TIL: Pull Request and Issue Templates
I wanted Code for Philly Balancer’s PRs to be more easily testable and improve how contributors file new issues so I wrote a pull request and issue template this is inspired by Simon Willison’s talk “Massively increase your productivity on personal projects with comprehensive documentation and automated tests”
Pull Request Template:
## Description
<!-- Provide a clear and concise description of the changes in this PR -->
## Related Issue
<!-- If this PR relates to an issue, link it here -->
## Manual Tests
<!-- Help reviewers understand your changes work: paste terminal commands/output or attach a screen capture video -->
## Automated Tests
<!-- Help prove your changes work and prevent regressions: describe tests added or explain why tests aren't applicable -->
## Documentation
<!-- Help others understand your changes: list any documentation you've updated or note if updates aren't needed -->
## Reviewers
<!-- Tag the person or team who should review this PR -->
## Notes
<!-- Any additional context, concerns, or discussion points for reviewers -->
Issue Template:
---
name: Issue template
about: Help push the project forward
title: ''
labels: ''
assignees: ''
---
## Title
<!-- Title: [Type]: Short description of the problem or goal -->
## Background
<!-- Why does this change need to happen? -->
## Existing Behavior
<!-- What code or docs are changing? Link or paste as needed -->
## Acceptance Criteria
- [] <!-- What does done look like? -->
## Approach
<!-- How are you tackling this? Update as you go -->
## References
<!-- Anything useful — docs, links, decisions -->
## Risks and Rollback
<!-- Anything that could go wrong, or leave blank if low risk -->
## Screenshots / Recordings
<!-- Before/after visuals or console output if helpful -->