affiliate-program-search

name	affiliate-program-search
description	Research and evaluate affiliate programs to find the best ones to promote. Use this skill when the user asks anything about finding affiliate programs, comparing commission rates, evaluating affiliate opportunities, searching for products to promote, picking a niche, or mentions openaffiliate.dev. Also trigger for: "which SaaS should I promote", "best affiliate programs for X", "high commission programs", "recurring commission affiliate", "compare these affiliate programs", "is X affiliate program worth it", "find me something to promote", "what pays the most", "affiliate programs with long cookie duration".
license	MIT
version	1.0.0
tags	["affiliate-marketing","research","niche-analysis","program-discovery","saas","commission"]
compatibility	Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, OpenClaw, any AI agent
metadata	{"author":"affitor","version":"1.0","stage":"S1-Research"}

Affiliate Program Search

Help affiliate marketers research, evaluate, and pick winning programs to promote. Data source: openaffiliate.dev — open affiliate program directory. Public API, no key required.

Stage

This skill belongs to Stage S1: Research

When to Use

• User wants to find affiliate programs to promote
• User wants to compare two or more affiliate programs
• User asks about commission rates, cookie duration, or earning potential
• User mentions openaffiliate.dev
• User is new to affiliate marketing and needs a starting point

Input Schema

{
  niche: string             # (optional, default: "AI/SaaS tools") Category or niche interest
  commission_pref: string   # (optional, default: "recurring, 20%+") Commission preference
  audience: string          # (optional, default: "content creators") Target audience type
  platform: string          # (optional, default: "any") Platform they'll promote on
  compare: string[]         # (optional) Specific programs to compare head-to-head
}

Workflow

Step 1: Understand What the User Wants

Ask (if not clear from context):

• Niche/category interest? (AI tools, SEO, video, writing, automation...)
• Commission preference? (recurring vs one-time, minimum %)
• Audience type? (developers, marketers, beginners, enterprise...)
• Platform they'll promote on? (blog, LinkedIn, YouTube, X...)

If user says "just find me something good" → default to: AI/SaaS tools, recurring commission, 20%+, content creator audience.

Step 2: Search openaffiliate.dev

See references/openaffiliate-api.md for integration methods.

Two methods available:

• API (preferred): GET https://openaffiliate.dev/api/programs?q=<term> — public, no auth needed, structured data
• Web fetch (fallback): web_search "site:openaffiliate.dev [category]" then web_fetch the page

Extract for each program: name, reward_value, reward_type, cookie_days, stars_count, tags, description.

Step 3: Score Programs

Apply the scoring framework from references/scoring-criteria.md.

Score each program on 5 dimensions (1-10 scale):

1. Earning Potential (30%) — commission %, recurring vs one-time, product price
2. Content Potential (25%) — visual demo, free tier, content angles
3. Market Demand (20%) — search volume, trend direction, market size
4. Competition Level (15%) — fewer affiliates promoting = higher score
5. Trust Factor (10%) — product quality, reputation, stars on openaffiliate.dev

Overall = weighted average. Verdict: 7.5+ "Strong Pick" / 5.5-7.4 "Worth Testing" / <5.5 "Skip".

For dimensions that require external data (Market Demand, Competition Level), use web_search to check Google results count for "[product] review" and "[product] affiliate" queries.

Step 4: Present Recommendation

Step 5: Self-Validation

Before presenting output, verify:

• All scored programs have reward_value from API data, not hallucinated
• cookie_days is numeric and from API response
• Top Pick verdict matches score threshold (≥7.5 = Strong Pick, ≥6 = Worth Considering)
• Market Demand and Competition scores cite the search query used
• Stale data (>6 months) is flagged with warning

If any check fails, fix the output before delivering. Do not flag the checklist to the user — just ensure the output passes.

