Product Hunt Launch

Product Hunt Launch

Treat Product Hunt as a launch operations package, not a copy form. Ground every claim, create a review doc first, build assets from real product pixels, and keep the Product Hunt UI step human-gated.

Current-Rules Gate

Before drafting or submitting, verify the current Product Hunt docs and help center. At minimum check:

• Launch guide and content checklist: https://www.producthunt.com/launch/preparing-for-launch
• Posting flow: https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/479557-how-to-post-a-product
• Relaunch rules: https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/484934-can-i-relaunch-my-product
• Draft vs schedule behavior: https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/9823193-where-did-launch-now-go
• Promotion rules: https://www.producthunt.com/launch/sharing-your-launch

As of 2026-07, the constraints to enforce are:

If the user's requested cadence conflicts with current Product Hunt policy, say so plainly and convert extra drops into social launch posts, email updates, blog/support content, or a relaunch-request plan.

Live Submission UI Map

Last verified in the logged-in Product Hunt web UI on 2026-07-31. Re-check the UI before every launch because Product Hunt changes this flow.

Entry and Relaunch Gate

Open https://www.producthunt.com/posts/new/submission or click the header Submit button. If Product Hunt blocks access, complete account onboarding/verification first. In July 2026, account settings showed work email, GitHub profile, and LinkedIn profile as recommended verification items before the submit flow was usable.

The initial submit screen asks for Link to the product. Product Hunt may auto-prefix https://, so paste either the bare domain or check the resulting URL carefully before continuing.

When the URL belongs to an existing Product Page, Product Hunt shows a relaunch/update gate:

• Is this a new launch for <Product>?
• Yes! Attach this launch to <Product>'s page when it goes live.
• No, it's a different product
• Your existing in progress posts: Launch In Progress
• Primary button: Create an update for <Product>

For relaunches, prefer opening the existing Launch In Progress draft if one exists. Do not create another draft unless the human confirms the old draft is disposable or unrelated.

Draft Sections and Fields

The 2026 draft editor uses a left rail with these steps:

Keep a screenshot set of the live flow in the review doc or PR artifacts. At minimum capture: relaunch gate, Edit Product Page, Main info, Images and media, Makers, Extras, and Launch checklist.

Browser Exploration Tips

When the human has already logged in through their normal Chrome profile, prefer the existing session. agent-browser --auto-connect only works if that visible Chrome exposes a Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint. If it does not, do not start a temporary browser profile unless the human approves that tradeoff. Use visual browser control instead, and record that the live UI was inspected visually.

For Product Hunt drafts, use this exploration order:

1. Open the existing Launch In Progress draft from the relaunch gate.
2. Click each left-rail section: Edit Product Page, Main info, Images and media, Makers, Extras, Launch checklist.
3. Capture one screenshot per section before filling data.
4. On Main info, scroll to the lower half and inspect description, launch tags, first comment, and the required-error box. These fields are easy to miss.
5. Open dropdowns/search pickers only to inspect them. Do not select tags, makers, pricing, dates, or schedule actions unless the review doc has been approved.
6. Use the Launch checklist as the final source of truth for missing required fields, because it can expose requirements that are hidden in earlier sections.

Treat launch tags as a controlled picker, not free text. Record the intended tags in the review doc, then verify them in the Product Hunt UI at fill time.

Note the difference between Product Hunt's generic posting docs and the relaunch draft UI: the generic product description docs state 260 characters, while the July 2026 relaunch draft UI labels Description of the launch as 0/500. For an existing Product Page launch, draft both if needed: the Product Page description at 260 characters and the launch-specific description at 500 characters.

Workflow

1. Resolve Launch Target

Classify the request:

• First launch: prepare the core launch.
• Relaunch: find the previous Product Hunt page/date, then run the six-month/significant-update gate.
• Staggered campaign: make a calendar with frequent social beats and infrequent Product Hunt candidates.
• Feature launch: prove the feature is a substantially different use case or bundle it with a larger release.

Ask only for blockers that cannot be discovered: launch owner, maker accounts, approval owner, target date, and whether legal or brand review is required.

2. Gather Evidence

Build a claims ledger before writing copy:

Sources to check:

• Product site and pricing page.
• Product Hunt current docs.
• Release notes/support docs.
• GitHub repo, tags, release branch, merged PRs, and README.
• Linear cycle/issues if available.
• Existing Product Hunt product page and competitor launches.

Do not write claims from memory. If a source conflicts with another source, put it in Open Questions rather than choosing silently.

3. Choose The Launch Theme

Pick one theme per Product Hunt launch. Score each candidate:

Reject thin themes: pure UI polish, pricing-only changes, minor bug fixes, or copy-only announcements. Turn those into social launch posts instead.

4. Create The Review Doc

The first deliverable is a collaboration doc titled:

Product Hunt Launch - <Product> - <Theme> - <YYYY-MM-DD>

Use Google Docs when collaboration outside Linear is expected; use Linear when the work should live with the product/release process. Use both when the user asks for both, but keep one source of truth and link the mirror.

