Subreddit Rules

Every subreddit has its own rules, and the mods enforce them. Reddit's own policy says community moderators decide what counts as spam in their community (Reddit Help, "Spam", read 2026-10-28). So the question before any post is never "is this allowed on Reddit?" It is "is this allowed here, from this account, today?"

You read the rules, record a verdict, fit the plan to it, and handle mods and removals with courtesy. You never help anyone get around a rule, a ban or a mod decision.

Before you start

Read .agents/reddit-marketing.md if it exists (the reddit-context skill writes it). Take the product line, the disclosure line, and the account table from it. Ask only for what it doesn't cover:

1. Which subreddit, and what the user wants to do there (post, comment, answer a thread, run an AMA, share a link).
2. Which account will do it, its age and karma, and whether it has posted there before.
3. The disclosure line the user will use (see reddit-context references/disclosure.md).

If the user pasted a rule list or a removal message, use that and skip the fetch.

Workflow

1. Get the rules from every place they live

Rules hide in five places. Read all of them; many subreddits put the self-promotion rule somewhere other than the main list. See references/reading-checklist.md for the full list and what to extract.

1. The rules list (sidebar on the desktop site, "About" on mobile).
2. The community description and welcome text.
3. The wiki (/r/<name>/wiki/), including an FAQ or "self-promotion" page.
4. Pinned posts and megathreads (promo threads, "what are you working on").
5. The post form: required flair, removal-reason text, and any automatic notice shown when you submit.

Reddit blocks plain scripted fetches of rules pages, so use a real browser, or ask the user to paste the rules text. Never guess a rule from memory. Rules change; record the date you read them.

2. Extract a verdict

Fill one record from references/rules-record-template.md. The fields that matter most:

• Promotion: banned, limited to a thread, limited by ratio, or allowed with disclosure.
• Ratio: any "9:1" or "10%" style rule, and what it counts.
• Account gates: minimum age, minimum karma, verified email, required flair.
• Link rules: no links in posts, no links in comments, no shorteners, no affiliate links.
• Format rules: titles, flair, required fields, text-post-only, no AI-written content.
• Disclosure: does the sub require it, and in what words?
• Mod style: how fast mods act, whether they use removal reasons.

Then give one verdict: open, limited, closed, or unread.

3. Apply the self-promotion rules

See references/self-promotion-patterns.md for the common shapes (megathreads, flair-only, ratios, no-links, ban on brands) and what each means for a brand account.

• Reddit's long-standing guidance says you may share your own content "within reason", and gives 9:1 as a widely used rule of thumb: only 1 of every 10 submissions should be your own (Reddiquette, Reddit Help, read 2026-10-28). Treat it as a floor of good behavior, not a pass. A subreddit's own rule overrides it.
• Reddit's Spam policy asks people whose contributions are mostly links to a business they run or benefit from to be thoughtful about frequency (Reddit Help, "Spam", read 2026-10-28). Mods may be stricter.
• Disclose your tie to the product in the first sentence that mentions it, every time. Where a subreddit or law requires disclosure, that is not optional. See reddit-context references/disclosure.md.
• If the rules are unclear, ask the mods before posting (Step 5). Reddit's own spam page says you may contact the moderators for clarification.

4. Plan the first contribution

• If the verdict is closed, do not mention the product. Either answer questions without it and without links to it, or leave. Hand the subreddit to reddit-listening as listen-only.
• If limited, use only the allowed route: the promo thread, the flair, the weekly slot.
• If open, still lead with value. Hand the draft to reddit-comments or reddit-posts with the record attached.
• If the account does not meet a gate, stop. Never fake karma or age. See reddit-account-health.

5. Message the mods when it helps

Use modmail, not a direct chat. Reddit says modmail is the preferred way to reach a mod team and that replies show up in your chat inbox labeled MOD (Reddit Help, "What's mod mail and how do I send a message?", read 2026-10-28). Ask before posting when a rule is unclear, or when you want to offer something the sub might welcome (an AMA, a free resource for members). Templates are in references/modmail-templates.md. Send one message, be short, name the account, name your tie to the product, and ask a yes-or-no question.

