Developer audience context

Developer Audience Context

When to Use

Use this skill when you need when the user wants to establish or update their developer audience context. Also use when starting any other developer marketing skill to ensure foundational context is loaded. Trigger phrases include "developer persona," "target developers," "who are our developers," "developer...

This skill helps you create and maintain .agents/developer-audience-context.md — a foundational document that captures everything about your target developers. All other developer marketing skills reference this document first, so you only define your audience once.

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Before You Start

Check if .agents/developer-audience-context.md exists:

• If it exists: Read it and offer to update specific sections
• If it doesn't exist: Create the directory and file, then walk through each section

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Two Ways to Build Context

Option 1: Auto-Draft from Codebase (Recommended)

Analyze existing materials to draft an initial version:

1. README.md — Product description, features, getting started
2. Documentation — /docs, API reference, tutorials
3. Landing pages — index.html, marketing copy
4. package.json / pyproject.toml — Dependencies reveal ecosystem
5. GitHub Issues — Common questions, frustrations, use cases
6. Existing blog posts — Technical content, tutorials

After drafting, walk through each section to validate and fill gaps.

Option 2: Start from Scratch

Ask questions section-by-section. Don't advance until the current section is complete.

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The 10 Sections to Capture

1. Product Overview

Field	What to capture
Product name	Official name and any aliases
One-liner	"We help [developers] do [X] without [Y]"
Category	API, SDK, CLI, SaaS, open source library, infrastructure
Core technology	Languages, frameworks, platforms supported
Pricing model	Free/open source, freemium, usage-based, seat-based

2. Developer Persona

Not "developers" generically — get specific:

Field	What to capture
Primary role	Backend, frontend, full-stack, DevOps, data, ML, mobile
Seniority	Junior, mid, senior, staff, lead, architect
Company size	Solo, startup, scale-up, enterprise
Industry verticals	Fintech, healthtech, e-commerce, gaming, B2B SaaS
Tech stack	Languages, frameworks, cloud providers they use
Decision authority	Individual contributor, team lead, buyer, influencer

Ask: "Describe the developer who gets the most value from your product in one paragraph. What's their day-to-day like?"

3. Where They Hang Out

Developers research before they buy. Know where:

Channel	Specifics to capture
Communities	Specific subreddits, Discord servers, Slack groups
Social	Twitter/X hashtags, LinkedIn groups
Content	Blogs they read, newsletters they subscribe to, podcasts
Events	Conferences, meetups, hackathons
Code	GitHub topics, Stack Overflow tags

Pro tip: Use social listening tools to monitor conversations across Hacker News, Reddit, Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Twitter. See where discussions about your problem space happen organically.

4. Problems & Pain Points

Capture the actual problems, not your solution's features:

Level	What to capture
Functional	"I can't do X" / "X takes too long" / "X is error-prone"
Emotional	Frustration, anxiety, embarrassment, fear
Situational	When does the pain occur? What triggers the search?

Ask: "What's the #1 frustration that brings developers to you?"

Research: Search Reddit, Hacker News, and Stack Overflow for complaints about your problem space. Capture verbatim quotes.

5. Current Alternatives

What are developers using today instead of you?

Alternative type	Examples
Direct competitors	Tools that solve the same problem
DIY / build it yourself	Custom scripts, internal tools
Indirect solutions	Workarounds, manual processes
Do nothing	Live with the pain

For each alternative, capture:

• Why developers choose it
• What's frustrating about it
• What would make them switch

6. Key Differentiators

What makes you different — in developer terms:

Differentiator type	Example
Technical	"10x faster," "No dependencies," "Type-safe"
DX (Developer Experience)	"5-minute setup," "Great docs," "First-class CLI"
Ecosystem	"Works with X," "Built for Y framework"
Philosophy	"Open source," "Privacy-first," "Local-first"

Warning: Avoid marketing fluff. Developers see through "best-in-class" and "enterprise-grade." Use specific, provable claims.

7. Verbatim Developer Language

Capture exact phrases developers use — not polished marketing copy:

Category	Examples