Restrict external automated contributions to triaged community issues

.github/configs/label-actions.yaml

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ feature:
 
     A project maintainer will review this feature request and get back to you soon.
 
-    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to pick this item up sooner and submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
+    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
 
     _For more information on our triage process please visit our [triage overview](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md)_
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ maintenance:
 
     A project maintainer will review this issue and get back to you soon.
 
-    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to pick this item up sooner and submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
+    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
 
     _For more information on our triage process please visit our [triage overview](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md)_
 
@@ -64,23 +64,23 @@ triaged:
   comment: |
     :+1: We've reviewed this issue and have agreed to add it to our backlog. Please subscribe to this issue for notifications, we'll provide updates when we pick it up.
 
-    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to pick this item up sooner and submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
+    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
 
     _For more information on our triage process please visit our [triage overview](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md)_
 
 important:
   comment: |
     We've prioritized work on this issue. Please subscribe to this issue for notifications, we'll provide updates as we make progress.
 
-    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to pick this item up sooner and submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
+    We also welcome community contributions! If you would like to submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
 
     _For more information on our triage process please visit our [triage overview](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md)_
 
 "good first issue":
   comment: |
     This issue is a great one to pickup for new contributors. It should only require small changes and not assume a deep knowledge of the Radius architecture.
 
-    We always welcome community contributions! If you would like to pick this item up sooner and submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
+    We always welcome community contributions! If you would like to submit a pull request, please visit our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) and assign this to yourself by commenting "/assign" on this issue.
 
     _For more information on our triage process please visit our [triage overview](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/blob/main/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md)_
 

AGENTS.md

@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 
 This is the single entry point that orients any agent (GitHub Copilot in VS Code, Copilot Cloud Agent, Copilot CLI, Claude Code) or human contributor working in this repository. It points to directories and docs rather than listing individual files. Read the linked docs on demand for depth.
 
+## External automated contributions
+
+External contributors using an AI agent, coding bot, or other automation may implement an issue and open a pull request only when the issue is open, has the `triaged` label, and has either the `help wanted` or `good first issue` label. The issue must not be assigned to another contributor or already have an open pull request.
+
+Re-check the issue's status, labels, assignment, and linked pull requests immediately before opening a pull request. If any requirement is not satisfied, you may investigate or comment on the issue, but must not implement it or open a pull request. This restriction does not apply to maintainers or project-managed automation working on internally planned changes.
+
+See the [triage process](/docs/contributing/triage/triage-process.md) and [pull-request guide](/docs/contributing/contributing-pull-requests/README.md) for details.
+
 ## 1. What this repo is
 
 Radius is a cloud-native application platform that lets developers and the platform engineers who support them collaborate on delivering and managing cloud-native applications across Kubernetes, private cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. Radius is a [CNCF sandbox project](https://www.cncf.io/sandbox-projects/).

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -25,9 +25,10 @@ For all contributor guides and conventions, see the **[contributor documentation
 
 We welcome small pull request contributions from anyone (docs improvements, bug fixes, minor features.) as long as they follow a few guidelines:
 
-- For very minor changes like correcting a typo feel free to send a pull request. Otherwise ...
-- Please start by [choosing an existing issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues), or [opening an issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues/new/choose) to work on.
-- The maintainers will respond to your issue, please work with the maintainers to ensure that what you're doing is in scope for the project before writing any code.
+- For very minor changes like correcting a typo, human contributors may send a pull request without first opening an issue.
+- For other changes, start by [choosing an existing issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues) or [opening an issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues/new/choose).
+- External contributors using an AI agent, coding bot, or other automation must restrict their contributions to open issues labeled `triaged` and either `help wanted` or `good first issue`. The issue must not be assigned to another contributor or already have an open pull request. Re-check the issue's status, labels, assignment, and linked pull requests immediately before opening a pull request. The exception for minor changes does not apply to automated contributions.
+- Creating an issue or applying a label other than the required labels is not authorization to open an automated pull request.
 - If you have any doubt whether a contribution would be valuable, feel free to ask.
 
 ## Developer Certificate of Origin

docs/contributing/contributing-code/contributing-code-first-commit/first-commit-06-creating-a-pr/index.md

@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 
 At this point you've experienced the basic dev flow for the `rad` CLI.
 
-It's time to pick an issue to work on! You can find a query [here](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22).
+It's time to pick an issue to work on! External contributors using an AI agent, coding bot, or other automation must choose an open issue that is labeled `triaged` and either [`help wanted`](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Atriaged+label%3A%22help+wanted%22) or [`good first issue`](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Atriaged+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22).
+
+The issue must not be assigned to another contributor or already have an open pull request. Re-check the issue's status, labels, assignment, and linked pull requests immediately before opening a pull request. See the [pull-request guide](../../../contributing-pull-requests/README.md#prerequisites) for the full eligibility requirements.
 
 ## Etiquette for issues
 

docs/contributing/contributing-pull-requests/README.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ This guide explains how to open a pull request against [`radius-project/radius`]
 Before opening a pull request, make sure you have:
 
 - **Agreement on scope.** For anything beyond a trivial fix (like a typo), [choose an existing issue](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues) or [open a new one](https://github.com/radius-project/radius/issues/new/choose) and work with the maintainers to confirm the change is in scope *before* writing code. The maintainers have discretion over what they accept — see [this article](https://www.igvita.com/2011/12/19/dont-push-your-pull-requests/) for why. If you have any doubt whether a contribution is valuable, ask first.
+- **Eligibility for external automated contributions.** External contributors using an AI agent, coding bot, or other automation may only implement an open issue that has the `triaged` label and either the `help wanted` or `good first issue` label. The issue must not be assigned to someone else or already have an open pull request. Re-check these conditions immediately before opening your pull request. If any condition is not satisfied, do not implement the issue or open a pull request; automated contributions do not receive the trivial-fix exception above.
 - **A fork of the repository.** Submit pull requests from a forked repo against the `main` branch (the default) unless otherwise instructed.
 - **A working local build.** Run the basic validations (`make build test lint format-check`) successfully before you submit. See [building the repo](../contributing-code/contributing-code-building/) for setup.
 
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@ The maintainers or other contributors will add comments giving feedback, asking
 A pull request must pass these checkpoints to be accepted:
 
 - **Initial review** — a maintainer reviews your summary and confirms an appropriate issue is linked.
+- **External automation eligibility** — a pull request opened through external automation links to an eligible issue with the required labels.
 - **Automated tests** — GitHub Actions workflows run unit, integration, and functional tests against your changes. Automation adds comments with links to logs so you can diagnose failures.
 - **Required label** — exactly one of `pr:standard` or `pr:important` is applied.
 - **Code review** — you receive and address feedback from a maintainer or other contributors.