Hi everyone!
My name is David Olaru, and I am a third-year Computer Science student. I am excited to apply for GSoC 2026 and I am interested in the Retool Jenkins.io Contributor Spotlight* project.
About me
I have built personal projects using React.js, including a to-do application and an e-commerce platform. I am comfortable with JavaScript, TypeScript, and Material UI (MUI) — all of which are directly relevant to this project. I want to be transparent: I have no prior open source experience, but I believe this project is the right place to start, and I am fully committed to putting in the work required. I know this is a gap in my experience, but I am confident that with the guidance of a mentor it will make all the difference.
What I found in the codebase
I explored the contributor-spotlight repository and tried to understand the current setup. I noticed the project uses Gatsby 5 with a lot of Gatsby-specific plugins, and that React is already on version 19.2.4. I also saw that MUI 7 is already in use, which I am familiar with. From what I understand, the main challenge of this migration is replacing Gatsby’s data layer and plugin ecosystem with Vite-compatible alternatives — though I am honest that I don’t fully understand all the technical details yet.
What I want to do
I want to work closely with the mentors to understand the migration path from Gatsby to Vite, learn how open source contribution works in practice, and deliver a modernized, well-documented Contributor Spotlight website that the Jenkins community can be proud of.
Questions for the mentors
-Where would you recommend I start to better understand the codebase?
-Are there any beginner-friendly issues I could work on before submitting my proposal?
-Is there a preferred approach for replacing the Gatsby data layer in the Vite setup?
Looking forward to your feedback!
GitHub: https://github.com/OlaruDavid