Drive-By PRs: What They Are and Why I'd Close Yours

The so-called "drive-by PR problem" is a prevalent issue in the world of open source projects. These are the contributors who open a pull request, receive feedback, and then disappear without responding. The contributor's profile often shows a high number of contributions in a short period, but this is usually a red flag. The code they submit is often not tested, and they have not even read the project's description.

The tell-tale sign is usually the contributor's GitHub profile, which shows a flurry of contributions across unrelated repositories.

This behavior is often linked to artificial intelligence (AI) farming. Contributors use AI to scan repositories and find something to fix, then submit their output without understanding the code. The tell is often an empty profile with a barrage of recent contributions.

The impact of these drive-by PRs can be significant. For starters, it's easy to close these PRs, but the time spent reviewing them can be substantial. Reviewing a PR requires effort, from understanding the code to providing detailed feedback. When this effort goes unrewarded, it's a waste of time. Moreover, having a backlog of stale drive-by PRs can make a project appear unmaintained, discouraging genuine contributors.

To avoid being a drive-by contributor, one should read the project's contributing guide, open an issue before writing any code, and ensure that the project's direction aligns with the proposed change. If a maintainer asks for changes, those changes must be made. It's also crucial to understand the code, especially if AI is used to assist in writing the code. One PR at a time is considered sufficient.

Lastly, maintainers should explicitly state in their contributing guidelines that drive-by PRs are not acceptable. Setting a response deadline and promptly closing stale PRs without guilt can also help manage this issue. Maintainers should also be wary of contributors who have a flurry of recent contributions but cannot respond to feedback or explain their changes. These could be drive-by contributors.