What is Glue Work in OSS?
“They’re doing all kinds of really awesome work that is not seen, and because they don’t speak up, no one has a chance to acknowledge them.”
Glue work refers to contributions critical to a project’s health yet often remain underrecognized and unacknowledged. These contributions “bring the community together”, fostering collaboration and ensuring long-term project sustainability. Unlike feature development, which often receives the spotlight, glue work involves essential yet invisible efforts that keep an open-source project running smoothly. These contributions can often be more time-consuming and complicated than developing new features, yet they are indispensable for maintaining project stability and efficiency. Moreover, some forms of glue work provide newcomer-friendly opportunities, offering pathways for new contributors to get involved. By helping attract and retain contributors, these contributions ultimately strengthen the project’s community. Sustaining active engagement is crucial for the long-term viability of OSS projects.
🌍 The Power of Glue Work Contributions
✨ Glue Work isn’t just support; it’s the foundation of thriving OSS communities and resilient projects.
🤝 Community Engagement
"Communities should feel engaged in the project and feel invested." --- OSS practitioner
Glue work fosters strong communities, enhances collaboration, and supports large user bases. From code reviews that build trust to user support that bridges communication gaps, community engagement is the heartbeat of OSS sustainability.
🚀 Productivity and Project Success
"A lot of projects wouldn’t be successful if they didn’t have the amount of glue work that is being done." --- OSS practioner
Glue work ensures project momentum, keeps Agile workflows on track, and boosts code maintainability. Its role in achieving milestones cannot be overstated—maintenance code and QA efforts are the unsung heroes behind project longevity.
🌱 Personal Growth
"For me, it’s not glue work. For me, it’s how I build a career out of it." --- OSS practitioner
Beyond project impact, glue work catalyzes personal development. Contributors gain leadership skills, mentoring experience, and technical expertise that shape their professional journeys.
How to Contribute
Contributing to glue work can take many forms, such as improving documentation, mentoring new contributors, organizing team processes, or streamlining workflows. If you're looking for ways to contribute, start by identifying areas where collaboration could be improved.
Glue Work Taxonomy
Code and Technical Management
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Writing Maintenance Code | Sustaining, refining, and stabilizing the existing codebase. | Fixing deprecated functions in a web framework to ensure browser compatibility. |
| Reviewing Code | Providing feedback on code contributions. | Reviewing and providing feedback on a pull request. |
| Quality Assurance and Testing | Testing to maintain software functionality and quality. | Writing unit tests for a new function. |
| License Management | Managing legal and compliance requirements. | Protects the project’s legal integrity. |
| Managing Security Incidents | Managing vulnerabilities and ensuring software security. | Coordinating a security fix for an encryption module. |
Mentoring and Support
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Mentoring, Supporting Individual Contributors | Guiding peers by offering suggestions, recommendations, and support. | Providing onboarding support to newcomers through mentoring programs. |
| End-User Support | Helping users with issues or questions about the software. | Answering questions on Stack Overflow. |
| Bug/Issue Reporting | Reporting software bugs and issues. | Filing a bug report or submitting an issue. |
Documentation
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Writing/Editing Documentation | Creating and updating guides, manuals, and project documentation. | Updating the README, creating documentation, and internationalizing documents. |
| Research on Community | Investigating community dynamics to understand participation, engagement. | Conducting a survey to gather feedback on contributor experiences. |
Project and Community Leadership
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Leadership and Governance | Overseeing the project’s direction to guide the project’s growth. | Organizing monthly committee meetings. |
| Community Engagement | Promoting the project externally and advocating for its adoption while also engaging and supporting contributors internally. | Moderating community forums, facilitating discussions, and organizing contributor meetups. |
Recognize and Acknowledgement
“`It often doesn’t get recognized, they're also not speaking up, they're doing the website, they're doing the repository cleanups, they're doing all kinds of really awesome work that is not seen”
Recognizing and acknowledging glue work is essential in open source software (OSS) communities. Often invisible, glue work includes the critical, non-coding tasks that ensure projects run smoothly, foster collaboration, and support community growth. Without proper recognition, these contributions risk being undervalued, which can impact contributor morale and retention
Tracking and Acknowledging Taxonomy
Tracking and Acknowledging Activities
| Glue Work | Channel (Tracking) | Channel (Acknowledging) |
|---|---|---|
| Writing Maintenance Code |  Contribution History (Git) |
 Contributor Listing (CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
 Pull Request (PR) |
 PR/Issue Comments |
|
 Bug Ticketing System (Issues) |
 Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
 Deployment Logs (CI/CD) |
 Project Documentation (Release Docs) |
|
 Community Website (Event Platforms) |
Community Announcements (Newsletters) |
|
| Reviewing code | Pull Request (e.g., PR) |
Pull Request/Issue Comments (e.g., expressing gratitude) |
| Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
| Bug Ticketing System (e.g., Issues) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
|
 Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Quality Assurance and Testing | Deployment Logs (e.g., CI/CD logs) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
| Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
 Documentation (e.g., Wiki) |
Project Documentation (e.g., Release doc) |
|
| Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| License Management | Documentation (e.g., Wiki) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
| Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Managing Security Incidents | Deployment Logs (e.g., CI/CD logs) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
| Pull Request (e.g., PR) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Project Documentation (e.g., Release doc) |
|
| Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
| Mentoring, Supporting Individual Contributors | Community Website (e.g., Event Platform) |
Project Documentation (e.g., Release doc) |
| Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Bug Ticketing System (e.g., Issues) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
|
| Pull Request (e.g., PR) |
Pull Request/Issue Comments (e.g., expressing gratitude) |
|
| End-user Support |  Interactive Engagement (e.g., office hours) |
Project Documentation (e.g., Release doc) |
| Documentation (e.g., Wiki) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
 Social Media (e.g., StackOverFlow, LinkedIn) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
| Bug Issue Reporting | Bug Ticketing System (e.g., Issues) |
Pull Request/Issue Comments (e.g., expressing gratitude) |
| Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
| Writing and Editing Documentation | Contribution History (e.g., Git) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
| Bug Ticketing System (e.g., Issues) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
|
| Research on Community | Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
| Community Website (e.g., Event Platform) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Social Media (e.g., X, LinkedIn) |
Social Media (e.g., X, LinkedIn) |
|
| Operations Leadership and Governance | Community Website (e.g., Event Platform) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
| Documentation (e.g., Wiki) |
Project Documentation (e.g., Release doc) |
|
| Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
Communication Channels (e.g., Slack) |
|
| Community Engagement | Social Media (e.g., X, LinkedIn) |
Contributor Listing (e.g., CONTRIBUTORS.md) |
| Documentation (e.g., Wiki) |
Community Announcement (e.g., Newsletters) |
Where to Start
🌱 Recommendations for First-Time Contributors
Based on our survey, we recommend starting with glue work that has been rated as "Very" or "Extremely" suitable by OSS practitioners. These activities offer a smoother onboarding experience, help build confidence, and foster early contributions.
- ✅ Bug/Issue Reporting: A highly encouraged starting point to understand project workflows.
- 📄 Writing/Editing Documentation: Enhances both project clarity and contributor understanding.
- 🧪 Quality Assurance/Testing: Builds technical familiarity while contributing to software reliability.
- 📢 Marketing/Advocacy: Great for engaging with the community and promoting the project.
- 🤝 End-User Support: Connects contributors directly with users, fostering practical insights.
Tip: While leadership roles like Mentoring/Supporting or License Management are valuable, they may pose challenges for first-time contributors. Consider building foundational experience before exploring these areas.
The greener the activity, the more it's encouraged by OSS practitioners. 🌿