oss-launch

name	oss-launch
description	Turn one open-source release/topic into platform-tailored posts and publish them through a gated, auditable path. Use when the user wants to announce or promote an OSS project/release across X, Bluesky, dev.to, Reddit, Hacker News, etc. Triggers: "announce my release", "promote my repo", "post about this project", "oss launch", "Show HN", "发布开源项目", "宣传项目".

OSS Launch

Take one topic (a release, a new project, a milestone) and produce different, platform-native content for each target, then publish through the gated social-post wrapper. One idea in, many tailored posts out — never the same blob copy-pasted everywhere.

Voice (non-negotiable)

• English, written for developers, in the project author's own voice.
• No hype, no marketing-speak. State concrete technical value plainly.
• Never invent metrics, stars, benchmarks, users, or endorsements.
• At most 2 hashtags, and only where they're idiomatic (X).

Workflow

1. Gather the brief. Read what's available: README.md, CHANGELOG.md, the GitHub release body, and the repo URL. Ask the user for the one-line angle if it isn't obvious (what's new / why it matters). Keep it small — do not scan the whole repo.
2. Pick targets. Confirm which platforms to publish to (default offer: X, Bluesky, Reddit; add dev.to when relevant).
3. Draft per platform. Write one file per target under tmp/launch/<platform>.md following the rules below. Each draft is genuinely rewritten for its platform — not a truncation of the X post.
4. Review gate. Show every draft to the user together. Let them edit. Do not proceed until they explicitly approve.
5. Publish — only through this skill's scripts/social-post. For each approved draft run the dry-run first, show it, then re-run with --yes after confirmation. Never call crosspost, xurl post, or any platform CLI directly.
6. Report. List what was posted (and any failures) with links/IDs.

Per-platform rules

Platform	File	Limit	Shape
X	tmp/launch/x.md	280	One hook line + concrete value + repo link. ≤2 hashtags.
Bluesky	tmp/launch/bluesky.md	300	Slightly more relaxed than X; can add one line of context.
dev.to	tmp/launch/devto.md	—	Full technical post (markdown). Lead with the problem; include a code/usage snippet and the canonical repo link.
Reddit	tmp/launch/reddit-<sub>.md	title ≤300	Per-subreddit. Frame as "I built X to solve Y, feedback on Z" — not "please star". One file per subreddit, reworded for that community.

For Reddit, first run the bundled helper bash "$SKILL/scripts/reddit-submit" rules <sub> and … requirements <sub> ($SKILL defined below) and adapt the draft to that subreddit's rules before submitting.

Publishing commands

The publish gate (social-post) and the Reddit helper (reddit-submit) are bundled in this skill under scripts/ — there is no ~/.local/bin dependency. Dry-run is the default; --yes actually sends. Credentials come from gopass at send time (see docs/social-publishing.md).

SKILL=~/.harnesses/skills/social/oss-x-post   # this skill's installed path

bash "$SKILL/scripts/social-post" x       --file tmp/launch/x.md
bash "$SKILL/scripts/social-post" bluesky --file tmp/launch/bluesky.md
bash "$SKILL/scripts/social-post" devto   --file tmp/launch/devto.md
bash "$SKILL/scripts/social-post" reddit  --subreddit rust --title "<title>" --file tmp/launch/reddit-rust.md
# add --yes to each, only after the user approves the dry-run

Prepare-only platforms (no API — never auto-post)

These have no publishing API, or automated posting violates their norms and gets flagged. Produce a ready-to-paste artifact and a checklist, then open the page so the user submits manually. Do not script the submission.

• Hacker News (Show HN): title Show HN: <name> – <one line> + a first comment with the backstory and a direct, signup-free try link. Open https://news.ycombinator.com/submit.
• Lobsters: only if the user has an account/invite; high-quality writeup. Manual.
• Product Hunt: draft the tagline, description, first maker comment, and a media checklist. Launch is manual in the PH UI.
• Directories (OpenSourceAlternative.to, AlternativeTo, LibHunt, awesome lists): for awesome lists, draft a gh pull request; for the rest, fill the submit form manually.

Write these drafts to tmp/launch/<platform>.md too, clearly marked as manual.

Out of scope (intentional)

This skill is for broadcast publishing only. The following are deliberately not handled here, and social-post will refuse to do them:

• DMs / replies / follows / likes / reposts / quote-engagement loops. Platform ToS (X, LinkedIn, Reddit) and most data-protection regimes (GDPR / ePrivacy / PIPL) treat automated one-to-one outreach as spam. Account suspension risk is high and conversion is poor. Do this manually in the platform UI, sparingly, and only where the recipient has signalled interest.
• Research / audience discovery. Use the sibling xurl skill for X reads (search / profile / timeline). xurl is read-only — it identifies who's already discussing your niche so you can engage publicly and manually.
• Engagement-growth automation of any kind (follow-for-follow, reply ladders, metric chasing).

The right escalation when promoting a project is: xurl search → triage manually → public reply / quote to a relevant tweet (high reach, low spam risk) → if someone clearly signals interest, a single hand-written DM. Never templated, never batched, never via this toolchain.

Safety rules (enforced by social-post, restated here)

1. Posting only — never reply, DM, follow, like, repost, or chase trends.
2. One main post per platform per launch (an optional thread is fine).
3. Different content per platform; never blast identical text everywhere.
4. Every draft is human-approved before --yes.
5. On send failure, stop and report — do not retry in a loop.