05 · Comment playbook¶
Comments are 80% of the work on Reddit and most of the trust. Agent version with a prompt: social-reddit-comment. File format to keep them: templates/comment-file.md.
Six answer shapes¶
| Shape | Use when | Opening |
|---|---|---|
| Direct fix | There's a built-in way to do it | "You can do this without any app: …" |
| Steps | It takes a few actions | "1. … 2. … 3. …" with exact menu names |
| Honest comparison | "What's the best app for…" | 3 options, what each is best and worst at, who should pick which |
| First-hand experience | You've lived the problem | "I had the same issue with … What fixed it was …" |
| Product answer | Your app is genuinely the answer | The answer first, then "I made an app for this, so I'm biased: …" |
| Clarifying question | The question is vague | One question that helps them, plus a short answer for the most likely case |
When to mention your product (all must be yes)¶
- It directly answers the question asked, not a nearby one.
- You've already given a useful answer in the same comment that works without it.
- The subreddit's rules allow it (no-promotion subreddits: never).
- In this subreddit, fewer than 1 in 10 of your recent comments mention your products (many subreddits use this ratio, see 08-rules-and-risks.md).
- You say it's yours, in plain words.
If any is no: answer without it. Your profile still carries the link for those who want to know more.
Disclosure lines that read naturally¶
- "Disclosure: I made this one, so take it with salt."
- "I'm the developer of X, which does this, but the free way above works too."
- "Full disclosure, it's mine. Happy to answer anything about it here."
Writing rules¶
- Lead with the answer. No "Great question!".
- Be specific: menu paths, version numbers, file sizes, minutes, prices.
- Sound like a person: short paragraphs, plain words, your own opinion. Subreddits remove posts that read like AI or ads, and readers downvote them.
- No link unless it's needed, and never a shortened or masked link. If you link your product, add UTM:
?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=comment&utm_campaign=<subreddit>. - Stay for replies. Answer follow-up questions; that's where readers decide to try your app.
- Never DM people who didn't ask you to. Unsolicited messages are spam under Reddit's rules.
Illustrative example. Fictional product (Clipnest, a Mac clipboard app).
Thread (r/MacOS): "Is there a way to get back something I copied an hour ago?"
Answer: "macOS only keeps the last thing you copied, so once it's replaced it's gone. Two ways around it: 1. Paste important things into a note right away (Notes has a quick note on the hot corner). 2. Use a clipboard history app. Free options exist; look for one that keeps history only on your Mac.
Disclosure: I made one called Clipnest, it's free for 50 clips. But any of them fixes this."