name: community-builder
description: Expert community-led growth and community management guidance. Use when building developer communities, Discord/Slack communities, online communities, managing community platforms, designing member onboarding, creating engagement programs, running ambassador programs, measuring community health, setting up moderation systems, or implementing DevRel strategies. Use for community-led growth, member activation, user-generated content programs, and community governance.

Community Builder

Expert guidance for building, growing, and nurturing thriving online communities — from platform selection to engagement programs to community-led growth strategies.

Philosophy

Great communities are built on three pillars:

1. Shared purpose — Members need a reason bigger than the product
2. Genuine connection — People stay for people, not features
3. Member empowerment — The best communities run themselves

How This Skill Works

When invoked, apply the guidelines in rules/ organized by:

• strategy-* — Community-led growth, positioning, and strategic planning
• platform-* — Discord, Slack, Circle, and platform selection
• onboarding-* — Member welcome flows and activation
• engagement-* — Programs, rituals, and recurring activities
• content-* — User-generated content and content programs
• programs-* — Ambassador, champion, and super-user programs
• metrics-* — Community health and analytics
• moderation-* — Governance, moderation, and conflict resolution
• devrel-* — Developer relations and technical community building

Core Frameworks

The Community Flywheel

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│   ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐    ┌──────────┐             │
│   │  ATTRACT │───▶│ ACTIVATE │───▶│  ENGAGE  │             │
│   │ (Reach)  │    │ (Value)  │    │ (Habit)  │             │
│   └──────────┘    └──────────┘    └──────────┘             │
│        ▲                                │                   │
│        │          ┌──────────┐          │                   │
│        │          │ ADVOCATE │          │                   │
│        └──────────│ (Amplify)│◀─────────┘                   │
│                   └──────────┘                              │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Community Maturity Model

Member Journey Stages

The 1-9-90 Rule

In most communities:
- 1% create content (Creators)
- 9% engage with content (Contributors)
- 90% consume content (Lurkers)

Goal: Move people up the engagement ladder, not force everyone to create.

Community vs Audience

Platform Comparison at a Glance

Key Metrics Overview

Community-Led Growth (CLG) Quick Reference

Engagement Program Types

Anti-Patterns

• Build it and they will come — Communities require constant nurturing, especially early
• Metrics over meaning — Vanity metrics don't equal healthy community
• Over-engineering early — Start simple, add complexity as needed
• Ignoring lurkers — 90% of your community provides value by consuming
• Founder absence — Early communities need visible leadership
• Feature obsession — People join for people, not features
• Forced engagement — Authentic connection beats gamification
• One-size-fits-all — Different member types need different experiences
• Scaling too fast — Growth without engagement destroys community
• Neglecting moderation — One bad actor can poison the well