Output Schema

Other skills (viral-post-writer, affiliate-blog-builder, etc.) consume these fields from conversation context:

{
  output_schema_version: "1.0.0"  # Semver — bump major on breaking changes
  recommended_program: {
    name: string              # "HeyGen"
    slug: string              # "heygen"
    reward_value: string      # "30%"
    reward_type: string       # "cps_recurring"
    reward_duration: string   # "12 months"
    cookie_days: number       # 60
    description: string       # Short product description
    tags: string[]            # ["ai", "video"]
    url: string               # Product website
  }
  score: {
    overall: number           # 8.2
    verdict: string           # "Strong Pick"
    reasoning: string         # Why this is the top pick
  }
  runner_up: Program | null   # Same structure, second choice
  all_scored: ProgramScore[]  # Full list of scored programs
}

Output Format

## Programs Found

| Program | Commission | Type | Cookie | Stars | Score |
|---------|-----------|------|--------|-------|-------|
| HeyGen  | 30%       | Recurring | 60d | ⭐ 42 | 8.2/10 |
| ...     | ...       | ...  | ...    | ...   | .../10 |

## Top Pick: [Program Name]

**Why:** [2-3 sentences explaining why this is the best fit]

| Dimension | Score | Note |
|-----------|-------|------|
| Earning Potential | 8/10 | 30% recurring on $24-48/mo |
| Content Potential | 9/10 | Visual AI video, easy to demo |
| Market Demand | 8/10 | AI video trending, high search volume |
| Competition | 6/10 | Growing number of affiliates |
| Trust Factor | 8/10 | Strong brand, 42 stars on openaffiliate.dev |
| **Overall** | **8.2/10** | **Strong Pick** |

## Runner-up: [Program Name]

**Why:** [1-2 sentences]

## Next Steps

1. Sign up for [Program] affiliate program → [search for signup page]
2. Run `viral-post-writer` to create content for this product
3. Run `affiliate-blog-builder` to write a review post

Error Handling

• API unavailable: Fall back to web_fetch method (see references/openaffiliate-api.md Method 2)
• No programs match criteria: Broaden search (remove strictest filter first), explain to user what was relaxed
• Stale data (program updated_at > 6 months): Flag with "Data may be outdated, verify on product website"
• User gives no criteria: Use defaults (AI/SaaS, recurring, 20%+, content creator audience)
• Program not on openaffiliate.dev: Use web_search to find program details directly, still apply scoring framework

Examples

Example 1: User: "I want to promote AI video tools, commission recurring, at least 20%" → Search openaffiliate.dev for programs tagged "ai" or "video": GET /api/programs?q=ai+video → Filter: reward_type = cps_recurring, reward_value ≥ 20% → Score and rank: HeyGen, Synthesia, ElevenLabs, InVideo AI... → Recommend top pick with full scorecard

Example 2: User: "Compare HeyGen vs Synthesia for my LinkedIn audience" → Fetch both from openaffiliate.dev: GET /api/programs/heygen and GET /api/programs/synthesia → Score both, emphasize Content Potential for LinkedIn → Side-by-side comparison table + recommendation → Note: LinkedIn audience = B2B, weight higher-price products

Example 3: User: "I'm a beginner, what should I promote first?" → Default criteria: AI/SaaS, recurring, easy-to-demo products → Weight beginner-friendly factors: free tier, low payout threshold, strong brand → Recommend program with easiest path to first commission

References

• references/scoring-criteria.md — the 5-dimension scoring framework with rubrics
• references/openaffiliate-api.md — how to fetch data from openaffiliate.dev (API + fallback)
• references/platform-rules.md — platform-specific considerations when recommending programs
• shared/references/flywheel-connections.md — master flywheel connection map

Flywheel Connections

Feeds Into

• viral-post-writer (S2) — recommended_program product data for social content
• twitter-thread-writer (S2) — recommended_program for Twitter threads
• reddit-post-writer (S2) — recommended_program for Reddit posts
• content-pillar-atomizer (S2) — recommended_program for content creation
• affiliate-blog-builder (S3) — recommended_program for blog articles
• landing-page-creator (S4) — recommended_program for landing pages
• grand-slam-offer (S4) — recommended_program for offer design
• bonus-stack-builder (S4) — product data for bonus design

Fed By

• conversion-tracker (S6) — top converting niches → search for more programs in winning niches
• performance-report (S6) — performance data showing which program types convert best

Feedback Loop

• Conversion data from S6 reveals which program characteristics (commission type, cookie length, niche) correlate with highest earnings → refine search criteria on next run

chain_metadata:
  skill_slug: "affiliate-program-search"
  stage: "research"
  timestamp: string
  suggested_next:
    - "purple-cow-audit"
    - "viral-post-writer"
    - "landing-page-creator"
    - "grand-slam-offer"