6. Check whether a post or comment was removed

Do this within a day of every post in a new subreddit and when engagement is oddly zero. The method is in references/removal-diagnosis.md: look at it as a logged-out visitor, check your profile, read any removal notice, and look at modmail. Do not post again until you know the cause.

7. If something was removed, or you got a warning

1. Stop. Do not repost, edit-and-repost, or post the same text elsewhere.
2. Read the removal reason and the rule it cites.
3. Reply once, politely, in modmail. Template in references/modmail-templates.md.
4. Fix the cause (flair, disclosure, link, wrong thread, ratio).
5. Wait for the mods to answer before trying again. If a mod says no, accept it.
6. Log it in the rules record. Two removals in the same subreddit is a signal to drop the subreddit from the plan.

If a ban or a "warning" arrives, follow references/removal-diagnosis.md for appeals. Never use another account to get around a ban. Reddit treats that as ban evasion, and accounts can be suspended for it (Reddit Help, "What is ban evasion?", read 2026-10-28).

8. Keep the record fresh

Re-read the rules before the first post and again every 90 days (a starting interval; adjust it to how often your subreddits change). Rules can change without notice. Log the date, and tell subreddit-research when a verdict changes.

Two layers of rules

Reddit's sitewide rules apply everywhere (Reddit Rules, Spam policy, ban evasion). Each subreddit adds its own on top, and mods enforce theirs first. Passing the sitewide rules does not pass a subreddit's. Passing a subreddit's does not excuse a sitewide violation, such as a bot that keeps promoting a product across communities, which Reddit lists as a spam example (Reddit Help, "Spam", read 2026-10-28).

Disclosure tools

Reddit offers a Brand Affiliate tag for people whose posts or comments are incentivized or have commercial intent (Reddit Help, "What's a brand affiliate tag?", read 2026-10-28). If a subreddit's rules ask for disclosure, write it in the text first. Use the tag too where it is available to you. Both are free.

Reading mod norms beyond the rules

Rules say what is written. Norms say what is enforced. Before a first post, spend ten minutes on three checks:

1. Search the sub for posts that mention a product and read how they fared: removed, upvoted, ignored, or answered by a mod.
2. Open the mod log if it is public (some subreddits publish it) or read the "removed" notices that mods leave in threads.
3. Read the pinned mod comments on recent threads. They show what mods repeat. Write what you saw in the record. If you can't find a norm, say "not seen" instead of inventing one.

Quality check

• The record cites the date each source was read and links the rules, wiki and any pinned thread.
• Every rule you rely on is quoted or paraphrased from the page, not remembered.
• The verdict is one of open, limited, closed, unread.
• The account meets every gate, or the plan says it doesn't.
• The disclosure line is written out and sits in the first mention of the product.
• For any removal: the cause is named before any new post is written.

What to avoid

• Posting first and reading rules after.
• Treating "9:1" as a license. It is Reddit's rule of thumb, and the subreddit's own rule wins.
• Reposting a removed item, editing it slightly to slip past a filter, or asking the same question in modmail twice a day.
• Using a second account, or anyone else's, to post what was removed or to get around a ban.
• Arguing publicly with mods. Reddit says to take disputes to modmail; if the mods say no, try another community (Reddit Help, "How can I resolve a dispute with a moderator or moderator team?", read 2026-10-28).
• Hiding your tie to the product where a rule or the law asks you to disclose it.
• Stating a rule from memory. Always read the live page.

Related Skills

• subreddit-research: picks the subreddits; calls this skill for the rules verdict on each candidate.
• reddit-posts: writes the post once the record says what the format must be.
• reddit-comments: writes the comment, using the disclosure line and the record's link rules.
• reddit-account-health: handles account age, karma, and warnings that affect the account itself.
• reddit-context: stores the disclosure line and the verdict table.