---
name: gingiris-opensource
description: |
  🇺🇸 Open-Source Marketing & GitHub Stars Growth System — Decision framework for each growth stage. Pre-launch readiness → Show HN / Reddit / Product Hunt launch → 6-month growth loop. README rules, KOL outreach, dev-content matrix (dev.to / Zenn), anti-star-farming. Built from taking AFFiNE 0 → 60K stars.

  🇨🇳 开源营销与 GitHub Star 增长系统 — 每个增长阶段的决策框架。Pre-launch 就绪 → Show HN / Reddit / Product Hunt 发布 → 6 个月增长循环。README 规则、KOL 合作、开发者内容矩阵（dev.to / Zenn）、防刷 star。提炼自 AFFiNE 0 → 60K star 实战。

  🇯🇵 オープンソースマーケティング＆GitHub スター成長システム — 各成長段階の意思決定フレームワーク。Pre-launch → Show HN / Reddit / Product Hunt → 6ヶ月成長ループ。READMEルール、KOL連携、開発者コンテンツマトリックス。

  🇰🇷 오픈소스 마케팅 & GitHub 스타 성장 시스템 — 각 성장 단계별 의사결정 프레임워크. 사전 출시 → Show HN / Reddit / Product Hunt → 6개월 성장 루프. README 규칙, KOL 아웃리치, 개발자 콘텐츠 매트릭스.

  Triggers: "open source marketing" | "GitHub stars" | "star growth" | "Show HN" | "Hacker News launch" | "OSS launch" | "developer marketing" | "Reddit launch" | "dev.to" | "open source growth" | "开源营销" | "GitHub star 增长" | "开源发布" | "Show HN 怎么发" | "开发者营销" | "オープンソース" | "오픈소스 성장"
when_to_use: |
  Use this skill when you need to: launch an open-source project (Show HN / Reddit / Product
  Hunt), grow GitHub stars from 0 to 1K in 72 hours, set up README for developer conversion,
  run KOL outreach for dev tools, or build a 6-month OSS growth loop.
  Trigger phrases: "open source launch" | "GitHub stars" | "Show HN" | "OSS marketing" |
  "开源发布" | "GitHub star增长" | "开源营销" | "开发者营销" | "오픈소스 성장"
---

# Open-Source Marketing — GitHub Stars Growth System

> 🌍 **Language / 语言**: [English](#english-version) | [中文](#中文版)

Stars don't come from a great repo — they come from **a great repo placed in front of the right developers, in the right order**. This is the staged decision framework used to take AFFiNE from 0 to 60K stars.

---

## English Version

### The 3-stage framework

#### Stage 1 — Pre-launch (T-30 → T-0)
- [ ] README in **English-first**; the first screen must be understandable in <3 seconds.
- [ ] Demo video ≤ 60s, captioned.
- [ ] License chosen deliberately (MIT / Apache-2 / AGPL each carry traps).
- [ ] 3–5 early maintainers / contributors lined up.
- [ ] Community channel live (Discord or Telegram, English-first).

#### Stage 2 — Launch (T-0 → T+14)
- [ ] Product Hunt (run the dedicated launch sequence).
- [ ] **Hacker News Show HN** — Tuesday 9am ET, or Saturday.
- [ ] Reddit — pick **3** relevant subs (r/selfhosted, r/programming, one niche tech sub).
- [ ] Deep technical posts on dev.to / Zenn / CSDN.
- [ ] 3–5 KOLs to amplify (activity > follower count).

#### Stage 3 — Growth (T+14 → T+180)
- [ ] One technical blog per week.
- [ ] Turn GitHub Issues into content (user questions → FAQ → posts).
- [ ] Monthly update (mailing list + Discord).
- [ ] Localize for going global (Japan/Korea first).

### Star Region Distribution (GitHub Trending unlock)

- No single country/region should exceed **20%** of your total stars.
- Global healthy split reference: China 19-21%, US 19-21%, rest scattered across Europe / Russia / Canada / Indonesia.
- Tools: **star-history.com** (trend chart) · **oss.cool / OSS Insight** (per-country breakdown, built by Chinese devs)
- **Launch sequence**: Week 1 → overseas-only outreach. Week 2 → domestic (Chinese) outreach. Reversing this breaks the distribution and kills Trending eligibility.
- AFFiNE real case: deliberately skipped WeChat Moments / Chinese community posts in week 1.

### README essentials (conversion checklist)

- [ ] Structure: big logo → one-liner → badges → short description (reference: Dify, Lobechat, AFFiNE).
- [ ] **≤ 8 screens** — dev docs go in a separate link, not inline.
- [ ] Add a **"⭐ star reminder" GIF** (same psychology as Bilibili "like / coin / collect" prompt — users need a nudge).
- [ ] **Backlinks loop**: every outbound link (website, blog, docs) must have a visible GitHub link back. Don't let traffic escape with no return path.

