repo-launchlisted

# repo-launch Grounded in a research pass over 28,285 Show HN posts, 394 launched repos, and the peer-reviewed literature on open-source traction. **Most of the standard launch playbook is folklore and this skill deliberately does not do it.** Read §Evidence before arguing with any step. The through-line: **what you launch decides the ceiling, one exogenous event inside 72 hours decides whether you reach it, and polish moves neither.** Spend accordingly. --- ## 0 · The kill gate — the pitch, before anything else **Write the Show HN title first.** Before the README, before cleanup, before any launch prep. > `Show HN: <Name> – <concrete capability, plain words>` Then apply the stranger test, honestly and out loud: *reading only that line, with no context and no loyalty to the project, would a stranger want this?* **The decision procedure — answer all four out loud, then rule:** 1. **Comprehension.** Can a stranger say what it does after one read, with no follow-up question? 2. **Surprise or relief.** Does it either do something they didn't know was possible, or kill a chore they recognize? Neutral-but-competent is a fail. 3. **Audience size.** Roughly how many HN readers have this problem? A tool requiring a specific vendor's product, a niche framework, or a paid dependency shrinks this hard. 4. **Barrier to try.** Can they run it in under 2 minutes with no signup and no account? **PASS** = yes to 1 and 2, plus a broad audience on 3 and a low barrier on 4. **WEA