Contributing to open source has always felt intimidating, especially when the project is as big as Next.js. But recently, I made my very first pull request (PR) to the Next.js repository — and it actually got recognized by the maintainers. Here’s how it happened.

🐣 How It Started

I wanted to contribute something small and beginner-friendly. Instead of diving straight into fixing bugs deep in the framework, I looked for documentation issues.

That’s when I came across an open issue:

The Middleware documentation didn’t mention how pageExtensions affects the filename of middleware.js|ts.

At first glance, it looked minor. But actually, this could trip up a lot of developers customizing their project extensions.

🛠 What I Did

I:

  • Opened the Middleware documentation file in the Next.js repo.

  • Added a missing note explaining that if a project uses custom pageExtensions, the middleware filename follows those extensions.

  • Clarified that the file does not always need to be named middleware.js or middleware.ts.

Commit message:

docs: add pageExtensions note to Middleware and clarify default filename

💡 Why It Matters

It might look like “just a docs fix,” but small changes like this:

  • Save developers time when debugging why their middleware isn’t being picked up.

  • Prevent frustration for those customizing pageExtensions.

  • Make Next.js more beginner-friendly, which is important since docs are often the first entry point.

🚀 The Outcome

  • My PR was reviewed by the maintainers.

  • The issue was marked as completed.

  • The author of the issue even tagged and thanked me by name! 🎉

This wasn’t just about one line of documentation — it was about getting through the full contribution cycle:

  • Finding an issue

  • Forking the repo

  • Making the change

  • Writing a clear commit message

  • Opening a PR

  • Having it acknowledged and closed

🌱 Lessons Learned

  1. You don’t have to start by fixing complex bugs. Docs are a great entry point.

  2. Maintainers notice effort — even small fixes are valued.

  3. Every contribution adds up to visibility in the community.

✨ What’s Next

Now that I understand the workflow, my next goal is to dive deeper into Next.js’s inner workings:

  • Explore routing, middleware, and server components in the codebase.

  • Look for issues labeled good first issue and help wanted.

  • Slowly move from docs to bug fixes and feature improvements.