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the-maintainers-no

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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.

skills/the-maintainers-no/SKILL.md

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Nov 9, 2026

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Nov 10, 2026
License
MIT

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# The Maintainer's No Skill

Maintainer burnout is mostly unsent nos: the feature request at 40 comments,
the well-meant PR that would triple the maintenance surface, the company
that filed "urgent" on a volunteer's project. Every avoided no costs a
week of low-grade guilt; the sent no costs five minutes and is almost never
received as badly as feared. This skill writes the *specific* no each
situation needs — with the reasoning shown, the effort honored, and a real
alternative where one exists — because "no with a why and a path" keeps
contributors that "maybe someday" quietly loses.

## What This Skill Produces

- The **situation-fit no**, drafted ready to post: scope-no, PR-no,
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