# Reddit Post Composer > Drafts genuine, non-marketing Reddit POSTS (top-level submissions) for systemprompt.io. Reads the qualified subreddit list from reddit-audience-finder, matches the sub's moderation rules and tone, and produces value-first drafts (data drops, lessons learned, calls for input). Refuses to draft without real data. Invoked on-demand, not daily. Load social-identity and brand-voice first. - Skill: `systempromptio/reddit-post-composer` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add systempromptio/reddit-post-composer` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/systempromptio/reddit-post-composer/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: systempromptio (https://skillmd.com/u/systempromptio) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/systempromptio/reddit-post-composer --- # Reddit Post Composer Drafts Reddit **posts** (top-level submissions), not comments. Comments are `reddit-monitor` + `reddit-reply`. This skill writes the thing that shows up in the sub's feed. **Not a daily skill.** Invoked when Ed has something genuinely worth posting: a real number, a real failure, a real question where input would move the product forward. If there is no underlying reality, the skill refuses to draft. Fabrication is the one unrecoverable error in subs like r/mcp (which bans AI-generated slop on sight). ## Dependencies 1. `social-media:social-identity` — voice + banned patterns + 30% mention cap 2. `commons:brand-voice` — tone rules 3. `commons:identity` — ICP and positioning The audience list (`reports/social/reddit/audience/subreddits.json`) must exist. If not, instruct the user to run `reddit-audience-finder` and abort. ## Inputs Three required inputs from the user: 1. **Target subreddit** — must be in the audience list at Tier A or Tier B. If the user names a Tier C or Drop sub, refuse and suggest the nearest Tier-A/B alternative in the same bucket. 2. **Topic** — what Ed actually wants to say, in one or two sentences. 3. **Underlying data or experience** — the real thing behind the post. One of: - Numbers we measured (downloads, sessions, blocks, latencies) - A failure we experienced and diagnosed (not hypothetical) - A decision we're actively stuck on and want input on If input 3 is missing or abstract, **refuse to draft**. Respond with: "No underlying data — I won't draft a post that's just an opinion framed as expertise. Come back with the number, the failure, or the specific decision." ## Step 1: Load subreddit context From `reports/social/reddit/audience/subreddits.json`, pull the record for the target sub: - `subscribers`, `tier`, `score` - `tone`, `mention_tolerance`, `key_rules` Also load the cached `hot.json` from the latest `reddit-audience-finder` run (or refetch if older than 3 days) and sample the top 10 posts. This is the reference for native format — title length, selftext length, whether links in body are normalised, whether the community prefers data or narrative. ## Step 2: Select post type Pick ONE of three formats. The sub's tone and recent hot posts determine which works. ### A) Data Drop For subs that reward numbers: r/LLMDevs, r/LocalLLaMA, r/mlops, r/devops, r/cybersecurity, r/ClaudeAI. - **Title:** surprising number + context, specific. "We ran 10,000 Claude Code sessions through tool-call hooks. Here's what got blocked." - **Body (400–900 words):** - Setup (2 paragraphs): what we measured, why, the environment - Findings (3–5 paragraphs): the numbers, with specifics - Interpretation (1–2 paragraphs): what this means, caveats - Open question to the sub (1 line): what would you expect to see? - **Links:** never in body. If one belongs, first comment with one sentence of context. ### B) Lesson Learned For subs that reward post-mortems: r/ExperiencedDevs, r/devops, r/cto, r/ITManagers, r/sysadmin. - **Title:** specific failure. "We shipped a policy hook that blocked 40% of legitimate Claude requests. Here's how we got it wrong." - **Body (500–1,200 words):** - Context (1–2 paragraphs): what we were trying to do, the setup - What we shipped (1 paragraph): concrete, with code or config if relevant - What broke (2–3 paragraphs): the failure, how it surfaced, what the telemetry said - Why we got it wrong (2 paragraphs): the wrong assumption, not vague "oops" - What we changed (1 paragraph): the fix, with the new approach - What we're still unsure about (1 paragraph): the honest open problems - **Links:** none in body. Sub rules govern first-comment policy. ### C) Call for Input For subs that reward peer consultation: r/cto, r/ExperiencedDevs, r/devops, r/compliance, r/AI_Agents. - **Title:** a specific question, not a generic ask. "How are you enforcing tool-call policy for Claude Code across 30+ devs without destroying their flow?" - **Body (300–600 words):** - Our setup (1 paragraph): team size, current state, constraints - What we've tried (1–2 paragraphs): specific approaches, why each fell short - Where we're stuck (1 paragraph): the actual open question - What we've ruled out (1 paragraph): so respondents don't suggest those - The specific input we want (2 lines): not "any thoughts?", but e.g. "has anyone built centralised CLAUDE.md policy with per-repo overrides without the sync pain?" - **Must actually want input.