see below).

3. Issue a Request

Not comfortable with code? No problem:

Someone from the community will help make it happen.

What Happens After You Submit?

Review Process

All contributions go through a lightweight review process:

  1. Automated Checks: Basic tests run automatically
  2. Community Review: Someone with write access will review your PR
  3. Feedback & Discussion: We may suggest improvements or ask questions
  4. Merge: Once approved, your changes go live!

Review time: Most PRs are reviewed within 1-3 days.

Getting Write Access

Regular contributors can get write access to the repository, which allows you to:

  • Review and merge pull requests
  • Make direct commits to branches
  • Help maintain the site

To get write access:

  • Contribute a few successful PRs to show you understand the project
  • Let us know you’re interested in becoming a regular maintainer
  • We’ll add you to the team!

It’s an informal process - we trust our community.

Quick Merges via Slack

Have an urgent fix or update?

If you need something merged quickly, you can ping one of our regular contributors with write access in Slack:

People with write access:

  • Joshua Tan (@Joshua Tan)
  • Sam Klein (@Sam Klein)
  • Nick Garcia (@Nick Garcia)
  • B Cavello (@B Cavello)
  • Brandon Jackson (@Brandon Jackson)

Just mention them along with your PR link or change request, and they can help expedite the merge.

Example:

@Joshua Tan Could you review and merge this PR? 
It updates the seminar date that was incorrect.
[PR link]

Types of Contributions We Love

Content Updates

  • Events: Add upcoming events or update past events
  • Contributors: Add yourself or update your information
  • Publications: Link to new papers or resources
  • News: Add recent developments in public AI

Improvements

  • Bug Fixes: Broken links, typos, formatting issues
  • Accessibility: Making the site more accessible
  • Performance: Optimizations and improvements
  • Documentation: Clarifying instructions or processes

New Features

  • New Pages: Educational content, guides, resources
  • Design Enhancements: Visual improvements (please discuss first)
  • Functionality: New features or tools (please discuss first)

For larger changes, we recommend opening an issue or posting in Slack first to discuss the approach.

Contribution Guidelines

To keep things smooth:

Content Standards

  • Accuracy: Ensure information is correct and sourced
  • Tone: Match the welcoming, professional tone of the site
  • Relevance: Keep content aligned with public AI themes
  • Neutrality: Present information objectively

Technical Standards

  • Markdown: Use proper Markdown syntax
  • Links: Test that all links work
  • Formatting: Match existing formatting conventions
  • Mobile: Consider mobile users (the site is responsive)

Code of Conduct

  • Be respectful and collaborative
  • Assume good intentions
  • Welcome newcomers
  • Focus on what’s best for the community
  • Give credit where credit is due

Example Contributions

Adding Yourself to Contributors

  1. Edit contributors.md
  2. Add a new card in the appropriate alphabetical section
  3. Follow the existing card format
  4. Submit a PR with the title: “Add [Your Name] to contributors”

Adding an Event

  1. Edit index.md (for the homepage events table)
  2. Add a row to the “Upcoming events” table
  3. Include date, event name, and location
  4. Submit a PR with title: “Add [Event Name] to events”

Fixing a Typo

  1. Edit the file with the typo
  2. Make the correction
  3. Submit a PR with title: “Fix typo on [page name]”

Pro tip: For simple fixes, you can even edit directly on GitHub’s web interface!

Need Help?

Never contributed to an open source project before?

That’s okay! We’re happy to help you get started.

Don’t be shy - we were all beginners once, and we want to make this as accessible as possible.

Recognition

All contributors are:

  • Listed in the git commit history
  • Welcome to add themselves to the contributors page
  • Invited to join our Slack community
  • Part of the Public AI Network movement

Thank you for helping build public AI!

Ready to Contribute?

Open a PR today - no permission needed!

View on GitHub →

This page was created to encourage open collaboration and make contributing as easy as possible. Have suggestions for improving this guide? Open a PR!