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lesson // bitcoin

Maintainer Collaboration

Work through feedback cycles on a substantive open source contribution.

advanced2 weeks

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Learning objectives

  • Respond to review comments professionally and technically
  • Keep PRs rebase-friendly and focused
  • Document decisions for future reviewers

study // plan

Lessons are primers. Start with Step 1 (required reading) when present, then follow the numbered steps in the article. Depth comes from primary sources, labs, reflection, and evidence.

Research on Bitcoin Search
code review feedbackmaintainer collaborationrebase PR

Step 1 // Required reading

Complete these before the numbered steps in the lesson body. Links are listed here once — not repeated below.

  • docsBitcoin Core CONTRIBUTING

Reflection prompts

  1. Explain Maintainer Collaboration to a teammate without jargon - what problem does it solve?
  2. What would break in production if you misunderstood Maintainer Collaboration?
  3. Which BIP, book chapter, or Core doc is authoritative here, and what did you verify?

Lab // Feedback-cycle artifact

Complete Steps 2–3. Open or update a PR (or draft responses for an existing review). Document one full feedback round: comment → your reply → what you changed.

evidence required

  • ·PR URL (or draft PR + planned upstream)
  • ·Summary of one review round (what changed, what remains open)
  • ·Updated rubric self-score after the revision
  1. 01

    Worked mental model

    Re-read the diagrams in this lesson once out loud in plain language. If you cannot explain the flow to a friend without jargon, pause and revisit the Mastering Bitcoin / Mastering Lightning chapters linked in Resources. Chapter references are intentional, not decorative.

  2. 02

    Hands-on habit

    Every protocol idea should be paired with one local experiment. That habit turns reading into builder instinct.

    1. Reproduce the happy path on regtest (or Polar for Lightning)
    2. Break it on purpose (wrong fee, expired invoice, offline peer)
    3. Write down what error you saw and which layer produced it (wallet, node, mempool, peer)
  3. 03

    Glossary check

    Pick three terms from this lesson and define them in one sentence each without opening notes. Weak definitions mean the lesson is not finished yet.

  4. 04

    Resource order

    Use Resources in order: narrative book chapter first, then BIP/BOLT for precision, then implementation docs for commands. Jumping straight to RPC flags without the mental model creates brittle knowledge.

Landing a meaningful PR is a communication skill. Expect iterations. Maintainers juggle scarcity of attention and high cost of mistakes.

Complete Step 1 // Required reading in the study plan above, then continue here.

Step 2 — Context: the collaboration loop

Loading diagram…

Expect multiple rounds; keep commits and responses crisp.

Summarize each push

Reply with what changed and what remains open. Save reviewers time.

Keep the PR rebase-friendly and focused. Prefer force-push only when the project’s guide allows it — and say so when you rewrite history.

Done when: You can describe how you would respond to a NACK without escalating.

Step 3 — Practice: one feedback round (lab)

Take a live or draft PR through one full cycle. Capture: reviewer ask → your technical reply → code/test change → remaining questions.

Checklist

  • Each push has a short summary comment
  • Diff stays scoped to the stated problem
  • Rubric score is still ≥ 8/10 (or you document why not yet)

Done when: Lab evidence (PR URL + round summary + updated score) is complete.

Next lesson

Builder Portfolio — package projects and PRs as verifiable proof of skill.

further reading

  • docsGitHub: Addressing review feedback
  • docsPro Git: Rewriting history

review // club

Review club

Practice on real Bitcoin OSS changes tied to this chapter. Read the diff, use the checklist, and optionally paste your review comment URL in your lab notes.

  • BDK documentation pull requests

    Review a BDK docs PR and note whether examples would help a mini-wallet builder.

    pr review
    examplesAPI clarity
    35 min·beginneropen on GitHub
review checklist
  1. Does the change solve the stated problem?
  2. Are edge cases and rollout behavior covered?
  3. Are tests or test vectors included?
  4. Is the diff minimal and clearly explained?

More repos and GFIs on /discover and /issues.

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