# Trend Monitor > Trend monitoring and pulse research: track emerging topics, technology signals, competitive moves, and market shifts — structured research across Reddit, HN, news, and community sources - Skill: `uitbreidenos/trend-monitor` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add uitbreidenos/trend-monitor` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/uitbreidenos/trend-monitor/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: UitbreidenOS (https://skillmd.com/u/uitbreidenos) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/uitbreidenos/trend-monitor --- # Trend Monitor Skill ## When to activate - Monitoring what's trending in your industry or technology category - Tracking competitor announcements and community reactions - Identifying emerging topics before they become mainstream - Building a weekly market intelligence brief for a team or leadership - Finding what the community is actually talking about (not just what analysts say) ## When NOT to use - Deep research on a specific topic — use the research-dossier skill - Academic literature — use the lit-review skill - Patent landscape — use the patent-analysis skill - Real-time news monitoring (use a dedicated tool like Feedly, Mention, or Brand24) ## Instructions ### Technology trend scan ``` Scan for emerging trends in [technology area]. Area: [describe — AI/ML / frontend development / cloud / security / SaaS tooling / etc.] Timeframe: [last 7 days / 30 days / quarter] Depth: [quick pulse (top 5 signals) / full scan (comprehensive)] Sources to check (in priority order): 1. HACKER NEWS (news.ycombinator.com/show, /newest, search): Search: [your topic] — filter by "Show HN" posts and comment volume What to look for: "Show HN" posts with > 100 comments = high community interest Rising signal: any technical announcement with > 50 points in < 6 hours 2. REDDIT: r/programming, r/webdev, r/MachineLearning, r/devops, r/[specific subreddit] Filter by: "Hot" and "New" in last week What to look for: high-engagement posts with strong opinion threads 3. GITHUB TRENDING: github.com/trending (by day/week/month) Filter by language if relevant What to look for: repos with > 500 stars in a week = community signal 4. TWITTER/X (tech community): Search: [topic] filter:links since:[date] Key accounts to check: major developers, framework authors, company CTOs 5. PRODUCT HUNT: producthunt.com — sort by recent, filter by category What to look for: products with > 500 upvotes in a day = real interest Trend signal classification: 🔴 STRONG SIGNAL: Multiple top sources, > 500 engagements, > 3 days of coverage 🟡 EMERGING SIGNAL: 1-2 sources, 100-500 engagements, < 3 days old 🟢 WEAK SIGNAL: Single source, < 100 engagements — watch but don't act Output: top 5 trends with signal strength, source, and strategic implication. ``` ### Weekly market intelligence brief ``` Build a weekly market intelligence brief for [topic/company/industry]. Topic: [describe what you're monitoring] Audience: [executive team / product team / sales team / investors] Sections: [competitive / technology / community / news] Weekly brief template: --- MARKET INTELLIGENCE BRIEF Week of [date] Topic: [your topic] 🔴 THIS WEEK'S TOP SIGNAL: [The single most important thing that happened] Source: [where you found it] Why it matters: [implication for us] --- 📊 COMPETITIVE MOVES: 1. [Competitor name]: [what they did — product launch / pricing change / hiring / fundraise] Community reaction: [positive / mixed / negative — with evidence] Implication for us: [brief note] 2. [Competitor name]: [...] --- ⚡ TECHNOLOGY SIGNALS: Rising: [technology / framework / tool gaining traction with evidence] Declining: [technology / tool losing relevance] Watch: [emerging technology to monitor but not act on yet] --- 🗣️ COMMUNITY SENTIMENT: Top discussion: [link to top Reddit/HN thread] Sentiment on [our product/category]: [positive / neutral / negative] Notable quote: "[verbatim quote from the community]" Pain points mentioned frequently this week: - [Pain point 1] - [Pain point 2] --- 📰 NEWS DIGEST (top 3): 1. [Headline] — [source] — [1-line summary] 2. [Headline] — [source] — [1-line summary] 3. [Headline] — [source] — [1-line summary] --- 🎯 STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS: [2-3 bullet points about what this week's signals mean for product, sales, or marketing decisions] --- Next week watch list: - [Topic 1 to monitor] - [Topic 2 to monitor] Generate the brief for my specific topic and audience. ``` ### Competitive signal tracking ``` Track competitor signals for [competitor list]. Competitors: [list] Monitoring goal: [product updates / pricing changes / customer complaints / hiring signals / funding] Signal types and where to find them: PRODUCT UPDATES: - Changelog: check competitor's changelog or release notes page weekly - App store reviews: look for mentions of new features in recent reviews - Twitter/LinkedIn: follow founder and product accounts - GitHub: if open source, check commit activity and release notes PRICING CHANGES: - Product Hunt: new product listings often include pricing - Reddit: users complain about pricing changes immediately in community subreddits - G2/Capterra: reviews mention "price increase" in the text CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS (what they're failing to do for their customers): - Reddit: r/[competitor_name] or r/[category] — search competitor name in last 30 days - G2/Capterra: filter reviews by 1-3 stars, sort by recent — this is what unhappy customers say - Twitter/X: "[competitor name] + frustrating/broken/cancel/leaving" searches - Hacker News: search competitor name in comments HIRING SIGNALS: - LinkedIn: new job postings reveal strategic priorities (hiring ML engineers = AI investment; hiring enterprise AEs = moving upmarket) - Glassdoor: team size changes and review volume signal growth or decline FUNDING / M&A: - Crunchbase: set alert for competitor funding rounds - Tech Crunch: search competitor name in last 90 days Signal log format: | Date | Competitor | Signal type | What happened | Source | Implication | |---|---|---|---|---|---| Generate the monitoring framework for my competitors. ``` ### Opportunity identification from trends ``` Identify product or market opportunities from trend signals. Trends observed: [paste or describe what you're seeing] Our product: [describe] Our current positioning: [where we play today] Opportunity identification framework: FOR EACH TREND: 1. Is this trend towards what we already do (tailwind)? → Accelerate: invest more in what's working, lead with this trend in messaging 2. Is this trend away from what we do (headwind)? → Adapt: can we pivot? Or accept this is a niche? 3. Is this trend adjacent — near us but not us? → Evaluate: does moving into this adjacency make sense given our capabilities? 4. Is this trend that creates a new customer segment? → Target: can we serve this new segment without abandoning our existing one? Opportunity scoring: | Trend | Direction | Market size | Time to act | Effort | Score | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | [Trend 1] | Tailwind | Large | 3-6 months | Medium | High | | [Trend 2] | Headwind | N/A | Now | Low | — | | [Trend 3] | Adjacent | Medium | 6-12 months | High | Medium | Output: prioritised opportunity list with recommended actions and timeline. ``` ## Example **User:** I run a developer tools company. We're seeing a lot of buzz about Bun (JavaScript runtime) replacing Node.js. Is this a real signal worth acting on? **Claude's trend assessment:** **Signal strength: 🟡 EMERGING — real but premature to act.** **Evidence for the signal:** - GitHub: bun/bun has 74K+ stars, consistently in weekly trending - HN: multiple "Show HN" posts and discussions about Bun performance benchmarks (> 200 comments each) - Reddit r/javascript: Bun threads regularly hit front page - npm downloads: Bun download growth ~300% YoY but still < 5% of Node.js volume **What's actually happening:** Bun is genuinely fast (startup time, package install speed) and has legitimate adoption in development tooling (bundling, testing). It's NOT replacing Node.js in production at meaningful scale — most organisations don't move runtimes based on benchmarks alone. **The real opportunity for a developer tools company:** Your users are likely asking "does your tool work with Bun?" If your tool doesn't work with Bun today, that's a support ticket waiting to happen. The action isn't "rebuild for Bun" — it's "validate compatibility and document it." **Recommended actions (ordered by priority):** 1. Test your tool with Bun today (1 day of engineering). Does it work? Document it. 2. Monitor for 90 more days: if Bun hits 15% of your new user signups, then invest 3. Don't build Bun-specific features yet — wait for signal to strengthen **What would change this assessment to "act now":** If Vercel, Cloudflare, or AWS announced first-class Bun support in their runtime infrastructure. That would accelerate enterprise adoption from years to months. ---