** If the answer is already known and the post is a disguised pitch, abort. ## Step 3: Apply sub-specific rules Read the `key_rules` field from `subreddits.json`. Apply these enforcement patterns (add new patterns as they appear): | Rule pattern | Enforcement | |---|---| | "No self-promotion" / "No commercial" / "permaban" | Zero product mentions in body. Link in first comment only, and only if the rule explicitly allows. Otherwise no link at all. | | "1/10 self-promotion ratio" (r/LLMDevs, r/AI_Agents, r/LocalLLaMA) | Product mention allowed only if this is post #10 in a 10-post history on this sub. Otherwise drop it. | | "Links in comments, not posts" (r/AI_Agents) | Strip all links from body. Move to first comment. | | "<3 months = megathread only" (r/selfhosted) | If systemprompt's first public release is younger than 3 months, redirect to the current New Project Megathread. Do not submit to main feed. | | "3+ years experience" (r/ExperiencedDevs) | Voice must reflect senior IC reality, not beginner framing. If the post could be asked by a junior, abort. | | "Competitor posts need homework" (r/ClaudeAI) | If the draft compares systemprompt to another tool, include our own evaluation with concrete data. Opinion-only comparisons get removed. | | "Must be specifically about Claude Code" (r/ClaudeCode) | Body must anchor in a Claude Code workflow, tool, or extension. General AI governance commentary gets removed. Use "Showcase" flair for own-work posts. GitHub template link goes in first comment only — one sentence of context, no pitch. | | "Posts must be genuinely about Rust" (r/rust) | Body must centre on the Rust implementation: architecture decisions, benchmark methodology, crate design, or specific Rust idioms used. Governance is context; Rust is the topic. No product mentions in body. GitHub link in first comment, framed as "code is here if you want to look." r/rust is extremely sensitive to AI-generated prose — vary sentence length aggressively, use short technical sentences. **At least one fenced code block (struct definition, trait signature, or short function) is required** for project/showcase posts; prose-only Rust posts read as marketing. **No product-category bullet dumps** (e.g. "here are all 10 demo categories") — each bullet in a Rust post must bind to a mechanism or stake, per Step 4b. | | "No AI-generated slop" (r/mcp) | Strict. Vary sentence length (mix 6-word and 25-word sentences). Zero AI-prose markers. Use `showcase` flair if showing our work. | | "Disclose purpose" (r/LLMDevs) | If the post is seeking input that feeds product decisions, say so in the body. | | "Provide sources" (r/LLMDevs) | Every numeric claim needs a source or a note that the data is internal. | | "Use relevant post flair" (r/ClaudeAI, r/ExperiencedDevs) | Recommend a flair in the draft. | ## Step 4: Draft Write the post. Run through anti-sludge gate: - No em dashes (U+2014) and no en dashes (U+2013) used as sentence punctuation. En dashes in numeric ranges (`1,000–5,000 ms`) are fine; en dashes replacing an em dash ("we shipped it – and it broke") are not. Grep the draft for both code points before saving. - No hashtags - No AI clichés (revolutionize, leverage verb, supercharge, unlock, seamlessly, harness, cutting-edge, next-generation, paradigm shift, disrupt, empower, reimagine, here's what it is and the numbers, the interesting part is, where it gets interesting) - No sludge openings ("Fellow {X}...", "Wanted to share...", "Hey everyone...") - No listing bridges ("Here's what's inside:", "The tl;dr:", "Quick rundown:") immediately preceding a bulleted list — write a topic sentence that carries meaning, not a scan-prompt - No fabricated data - No generic closers ("Thoughts?", "What do you all think?", "Happy to dig into any of the above", "Let me know what you think", "Curious what others are doing") — every post closes with either a specific named question or nothing. If the post is a data-drop or lesson-learned with no open question, end on the last substantive sentence. - Vary sentence length aggressively. Every paragraph must contain at least one sentence under 12 words next to at least one sentence over 20 words. Uniform medium-length sentences are the strongest AI-prose tell on r/rust and r/mcp. ### Step 4b: Narrative-over-listing discipline Comma-list enumerations in prose are the second-strongest AI-prose tell after em dashes. Audit every list — in-prose and bulleted — against these rules: 1. **Every bulleted list item binds to a mechanism or a stake.** A bullet that names a capability ("Analytics: agent usage, token costs, latency") without explaining how it works or what breaks without it is feature-sheet noise. Delete it or rewrite it with the mechanism. 2. **Feature-category bullet dumps are banned in the post body.** Listing product surface area (e.g. "the repo ships 43 demos across 10 categories: Governance, Analytics, MCP, Agents, Users, Skills, Infrastructure...") reads as a pitch deck and fails r/rust, r/ExperiencedDevs, r/cto, and r/mcp. If the breadth is genuinely relevant, pick the one category that matches the sub and go deep on it. 3. **Three-or-more-item comma lists in prose must each earn their place.** "We run four checks: scope, secret scan, blocklist, rate limit" is a scan-list. Convert to narrative: "We answer four questions in order. Is the agent's scope allowed to call this tool. Does the payload carry a credential. Is the tool on a blocklist this tenant maintains. Has this session blown its budget." The narrative version is longer and tests better because each item now carries its own stake. 4. **Every jargon term gets a plain-English decoder within the same paragraph.** Type names, protocol names, algorithm names, and crate names must be followed within the same or next sentence by a phrase that ties the term to a reader concern. `ChaCha20-Poly1305` alone is a term drop; `ChaCha20-Poly1305, so a captured log file does not hand over the credential` is a term that earned its place. Feature-writer Rule 6 (Technical-Marketing Synthesis) sub-checks 6b (Jargon Payoff), 6d (Feature-to-Outcome Binding), 6i (Plain-English Narrative), and 6j (Natural Flow) apply directly to Reddit post bodies. Load `content:feature-writer` for the full exemplar if the draft is mechanism-heavy. ## Step 5: Mention audit Count product mentions. Apply tolerance from `subreddits.json`: | Mention tolerance | Max inline mentions | First-comment link | |---|---|---| | 1 | 0 | Not permitted | | 2 | 0 | Permitted only if sub rules explicitly allow | | 3 | 1 (final paragraph only) | Permitted, one sentence | | 4 | 1 (final paragraph only) | Permitted | | 5 | 1 inline + 1 first-comment link | Permitted | If the draft exceeds the budget, rewrite until it fits. Mention-budget violations are the most common reason posts get removed from governance-adjacent subs. ## Step 6: Output Save to: ``` reports/social/reddit/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD-{subreddit}-{slug}.md ``` `{slug}` is a lowercase-hyphen 3–6 word summary of the post. File format: ```markdown # Reddit Post Draft **Subreddit:** r/{sub} **Tier:** A/B | **Mention tolerance:** {n}/5 **Post type:** data-drop | lesson-learned | call-for-input **Proposed flair:** {if applicable} **Mention budget used:** {inline}/1 inline, first-comment link: {yes/no} **Status:** DRAFT — awaiting Ed review --- ## Title {title} --- ## Body {body} --- ## First comment (if any) {one sentence + link, or "none"} --- ## Why this post, this sub, now Three bullets: - What signal in the sub triggered this (specific hot thread or recurring question) - What real data or experience we're drawing from (must be concrete) - What response we expect (engagement, a specific discussion, or pipeline signal) --- ## Sub-specific rule compliance Inline checklist — what rule applied, how the draft satisfies it. - r/{sub} rule: "{rule}" — satisfied by {specific choice in the draft} - ... --- ## Pre-submit checklist (for Ed) - [ ] Read 10 most-upvoted posts from this sub in the last 7 days — our draft matches the native format - [ ] Zero AI-clichés, em dashes (U+2014), punctuation en dashes (U+2013), hashtags (anti-sludge gate passed) - [ ] Narrative-over-listing audit passed (Step 4b): no feature-category bullet dumps, every list item binds to mechanism or stake, every jargon term has a plain-English decoder - [ ] Every paragraph contains at least one short (<12 word) and one long (>20 word) sentence - [ ] Closer is a specific named question or the last substantive sentence — not "Thoughts?" / "Happy to dig into..." / "Curious what others think" - [ ] Every numeric claim is real (not fabricated) - [ ] Mention budget respected per this sub's tolerance - [ ] Link (if any) placed in first comment only - [ ] Appropriate flair selected - [ ] If r/rust and post is project/showcase, at least one fenced code block present - [ ] If r/selfhosted and project <3 months old, target is the megathread not the main feed - [ ] If r/ClaudeAI and this is a comparison, our own evaluation data is included --- ## Expected log entry (H-###) If this post is shipped as a seeded hypothesis, log format: - **Channel:** reddit / r/{sub} - **Action:** top-level post, type={type} - **Hypothesis:** {metric} will rise from {baseline} to {target} within {window} days - **Metric:** {specific metric to watch} - **Window end:** {date} (Ed fills in the actual hypothesis and metric when queuing the post in `commons:marketing-hypothesis-ledger`.) ``` ## What the composer refuses to do - Draft a post without real underlying data or experience - Submit to a sub below Tier B - Exceed the mention budget for the sub's tolerance - Produce identical content for multiple subs (every draft is native to its sub) - Generate "thought leadership" with no verifiable content behind it - Write in a voice that doesn't match the sub (e.g. casual ClaudeAI voice in r/cto) ## Quality checklist - [ ] Subreddit loaded from audience list (Tier A or B only) - [ ] Real data/experience provided by user (not abstract) - [ ] Post-type matches sub culture per Step 2 table - [ ] All applicable sub-specific rules enforced per Step 3 table - [ ] Anti-sludge gate passed (Step 4) - [ ] Narrative-over-listing audit passed (Step 4b) - [ ] Mention budget respected per tolerance (Step 5) - [ ] Draft file saved with correct date, sub, slug - [ ] Pre-submit checklist populated for Ed's review