I Built A Reddit Bot Then Deleted The Posting Feature
I want people to use my open source projects.
Most people tell you to go where your users live. For developers, that means Reddit. I decided to automate my search for relevant posts.
I built a small Node script. It pulls RSS feeds from 14 subreddits. It scores posts based on my expertise in AI agents and open source. It ranks the best posts and suggests a reply.
Here is what I learned from the data.
Reddit limits RSS traffic heavily. I had to add a retry logic to get any real data. Out of 175 posts, the script found 49 relevant ones.
But most of those 49 posts were people launching their own products. Those are the worst posts to reply to. If you comment on a launch post, you look like a competitor. People want praise there, not your opinion.
The real value is in question-shaped posts. People asking about Claude Code or specific technical problems. I adjusted my script to penalize launch language and reward questions.
Out of 49 posts, only 3 were perfect matches.
The lesson is clear. The hard part is not finding posts. The hard part is finding the few posts worth your time.
I planned to automate the replies too. I deleted that code immediately.
I did this for two reasons.
First, Reddit bans accounts that automate comments and votes. Your account is your reputation. Do not burn it for short term gain.
Second, people recognize AI writing. A bot lacks your personal experience. A good reply needs a detail that only you know.
Now, my tool stops one step early.
It finds the 3 good posts. It drafts a reply. It hands them to me. I read the thread, add my own voice, and post it myself. This takes 90 seconds. The machine does the tedious work. I do the important work.
This strategy works only if you have real experience to share. I have merged pull requests into major projects. I know why certain tools fail in long sessions because I use them.
You cannot automate or fake that. That personal detail is what turns a stranger into a user.
My advice:
- Build a finder to save your attention.
- Do not build a poster.
- Aim automation at filtering, not submitting.