developer-advocacy – Coding skill for AI agents

Developer Advocacy

When to Use

Use this skill when you need when the user wants to do developer advocacy activities including conference talks, live coding, podcasts, and building in public. Trigger phrases include "developer advocacy," "devrel," "conference talk," "CFP," "call for papers," "live coding," "podcast," "building in public,"...

This skill helps you with developer advocacy activities: conference talks, live coding demos, podcast appearances, and building in public. Covers talk proposals, demo prep, social presence, and measuring impact.

---

Before You Start

Load your audience context first. Read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:

• Who you're trying to reach (conferences they attend, podcasts they listen to)
• What topics resonate (pain points, interests)
• Your product's positioning (what story to tell)
• Voice & tone (how formal/technical to be)

If the context file does not exist, use the available developer-audience-context skill if discovered; otherwise ask only for essential audience, product and voice details. Do not claim an absent dependency ran.

---

Conference Talks

Finding the Right Conferences

| Conference Type | Best For | Examples |

|-----------------|----------|----------|

| Large industry | Brand awareness, reach | KubeCon, AWS re:Invent, React Summit |

| Regional | Local community, accessible | Local meetups, city tech conferences |

| Niche | Targeted audience, expertise | GraphQL Conf, RustConf |

| Company-hosted | Ecosystem presence | Vercel Ship, GitHub Universe |

| Unconferences | Community connection | BarCamps, DevOpsDays |

Talk Proposal (CFP) Framework

The winning formula:

Specific Problem + Unique Angle + Clear Takeaways = Stronger Proposal (acceptance is not guaranteed)

CFP Template:

# Title
[Action verb] + [specific outcome] + [with/using what]
Example: "Building Real-Time Features with Edge Functions and WebSockets"

# Abstract (100-200 words)
[Hook: Problem or curiosity gap]
[What you'll cover]
[What attendees will learn/be able to do]

# Description (detailed, for reviewers)
[Problem context]
[Why this approach]
[Talk structure]
[Your credibility to give this talk]

# Outline
- [Time] Introduction / Problem statement
- [Time] Section 1
- [Time] Section 2
- [Time] Section 3
- [Time] Live demo / walkthrough
- [Time] Key takeaways / Q&A

# Audience
[Who this is for]
[Prerequisite knowledge]
[What they'll learn]

# Bio
[Your relevant experience]
[Why you're qualified]

Title Patterns That Work

| Pattern | Example |

|---------|---------|

| How I X | "How I Reduced Deploy Time by 80%" |

| X in Y Minutes | "Kubernetes Security in 15 Minutes" |

| The X of Y | "The Psychology of Error Messages" |

| Beyond X | "Beyond Console.log: Modern Debugging" |

| X for Y | "GraphQL for REST Developers" |

| Lessons from X | "Lessons from 1000 Production Outages" |

Talk Types

| Type | Length | Best For |

|------|--------|----------|

| Lightning | 5-10 min | Single concept, quick demo |

| Standard | 25-45 min | Technical deep-dive |

| Keynote | 45-60 min | Big picture, inspiring |

| Workshop | 2-4 hours | Hands-on learning |

| Panel | 30-60 min | Discussion, multiple perspectives |

Talk Prep Checklist

| Phase | Tasks |

|-------|-------|

| 2 months before | Outline, start slides, test demos |

| 1 month before | Draft complete, first practice run |

| 2 weeks before | Slides polished, demos solid, practice 3x |

| 1 week before | Record yourself, get feedback, finalize |

| Day before | Test all tech, backup slides, rest |

| Day of | Arrive early, test A/V, hydrate |

---

Live Coding & Demos

Use a separate demo account and synthetic data. Hide secrets, production dashboards and personal notifications before screen-sharing; verify environment variables are present without displaying their values. Keep checkpoint changes in a disposable demo checkout, preserving unrelated work. CFPs, podcast pitches, messages, posts and scheduling are drafts until the user authorizes the action and target. Use only genuine credentials and listening history in pitch templates; obtain recording consent and rights for shared clips.

The Demo Danger Zone

| Risk | Mitigation |

|------|------------|

| Internet fails | Pre-record backup, local server |

| Typo freezes you | Practice typing same code 20x |

| Error you can't fix | Have working checkpoints to jump to |

| Runs over time | Time yourself, cut ruthlessly |

| Code too small | Zoom in, use large font (24pt+) |

| Dark theme blinding | Use high-contrast, light-friendly theme |

Demo Prep Framework

The 10-3-1 Rule:

• Run your demo 10 times in practice
• Have 3 checkpoints you can jump to if stuck
• 1 backup (video recording of it working)

Pre-demo checklist:

• [ ] Close unnecessary apps
• [ ] Clear browser history/tabs
• [ ] Notifications OFF (Slack, email, calendar)
• [ ] Font size: 24pt+ for terminal, 20pt+ for editor
• [ ] Git stash/branch for clean starting point
• [ ] Environment variables ready
• [ ] Test on the actual projector/screen if possible

Live Coding Tips

| Tip | