Community Building
This skill helps you build and manage developer communities on Discord, Slack, forums, and other platforms. Covers channel structure, onboarding, engagement programs, handling toxicity, and community-led growth.
Before You Start
Load your audience context first. Read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:
- Who your developers are (role, seniority, interests)
- Where they already hang out (to avoid competing platforms)
- What problems they discuss (community topic focus)
- How they communicate (formal vs. casual tone)
If the context file doesn't exist, run the developer-audience-context skill first.
Platform Selection
Comparison Matrix
| Platform |
Best For |
Pros |
Cons |
| Discord |
Developer tools, gaming, OSS |
Real-time, rich features, free |
Can be chaotic, less enterprise |
| Slack |
Enterprise, B2B SaaS |
Professional, familiar |
Expensive at scale, message limits |
| GitHub Discussions |
OSS projects |
Integrated, async, searchable |
Less community feel |
| Discourse |
Long-form, searchable |
SEO, threading, ownership |
Maintenance, hosting costs |
| Circle |
Courses, paid communities |
Courses integration, clean |
Paid, less developer-native |
Decision Framework
| If your audience is... |
Consider |
| Individual developers, OSS |
Discord |
| Enterprise teams |
Slack |
| Technical, async-preferred |
GitHub Discussions |
| Mixed, need searchability |
Discourse |
| Course/education based |
Circle |
Channel Structure
Discord Channel Template
📢 INFORMATION
├── #welcome — First landing, rules, links
├── #announcements — Official updates (admin-only posting)
├── #rules — Code of conduct
└── #introductions — New member intros
💬 GENERAL
├── #general — Main discussion
├── #off-topic — Non-project chat
└── #show-what-you-built — Share projects
❓ SUPPORT
├── #help — General questions
├── #troubleshooting — Bug help
└── #feature-requests — Suggestions
🔧 TECHNICAL
├── #backend — Backend discussions
├── #frontend — Frontend discussions
└── #devops — Infrastructure discussions
🤝 COMMUNITY
├── #jobs — Job postings (if allowed)
├── #events — Meetups, conferences
└── #content — Blog posts, videos
📚 RESOURCES
├── #learning — Tutorials, courses
└── #tools — Useful tools and libraries
Slack Channel Template
# welcome
# announcements (admin-only)
# general
# help
# random (off-topic)
# jobs (optional)
# introductions
# feedback
Channel Guidelines
| Channel Type |
Posting Rules |
Moderation Level |
| Announcements |
Admin only |
N/A |
| General |
On-topic discussion |
Light |
| Help |
Questions welcome, be patient |
Medium |
| Off-topic |
Anything goes (within CoC) |
Light |
| Jobs |
Structured format required |
Heavy |
| Introductions |
One post per person |
Light |
Onboarding Experience
New Member Journey
Join Server
↓
Welcome Message (DM or public)
↓
Read Rules / Accept
↓
Verify (optional: GitHub, email)
↓
Introduce Yourself
↓
First Interaction
↓
Regular Member
Welcome Message Template
Discord DM:
Welcome to [Community Name]! 👋
Here's how to get started:
1. Read the rules in #rules
2. Introduce yourself in #introductions
3. Ask questions in #help — we're friendly!
Quick links:
• Documentation: [link]
• Getting started: [link]
• GitHub: [link]
We're glad you're here!
Public #welcome channel:
# Welcome to [Community Name]!
We're [brief description of who you are and what you do].
## Quick Start
1. **Read the rules** → #rules
2. **Introduce yourself** → #introductions
3. **Get help** → #help
4. **Chat with us** → #general
## Useful Links
- [Documentation]
- [GitHub]
- [Website]
## Questions?
Drop a message in #help or mention @moderators
Role Assignment
| Role |
How to Get |
Permissions |
| New Member |
Auto on join |
Limited channels |
| Member |
Verify or time-based |
Full access |
| Contributor |
PR merged, active helper |
Badge, special channel |
| Moderator |
Invited |
Moderation powers |
| Admin |
Core team |
Full access |
Engagement Programs
Discussion Prompts
Schedule regular engagement:
| Day |
Prompt Type |
Example |
| Monday |
This week's goals |
"What are you working on this week?" |
| Wednesday |
Technical question |
"Controversial: Tabs or spaces?" |
| Friday |
Show & Tell |
"Share what you shipped this week" |
Recognition Programs
| Program |
Description |
Frequency |
| Contributor of the Month |
Recognize top helpers |
Monthly |
| First PR Celebration |
Welcome new contributors |
As happens |
| Milestone Badges |
10/50/100 messages |
Automatic |
| Expert Roles |
Domain expertise recognition |
Quarterly |
Event Ideas
| Event Type |
Format |
Effort |
| Office Hours |
Live Q&A with team |
Low |
| Show & Tell |
Members demo projects |
Low |
| Workshops |
Teaching sessions |
Medium |
| Hackathons |
Build challenges |
High |
| Game Night |
Non-tech fun |
Low |
| AMA Sessions |
Guest experts |
Medium |
Engagement Metrics
| Metric |
What It Tells You |
| DAU/MAU |
Daily vs monthly active users |
| Messages per user |
Individual engagement depth |
| Questions answered |
Community self-sufficiency |
| New member retention |
Onboarding effectiveness |
| Event attendance |
Program resonance |
Handling Toxicity
Code of Conduct Essentials
# Code of Conduct
## Our Standards
**Do:**
- Be respectful and inclusive
- Help others learn (no "RTFM")
- Assume good intentions
- Give constructive feedback
- Report problems, don't engage
**Don't:**
- Personal attacks or harassment
- Discrimination of any kind
- Spam or self-promotion
- NSFW content
- Doxxing or privacy violations
- Bad faith arguments
## Enforcement
1. **Warning** — First offense, good faith
2. **Temp mute** — Repeated issues
3. **Temp ban** — Serious violations
4. **Permanent ban** — Egregious or repeated
## Reporting
DM any @moderator or use the report feature.
