Reddit Posts

You write original posts that give a subreddit something it wants: a result, a method, a question worth answering. A post that promotes first and helps second gets removed. A post that helps first can mention what you built, once, with the tie said out loud, where the rules allow it.

Before you start

Read .agents/reddit-marketing.md if it exists (the reddit-context skill writes it) for the product line, buyer words, disclosure line and the subreddit table. Ask only for what it does not cover:

1. The subreddit. One per post. Never write one post for many subreddits.
2. What you actually have. Real numbers, a real story, a real artifact (template, script, dataset). A post needs something the reader cannot get from a search.
3. Where the account stands. Age, karma and past removals. Many subreddits gate posting on these (reddit-account-health).
4. The rules for posts. Run subreddit-rules, or read the sidebar, wiki and pinned posts. Look for self-promotion rules, flair requirements, link limits, "feedback Friday" or "show off" threads.

Pick the thread of the post

Posts that AI answers cite tend to match a question buyers ask. Pull the most-cited threads for your subreddit with the CommunityMentions MCP (https://communitymentions.com/api/mcp, no sign-in):

• get_subreddit with {"subreddit": "SaaS"} returns ai_citations, most_cited_threads (title, URL, citations), and citing_answers_by_question_type.
• find_subreddits with {"description": "your niche"} returns where your topic fits.

Example: r/SaaS's most-cited threads include a how-to post on promoting without spamming (25 citations), a post-launch question (17) and a marketing-tool question (13) (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28). Titles that are plain questions or "how I did X" posts appear often. Read the top ones, note their title shape and length, and write in that shape. See references/format-matching.md.

Workflow

1. Choose the post type from references/post-types.md: value post, case study, question, launch or feedback, AMA, resource, or discussion. Choose by what you have and what the subreddit allows, not by what you wish to promote.
2. Check that the subreddit allows it. If product posts are banned, write the value post or the question and let the product appear only in replies when asked (see reddit-comments). Don't look for loopholes.
3. Study 10 top posts of the last year in the subreddit. Note title length, structure, tone, whether they use images or links, flair, and what the top comments praise or attack. Write down 3 patterns.
4. Write the body first, then the title. The body carries the value. The title promises exactly what the body delivers. Formulas are in references/titles.md.
5. Draft with the shape for the type. Hook line, the story or method, the numbers with sources and dates, what went wrong, what to do next, a real question to the readers. Templates are in references/post-types.md.
6. Disclose the tie in the post (first paragraph or the first sentence that names the product). See references/launch-and-disclosure.md.
7. Format for mobile. Short paragraphs, a line break between ideas, lists only for real lists, no walls of text, no headers in short posts. Details in references/format-matching.md.
8. Run the pre-post check in references/pre-post-check.md.
9. Pick a time by testing, not folklore. There is no universal best hour. Check when the subreddit's top posts were made and test two or three windows, logging the result. See references/timing-and-first-hour.md.
10. Stay for the first hour. Reply to every real comment, add what you learned, answer criticism once with facts. Plan to be free for that hour before you post.
11. Review at 24 hours and 7 days. Log views, comments, removal status, leads or signups with their source. Update the subreddit row in the context file.

Worked example

You run a scheduling tool for dentists (stand-in "Acme") and have 40 signups from LinkedIn last quarter. You want a case study for r/SaaS.

1. Type: case study. r/SaaS's cited threads include "how to" and "what now" shapes (CommunityMentions data, 2026-10-28), so a first-person "what I did and what happened" post matches.
2. Rules: read r/SaaS's current post rules today and note any self-promotion limit.
3. Facts: confirm the 40 and where it comes from (your analytics export, with the month). If it cannot be traced, drop it.
4. Body: result line, starting point, steps with dates, numbers each with a source, what failed, caveats. Tie in the first paragraph: "I'm the founder of Acme."
5. Title last: "I got [N] signups from LinkedIn in [quarter] with [budget]. What worked and what didn't."
6. Pre-post check, then post when you are free for an hour. Reply to everyone.
7. At 24 hours and 7 days: log views, comments, signups by source. Put the best comment wording in the context file.

When not to post

• The subreddit bans the post type and there is no allowed thread.
• You have no data, story or artifact the readers lack.
• The account is new and the subreddit gates posts by age or karma. Answer questions first (reddit-comments).
• You cannot stay for the first hour.
• The post would be near-identical to one you made elsewhere.

Repurposing a post

One strong post can seed several, in different rooms, over weeks:

1. Case study in a startup subreddit.
2. The method alone, rewritten for a practitioner subreddit.
3. A question post on the part you are unsure about.
4. A follow-up with what changed.

Each is rewritten for its room, spaced out, and checked against that room's rules. Copy-paste is spam.

Writing rules

• Open with the point. The first two lines show on the feed. Make them worth opening.
• Give the full useful thing in the post. Not "link in comments". Not "DM me for the template".
• Numbers carry a source and a date: your own data ("from our Stripe export, 2026-09") or a linked public source. If you have no number, say what you saw in your own words. Never invent a figure for effect.
• Show the bad parts: what failed, what it cost, what you would skip. Readers trust a post with scars.
• Write like a peer. First person, plain words, short sentences. No adjectives you could not defend.
• End with a real question that the comments can answer, and then answer it yourself in the first hour.
• One post, one idea. Two ideas make two posts.
• No cross-posting spam. One subreddit per original post. If the topic fits elsewhere, rewrite for that room and wait. Reddit's own tools exist for crossposting where allowed; read the rules.

Titles at a glance

Twenty more with notes are in references/titles.md.

Quality check

• The subreddit allows this post type, and the rule text was read today.
• The title promises what the body delivers.
• The body is useful with the product name removed.
• The tie is disclosed in the first mention.
• Every number has a source and a date or says "my data".
• Formatting works on a phone.
• A real question closes the post.
• You are free for the first hour after posting.

What to avoid

• Posting the same text in many subreddits, or reposting after a removal.
• Using extra accounts, friends, or groups to upvote or comment early. That is vote manipulation, outside what this repo teaches, and a fast way to get a site banned.
• Hiding the tie, writing "a friend built this", or posting a fake customer story.
• Title bait that the body does not pay off ("You won't believe...").
• Case studies with no numbers, or numbers with no method.
• Screenshots of dashboards as the only content. Say what the numbers mean.
• Deleting a post that flopped and posting it again the same day. Learn from the comments, then rewrite.
• AMAs with no proof of who you are and no time to answer.

Related Skills

• reddit-context: the product line, buyer words and disclosure line this skill reads first.
• subreddit-rules: reads what each subreddit allows for posts, flair and links before you write.
• subreddit-research: finds the subreddits where a post on your topic belongs.
• ai-cited-threads: shows which thread shapes AI answers cite, so the post matches a real buyer question.
• reddit-comments: for replying in the first hour and in other people's threads.
• reddit-account-health: karma, age and removal history that decide where you can post.
• reddit-ai-search: checks whether your post gets cited by AI answers over the following weeks.