PM Maintainer

Get an open-source repo's issue backlog from 400-and-drowning to triaged-and-honest in one pass — a label taxonomy that encodes decisions, batch triage rules you can apply in seconds per issue, saved replies that stay kind at scale, and stale-bot policy set with a conscience. Use when a maintainer says 'my issues are out of control', 'triage my backlog', 'set up labels for my repo', or dreads opening GitHub. Produces the taxonomy, the triage pass rules, saved replies, and a sustainable weekly routine.

Say no as an open-source maintainer without burning contributors or yourself — the feature that doesn't fit, the PR that took someone a weekend but can't merge, the company that wants free support, the fork suggestion said kindly. Use when a maintainer says 'how do I reject this PR nicely', 'a company is demanding support', 'this feature request won't die', or is avoiding an issue thread out of guilt. Produces the specific no for the situation, with reasoning shown and the relationship kept.

Set up a new open-source project's first month so it can grow without eating its maintainer — the README that routes people correctly, CONTRIBUTING boundaries written before there are contributors, issue templates that pre-triage, a release rhythm, and the sustainability defaults (what you owe no one). Use when someone says 'my repo is getting attention', 'I just open-sourced something', 'set up my project properly', or their first PR from a stranger just landed. Produces the docs set, the templates, and the month-one routine.