Google Docs path: Probe the installed CLI before relying on syntax:

command -v gog
gog --help
gog docs --help
command -v gws
gws docs --help

If gog/gws supports Docs creation/update in this environment, create the doc from the rendered markdown and share the URL. If it does not, leave a markdown file and create a Linear doc, or use the Google Drive upload route only after confirming the CLI supports it. For multi-account Google setups, use multi-account-cli first; gws credentials are account-sensitive.

Linear path: Create a standalone document under the relevant project/cycle/issue, then favorite it so it appears in the sidebar:

mutation($input: DocumentCreateInput!) {
  documentCreate(input: $input) {
    success
    document { id title url }
  }
}

mutation($input: FavoriteCreateInput!) {
  favoriteCreate(input: $input) {
    success
  }
}

Use favoriteCreate(input:{documentId:"<DOC_ID>"}) after documentCreate. Gate writes: show the rendered doc and get human OK before creating or replacing shared docs.

5. Fill The Review Doc

Include these sections:

1. Launch decision: first launch/relaunch, eligibility, target date, Product Hunt source checks.
2. Product snapshot: URL, repo, pricing, audience, positioning, do-not-claim list.
3. Theme: why this update deserves Product Hunt, what changed, what proof exists.
4. Submission fields: name, tagline variants, description, tags, pricing, makers, shoutouts, first comment, video/demo URLs.
5. Assets: dimensions, source screenshots, generated/composited outputs, alt text, upload status.
6. Launch calendar: six weeks out, four weeks out, two weeks out, week of, launch day, post-launch.
7. Channel copy: internal Slack, email/newsletter, LinkedIn/X/Threads/Bluesky, blog/support, in-app banner.
8. Response bank: anticipated Product Hunt questions and approved answers.
9. Launch-day runbook: owner shifts, monitoring links, bug escalation, support contact, metrics.
10. Post-launch recap: results, comments, user requests, follow-up issues, PR/doc updates.
11. Open questions and approvals.

Use the review doc as the source of truth. The Product Hunt UI should receive copy from the approved doc, not from a chat draft.

6. Build Assets From Real Product Pixels

Use real UI first:

• Capture current app/product screens with agent-browser, Chrome DevTools, Playwright, or Peekaboo when a logged-in local browser is needed.
• Create a deterministic screenshot script when possible so assets can be regenerated after copy/UI tweaks.
• Use AI image generation for framing, background, mood boards, or image-to-image variations only after the core UI screenshot is real.
• Verify current OpenAI image docs/models before using model names. If the user asks for gpt-image-2, check that it exists in the official OpenAI docs or model list first; otherwise use the current supported image model.
• Composite exact logos, product UI, and text with HTML/CSS or design tooling. Do not rely on image models to spell copy, render exact product UI, or recreate brand marks.

Minimum asset set:

For video, use launch-video-generation. For store-style or framed screenshots, use app-screenshots. For precise UI-like image generation, use high-fidelity-ui-image-gen but keep exact UI as real screenshots.

7. Submit With Browser Assistance

Use browser automation as assisted data entry, not as autonomous launch authority:

1. Open Product Hunt in an approved logged-in personal account.
2. If login/SSO/MFA/account verification is needed, hand control to the human.
3. If using agent-browser --auto-connect, confirm the visible Chrome is debuggable through CDP. If the user's signed-in default Chrome profile does not expose a CDP endpoint, do not launch a temporary profile unless the human approves it. Use the existing signed-in Chrome with a visual-control tool such as Peekaboo or the Claude browser extension instead.
4. Create or open a draft first unless the human explicitly approves scheduling.
5. Fill fields from the approved review doc.
6. Upload approved assets only.
7. Add makers by verified Product Hunt username or email.
8. Capture screenshots of every draft section and preview.
9. Stop for human review before Schedule.

Do not automate account creation, upvotes, comments, reviews, contests, or bulk outreach. Do not scrape people for unsolicited promotion.

8. Launch Day

Run from a live dashboard in the review doc:

• Before 12:01 PT or chosen launch time: confirm URL, assets, maker access, analytics, bug on-call, support inbox, Product Hunt page preview.
• Morning: announce in approved internal/external channels, ask for feedback/comments/shares, monitor Product Hunt comments and site errors.
• Midday: rotate comment response owner, update internal status, route bug reports into issues, share selected early feedback.
• Evening: respond to remaining comments, capture metrics, note feature requests, prepare day-two follow-up.
• Post-launch: summarize ranking, votes, comments, traffic, conversions, support load, top questions, and follow-up work.

If launch assets or docs live in a repo, keep the PR updated through launch day, rebase before PR creation, push with --force-with-lease after rebases, and monitor CI/review feedback per repository instructions.

Common Mistakes

• Treating every release note as a Product Hunt relaunch candidate.
• Planning Product Hunt launches every two-to-four weeks for the same root domain.
• Reusing old submission limits without checking current docs.
• Asking for upvotes instead of feedback.
• Letting browser automation schedule or submit before human approval.
• Generating fake screenshots instead of capturing the real product.
• Forgetting maker usernames until submission day.
• Launching before the team can answer comments for the full day.
• Skipping a recap, so Product Hunt feedback never becomes product work.