Can a Badge Save a Project? Rethinking Sustainability through Community Metrics

Open-source projects are often measured by stars, forks, or downloads. While these metrics highlight popularity, they fail to capture whether a project’s community is sustainable, inclusive, or resilient. This paper introduces the CHAOSS DEI Project Badging initiative as a framework for evaluating open-source sustainability through people-centered metrics. Project Badging focuses on four areas: Project Access, Newcomer Experience, Inclusive Leadership, and Communication Transparency. By rethinking sustainability through community health, we argue that open-source success should not only be about growth in numbers, but also about how contributors feel, stay, and thrive.