Submit Directories

Submit Directories

Overview

Full lifecycle for submitting a product to 800+ AI tool directories: collect product info → analyze directories → build submission plan → discover forms → auto-submit → manual browser submissions → track progress.

Setup

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install chromium

Configure credentials via environment variables

Never hardcode credentials in scripts. Set these before running any pipeline step:

# Required
export SUBMIT_PRODUCT_URL="https://yourproduct.com"
export SUBMIT_PRODUCT_NAME="Your Product Name"
export SUBMIT_TAGLINE="Your one-line tagline"
export SUBMIT_EMAIL="you@throwaway.com"        # use throwaway email
export SUBMIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Jane Doe"

# Recommended
export SUBMIT_AUTHOR_FIRST="Jane"
export SUBMIT_AUTHOR_LAST="Doe"
export SUBMIT_USERNAME="youruser"
export SUBMIT_PASSWORD="throwaway-pass"        # use throwaway password

# Optional
export SUBMIT_GITHUB_URL="https://github.com/you/repo"
export SUBMIT_TWITTER_URL="https://twitter.com/yourhandle"
export SUBMIT_KEYWORDS="ai,saas,marketing,automation"
export SUBMIT_LOGO="logo.png"                  # relative to script dir
export SUBMIT_SCREENSHOT="site-image.png"      # relative to script dir

Tip: save these to a local .env file (already in .gitignore) and load with:

set -a && source .env && set +a

Place assets

• logo.png — product logo (used for file upload fields)
• site-image.png — product screenshot (used for file upload fields)

Both should be in the same directory as the scripts.

Phase 0: Collect Product Info

Ask one at a time (never dump all at once):

Then ask submission preferences:

• "Submit to Google-login directories? (You complete auth manually)"
• "Skip all paid directories, or flag for review?"
• "Fill forms on captcha sites and pause for you to solve, or skip?"

Assets: Tell user to place logo.png and site-image.png in project root.

Phase 1: Configure

1. Set all required environment variables (see Setup section above)
2. Generate 30 unique copy variations (title + description pairs):
   • Different angles: features, benefits, pricing, use case, comparison
   • Vary length: short punchy vs. detailed
   • Different keywords, never same opening
3. Store in submission_plan.json
4. Update checkpoint.md with product info (omit passwords)

Phase 2: Analyze & Classify

.venv/bin/python analyze_directories.py         # HTTP-level: auth, captcha, pricing, dead domains
.venv/bin/python cleanup_and_categorize.py      # Triage errors, build browser_check_list.json
.venv/bin/python browser_verify.py              # Playwright verification (10 concurrent workers)
.venv/bin/python browser_verify.py --recheck-unknown  # Deep recheck unknowns

Report auth type breakdown when done.

Phase 3: Build Submission Plan

Filter directories.json:

• site_status = active
• auth_type = none OR auth_type = email_password
• Include google_only / google_and_email only if user opted in

Create submission_plan.json entries with copy variation (rotate evenly), credentials, status: pending.

Phase 4: Discover Forms

.venv/bin/python discover_forms.py

Visits each submission URL, extracts form field metadata, updates submission_plan.json. Report: discovered / not found / timeout counts.

Phase 5: Auto-Submit

.venv/bin/python submit_directories.py

Report: submitted / no matching fields / timed out / needs manual attention.

Phase 6: Manual Browser Submissions

Use Playwright MCP (mcp__playwright namespace) for sites needing manual interaction.

Captcha sites

1. browser_navigate → submission URL
2. browser_snapshot → understand page
3. browser_fill_form / browser_type → fill all fields
4. Ask user to solve captcha
5. browser_click submit → verify confirmation

Google login sites

1. browser_navigate → login page
2. Click "Sign in with Google"
3. Ask user to complete Google auth
4. After login, proceed to submission form
5. Use browser_tabs to switch between OAuth popup and main tab

Rich text / complex forms

• TinyMCE/Quill: use browser_evaluate to set content directly
• Combobox/select: browser_click dropdown → click option
• Multi-step forms: browser_snapshot after each step for new fields
• Custom upload widgets: use browser_file_upload for logo/screenshot

Phase 7: GitHub PR Submissions

Requirements: gh CLI installed and authenticated (gh auth login). Set SUBMIT_GITHUB_URL if you want your repo linked in entries.

For awesome-list directories:

gh repo fork <owner>/<repo>
# Create branch, add product entry following repo format
gh pr create

Record PR URL in checkpoint.md.

Tracking

Update checkpoint.md after each phase with: counts by status, successful list, failed list with reasons, next steps.

Status Values

Rules

1. Never assume — unclear about product/preferences? Ask.
2. Never commit real passwords — use env vars only; passwords are stripped from submission_plan.json automatically before each save.
3. Report after every phase — never run pipeline silently.
4. Explain every skip — tell user why a directory was skipped.
5. Verify submissions — check for confirmation or error states.
6. Rate limit — max 5 concurrent submissions to avoid IP blocks.
7. Strip personal data before git push — search for email, name, password in all files.

Common Submission Blockers

Best ROI Directory Types

1. AI tool directories with simple HTML forms
2. Startup directories using Google Forms
3. GitHub awesome-lists accepting PRs (free, high-quality backlinks)
4. NoCode/SaaS aggregators
5. General web directories with DA≥30

File Reference