### PR article strategy

- Publish one authoritative article (official blog / Medium / dev.to) that fully explains the project's value.
- Purpose: give anyone who wants to spread your project a ready-made script. They will use it without asking.
- AFFiNE case: a German user independently posted to 40+ forums with no prior contact — only possible because a clear reference article existed.

### Competitor follower DMs

- DM followers of your top competitors on Twitter/X (Notion, Miro, etc.).
- Real benchmark: ~hundreds of DMs → ~hundreds of star conversions.
- Target: users who actively complain about the competitor — they already have switching intent.

### Channel order that works

> **English > multilingual > Chinese-only.** Unless your target *is* Chinese users, launching an English project to Chinese communities first wastes your best shot.

### Anti-patterns (the things that get you un-discovered)

- ❌ Farming stars — GitHub detects it fast; the penalty is *disappearing from search*.
- ❌ Posting to Reddit once and leaving — communities resent it; high ban risk.
- ❌ Too many emojis / badges in the README — lowers credibility.
- ❌ Treating Show HN as a one-shot — engage every comment for the full day.

### What to do next

- Stage 1 done → run the Product Hunt launch sequence.
- Show HN succeeds → add SEO monitoring on "`<project> github`".
- Need a content engine → move to the blog-writing workflow.
- Spotted a competitor's new play → run a competitor teardown.

---

## 中文版

### 3 阶段框架

#### 阶段 1 — Pre-launch（T-30 → T-0）
- [ ] README **英文主**，首屏 <3 秒读懂。
- [ ] Demo video ≤ 60s，带字幕。
- [ ] License 选对（MIT / Apache-2 / AGPL 各有陷阱）。
- [ ] 3–5 个早鸟 maintainer / contributor。
- [ ] 社群频道就位（Discord 或 Telegram，英文为主）。

#### 阶段 2 — Launch（T-0 → T+14）
- [ ] Product Hunt（走统一发布流程）。
- [ ] **Hacker News Show HN** — 周二美东 9am 或周六。
- [ ] Reddit — 选 **3** 个相关 sub（r/selfhosted、r/programming、细分技术 sub）。
- [ ] dev.to / Zenn / CSDN 发技术深度文。
- [ ] 找 3–5 个 KOL 转（活跃度 > follower 数）。

#### 阶段 3 — Growth（T+14 → T+180）
- [ ] 每周 1 篇技术 blog。
- [ ] GitHub Issues → 内容素材（用户问题变 FAQ）。
- [ ] 每月 1 次 update（邮件列表 + Discord）。
- [ ] 出海本地化（日韩先）。

### Star 地区分布 & 发布时序

- 同一国家/地区 star 占比不超过 **20%**，否则难上 Trending。
- 健康分布参考：中国19-21%、美国19-21%，其余分散欧洲/俄罗斯/加拿大/印尼。
- 工具：**star-history.com**（涨幅趋势）· **OSS Insight**（国家分布，国人开发）
- **发布时序**：第一周只做海外宣发，第二周才做国内。顺序反了会破坏分布比例。
- AFFiNE 真实案例：开源第一周故意不发朋友圈、不进国内社群。

### README 优化要点

- [ ] 结构：大logo + 一句话介绍 + badges + 简短介绍（参考 Dify / Lobechat / AFFiNE）
- [ ] **不超过 8 屏**，开发者文档单独一个链接，不塞进 README
- [ ] 加**提醒点 star 的小动图**（类比B站UP主「一键三连」——用户需要被提醒）
- [ ] **backlinks 循环**：所有跳出去的链接（官网/博客/文档站）必须能跳回 GitHub，流量不能有去无回

### PR 文章策略

- 准备一篇阐述项目优势的完整文章（官网 Blog / Medium / dev.to）
- 目的：给所有想帮你传播的人一把枪，他们可以直接引用，不需要自己想怎么介绍
- AFFiNE 案例：一个德国用户发了 40 多个论坛，没打招呼就发了——能发出去，是因为有参考文章

### 竞品 follower 私信

- 给竞品（Notion / Miro 等）的 Twitter follower 发私信
- 实战数据：几百条私信 → 几百个 star 转化
- 优先找「吐槽竞品」的用户，他们已经有切换意愿

### 渠道顺序

> **英文 > 多语言 > 纯中文。** 除非目标就是中文用户，否则把英文项目先发中文社群是浪费最好的一次机会。

### 反模式

- ❌ 刷 star（GitHub 很快检测，后果是搜不到）。
- ❌ Reddit 只发一次就跑（社群反感，易被 ban）。
- ❌ README 太多 emoji / badge（降低可信度）。
- ❌ 把 Show HN 当一锤子买卖（要回一整天评论）。

---

*By Iris (生姜 Iris) · ex-COO @ AFFiNE (0 → 60k★) · Install: `npx skills add Gingiris-1031/gingiris-opensource`*