Before a contractor changes code, send a short, project-specific handoff that answers six questions: what they may access, how they should authenticate, how to run the project, how to make a change, which checks to run, and how to submit it for review. The checklist below is a reusable structure—not a universal standard. Fill in the commands, owners, and rules for the repository and assignment at hand.
Start with the assignment and its boundaries
Do not make a repository link the whole onboarding message. Identify the person responsible for the work, the repository and task, the expected scope, and the channel for questions. Be explicit about what is outside the assignment or must not be accessed. Request permissions through your team’s approved owner and process rather than granting broad access for convenience.
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Access provisioning is part of onboarding, not an administrative afterthought. GitLab’s handbook describes helpdesk support for account, hardware, and software provisioning for employees, temporary service providers, and external collaborators, and frames onboarding as the initial period spent enabling productivity. That is an example of an organization’s process, not a rule every team must copy; the handbook page lists a modification date of July 28, 2026. GitLab Handbook: Onboarding
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Give access and credential instructions without sending secrets
Tell the contractor which identity to use, how to satisfy your authentication requirements, and which team member handles access problems. If your organization requires multi-factor authentication or another control, give the setup route and the point of contact. Do not put passwords, access tokens, private keys, or production credentials in the handoff snippet.
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Explain how the contractor obtains any required development secrets through the team’s approved channel, where they belong locally, and how to report a suspected exposure. GitLab’s authentication guidance advises storing tokens securely and never committing them, and discusses two-factor authentication, formal onboarding and offboarding, and periodic permission review. Adapt those principles to your actual identity provider and policy; GitLab-specific roles are not a universal access model. GitLab Docs: Authentication and token guidance
Make the local setup reproducible
Include the repository-specific instructions that let a new contributor reach a known-good starting point. A useful handoff states prerequisites, clone method, setup commands, environment-file steps that reveal no secret values, and the command or observable result that confirms the app is ready. Name the person or channel that can unblock setup failures.
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- Repository: provide the canonical URL and say whether the contractor should clone it directly or use a fork.
- Prerequisites: list required runtimes, package managers, services, and supported versions as documented by the project.
- Setup: paste the actual install, configuration, and startup commands; distinguish required steps from optional local conveniences.
- Success check: identify a specific test, health check, or expected local behavior that demonstrates setup worked.
- Environment values: explain how to create local configuration from a safe example file and how to obtain any non-public values through approved channels.
AWS’s CodeCommit tutorial is one example of an executable onboarding guide: it covers local repository setup, Git identity, staging and committing, pushing, sharing changes, branches, tags, and permissions. Its commands and service-specific details apply to CodeCommit, but the categories help expose what a contractor otherwise has to guess. AWS CodeCommit: Getting started
Set expectations for the first change
State how the contractor should create a working branch and what naming and commit-message conventions apply. If the team expects a branch from the default branch, say so; if it uses a fork, release branch, or ticket branch, specify that instead. Keep the initial change tied to the agreed task and point out generated files, sensitive paths, or unrelated cleanup that should be avoided.
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Be concrete rather than inventing a team convention in the handoff. For example, fill in a project-specific line such as “Branch from main using task/short-description; include the issue ID in the commit subject.” Replace those sample values with the repository’s real default branch, naming format, and issue practice. If no convention exists, use the handoff to agree on one before work starts.
List the checks to run and when to run them
Tell the contractor which commands are expected before committing and which checks run automatically after pushing. Name the formatter, lint command, focused tests, broader test suite, and any relevant security or dependency checks. Include the repository’s actual commands and prerequisites; do not leave “run tests” as the only instruction when the project has multiple suites.
- Identify checks that are mandatory for every change and checks that apply only to particular files or risks.
- Say whether checks must pass locally before commit, before opening a review request, or in CI before merge.
- Explain how to report a failing check that appears unrelated to the change instead of silently skipping it.
- Never ask contributors to bypass credential scanning or commit secrets to make a test pass.
Microsoft Learn describes pre-commit and commit-stage practices that include static analysis, security tests, dependency management, and credential scanning. Which belong in your contractor checklist depends on the project’s risk and configured CI, so name only checks your team actually uses. Microsoft Learn: Security validation in CI/CD
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Explain review, submission, and follow-up
Specify where the change goes for review: a pull request or merge request, the target branch, the required description, the task or issue link, and how to request a reviewer. Ask the contractor to describe what changed, how it was validated, and any risks or decisions that need reviewer attention. Tell them whether they should wait for approval before merging or leave merge responsibility to a maintainer.
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Review expectations should be explicit. GitLab’s Code Review Guidelines state: “All merge requests for GitLab CE and EE must go through code review to ensure the code is effective, understandable, maintainable, and secure.” GitLab describes review by a group reviewer or domain expert followed by maintainer review and merge; treat that as GitLab’s documented process, not a workflow every organization necessarily follows. GitLab Docs: Code Review Guidelines
Close the loop by naming the channel for blockers and review questions, how feedback should be handled, and who owns access removal when the assignment ends. A tracked checklist with an owner and completion status can make repeated onboarding less error-prone; OWASP recommends role-scoped access and tracked onboarding checklists in its smart-contract security context. Its treasury and Web3-specific controls are not general requirements for a software contractor, so adapt only the checklist and access-scoping idea to your team’s policy. OWASP Smart Contract Top 10: Security Misconfiguration
Copyable contractor handoff
Fill in the brackets before sending. Remove any line that does not apply, and do not leave illustrative commands in place of tested project instructions.
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Quick Recap
- Task and owner: [task link and scope]; contact [sponsor/maintainer] in [channel].
- Repository and access: [canonical repository]; request [specific access] from [approved owner] using [process]. Do not access [out-of-scope systems/data].
- Authentication and secrets: sign in with [required identity/control]. Obtain development secrets through [approved method]; never put them in source control. Report suspected exposure to [contact/channel].
- Local setup: prerequisites [versions]; clone [method]; run [setup commands]; create local configuration from [safe example]; confirm success with [check]. Setup help: [owner/channel].
- Change conventions: branch from [base] as [naming pattern]; commit subject format [format]; keep this change to [scope]. Avoid or coordinate changes to [paths/generated output].
- Validation: run [format], [lint], [tests], and [applicable security checks]. CI runs [checks] after push. If a check fails unexpectedly, report it in [channel].
- Review and closeout: push to [destination] and open [PR/MR] against [target]; include [description, task link, test results, risks]. Request [reviewer/team]. [Maintainer/contractor] handles merge. At assignment end, [owner] removes or reviews access.
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