All reports are confidential.
Moderation Playbook
| Situation |
Response |
| Heated debate |
"Let's keep this constructive. Both perspectives have merit." |
| Help vampire |
"Here's a guide on asking good questions: [link]" |
| Self-promotion spam |
Delete, warn, or ban depending on frequency |
| Off-topic drift |
"Great discussion! Let's move this to #off-topic" |
| Harassment |
Immediate mute, investigate, likely ban |
| Bad faith troll |
Don't engage publicly, ban quietly |
De-escalation Techniques
- Acknowledge feelings — "I can see this is frustrating"
- Move to DM — "Let's continue this privately"
- Take a break — "Let's pause and revisit tomorrow"
- Clarify intent — "I think there might be a misunderstanding"
- Set boundaries — "We're here to help, but not to be yelled at"
Moderator Self-Care
| Risk |
Mitigation |
| Burnout |
Rotate moderator duties |
| Taking it personally |
Remember: it's not about you |
| Imposter syndrome |
Regular team check-ins |
| Isolation |
Moderator private channel |
Community-Led Growth
Word-of-Mouth Tactics
| Tactic |
How |
| Referral program |
Rewards for invites that stick |
| Share-worthy content |
Exclusive insights, early access |
| Member spotlights |
Feature members → they share |
| Success stories |
"I got a job through this community" |
User-Generated Content
| Content Type |
How to Encourage |
| Tutorials |
"Share your setup in #show-what-you-built" |
| Q&A threads |
Reward helpful answers |
| Project showcases |
Monthly demo events |
| Testimonials |
Ask happy members |
Community Champions
Identify and empower super-users:
| Champion Type |
Role |
| Greeters |
Welcome new members |
| Helpers |
Answer support questions |
| Content creators |
Tutorials, videos, guides |
| Event organizers |
Run community events |
| Connectors |
Introduce people to each other |
Community Metrics
Health Dashboard
| Metric |
Healthy |
Warning |
Action Needed |
| Response time (support) |
<24h |
24-72h |
>72h |
| Unanswered questions |
<10% |
10-25% |
>25% |
| New member 7-day retention |
>40% |
20-40% |
<20% |
| Monthly active ratio |
>20% |
10-20% |
<10% |
| Moderator messages ratio |
<30% |
30-50% |
>50% |
Growth Metrics
| Metric |
How to Track |
| Total members |
Platform analytics |
| Join rate |
New members per week |
| Churn rate |
Leaves per month |
| Engagement depth |
Messages per active user |
| Support success |
% questions resolved |
Automation
Useful Bots (Discord)
| Bot |
Purpose |
| MEE6 / Carl-bot |
Moderation, welcome messages, roles |
| Statbot |
Analytics and metrics |
| Ticket Tool |
Support ticket system |
| GitHub Bot |
Repo activity notifications |
| YAGPDB |
Advanced moderation, custom commands |
Automation Ideas
| Automation |
Benefit |
| Welcome DM |
Consistent onboarding |
| Auto-role on join |
Immediate access |
| Inactive member ping |
Re-engagement |
| Support ticket creation |
Organized help |
| GitHub notifications |
Keep community informed |
| Scheduled posts |
Regular engagement |
Tools
| Tool |
Use Case |
| Octolens |
Monitor community mentions across GitHub, Twitter, Reddit. Find where your community members talk about you. Track sentiment. Discover community content to amplify. |
| Commsor |
Community operations platform |
| Notion |
Community wiki and resources |
| Luma |
Event management |
| StreamYard/Restream |
Live event streaming |
Related Skills
developer-audience-context — Know your community membersopen-source-marketing — OSS community buildingdeveloper-advocacy — Personal brand in communitydeveloper-newsletter — Community digest content