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

Decision Framework

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

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

Engagement Programs

Discussion Prompts

Schedule regular engagement:

Recognition Programs

Event Ideas

Engagement Metrics

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

De-escalation Techniques

1. Acknowledge feelings — "I can see this is frustrating"
2. Move to DM — "Let's continue this privately"
3. Take a break — "Let's pause and revisit tomorrow"
4. Clarify intent — "I think there might be a misunderstanding"
5. Set boundaries — "We're here to help, but not to be yelled at"

Moderator Self-Care

Community-Led Growth

Word-of-Mouth Tactics

User-Generated Content

Community Champions

Identify and empower super-users:

Community Metrics

Health Dashboard

Growth Metrics

Automation

Useful Bots (Discord)

Automation Ideas

Tools

Related Skills

• developer-audience-context — Know your community members
• open-source-marketing — OSS community building
• developer-advocacy — Personal brand in community
• developer-newsletter — Community digest content