/community-signals

name: community-signals
description: Extract leads from developer forums (Hacker News, Reddit) by detecting intent signals — alternative seeking, competitor pain, scaling challenges, DIY solutions, and migration intent. Scores users by intent strength and cross-platform presence.
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, WebSearch
argument-hint: [queries-json-path]

Community Signals

Extract high-intent leads from developer community forums by detecting buying signals in public discussions. Currently supports Hacker News and Reddit.

When to Use

• User wants to find leads from developer communities or forums
• User wants to identify people publicly expressing pain with competitors
• User wants to find people asking "what tool should I use for X"
• User mentions Hacker News, Reddit, Stack Overflow, or developer forums as lead sources
• User describes prospects who discuss tools, complain about solutions, or ask for recommendations in public forums
• User wants to find developers who built DIY/hacky solutions for problems the user's product solves

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+ with `requests` and optionally `python-dotenv`
• Apify API token in `.env` (for Reddit scraping)
• No auth needed for Hacker News (free Algolia API)
• Working directory: the project root containing this skill

Phase 1: Collect Context

Step 1: Gather Product & ICP Information

Ask the user for the following. Do NOT proceed without this — the entire query generation depends on it.

> "To find the right leads from developer communities, I need to understand: > 1. **What does your product do?** (one-liner) > 2. **Who are your competitors?** (list the main ones) > 3. **What specific problems does your product solve?** (the pain points) > 4. **Who is your ideal buyer?** (role, company type, tech stack) > 5. **Any specific technologies or keywords** associated with your space?"

If the user has already provided this context (e.g., from running the github-repo-signals skill), use that — don't ask again.

Phase 2: Generate Search Queries

Step 2: Generate Queries Across 9 Categories

Based on the user's product info, generate 3-5 search queries per category. These are the fixed categories — do not skip any:

**Category 1: Alternative Seeking** (intent score: 9) People actively looking to switch tools.

• Pattern: "[competitor] alternative", "alternative to [competitor]", "looking for [product type]"
• Example: "twilio alternative", "alternative to agora", "looking for video SDK"

**Category 2: Competitor Pain** (intent score: 8) People frustrated with a specific competitor.

• Pattern: "[competitor] issues", "frustrated with [competitor]", "[competitor] doesn't support"
• Example: "twilio video quality issues", "frustrated with agora pricing", "vonage api unreliable"

**Category 3: Problem Space Questions** (intent score: 6) People trying to solve the exact problem the product addresses.

• Pattern: "how to [thing product does]", "best way to [problem]", "recommendations for [category]"
• Example: "how to add video calling to app", "best webrtc framework", "real-time communication SDK"

**Category 4: Tool Comparison** (intent score: 8) People actively comparing options — in buying mode.

• Pattern: "[competitor A] vs [competitor B]", "comparing [tools]", "which [product type] should I use"
• Example: "twilio vs agora", "comparing video APIs", "which webrtc platform"

**Category 5: DIY / Built Own Solution** (intent score: 9) People who built a custom solution — validated the need, would pay for a proper product.

• Pattern: "I built my own [thing]", "Show HN: [thing product replaces]", "custom [solution type]"
• Example: "I built my own video conferencing", "Show HN: open source video call", "custom webrtc server"

**Category 6: Scaling Challenges** (intent score: 7) People hitting limits that the product solves.

• Pattern: "[problem] at scale", "scaling [thing]", "[thing] breaks with many users"
• Example: "webrtc scaling issues", "video calls lagging with 50+ participants", "scaling real-time communication"

**Category 7: Migration Intent** (intent score: 9) People who have already decided to leave — looking for where to go.

• Pattern: "migrating from [competitor]", "moving away from [competitor]", "switching from [competitor]"
• Example: "migrating from twilio video", "moving away from agora", "switching video API providers"

**Category 8: Budget / Pricing Pain** (intent score: 7) Cost is the trigger — open to cheaper or better-value alternatives.

• Pattern: "[competitor] too expensive", "[competitor] pricing", "cheaper alternative to [competitor]"
• Example: "twilio too expensive", "agora pricing 2026", "cheaper video API"

**Category 9: Feature Gap Complaints** (intent score: 7) Needs something their current tool doesn't do — and the user's product does.

• Pattern: "does [competitor] support [feature]", "[competitor] missing [feature]", "wish [competitor] had"
• Example: "does twilio support recording", "agora missing breakout rooms", "wish vonage had better docs"

Step 3: Discover Relevant Subreddits

Do a web search to find subreddits where the user's ICP is active. Search for:

• "[product category] subreddit"
• "[technology] subreddit"
• "[competitor name] subreddit"

Common developer subreddits to consider (pick the relevant ones):

• r/programming, r/webdev, r/devops, r/selfhosted
• r/kubernetes, r/aws, r/googlecloud, r/azure
• r/node, r/python, r/golang, r/rust
• r/startups, r/SaaS, r/entrepreneur
• r/sysadmin, r/networking
• Technology-specific: r/VOIP, r/machinelearning, r/dataengineering, etc.

Select 5-10 subreddits most relevant to the user's space.

Step 4: Present Queries for Review

Present ALL generated queries to the user in a structured table:

Category                  | Queries
--------------------------|------------------------------------------
Alternative Seeking       | "twilio alternative", "agora alternative", ...
Competitor Pa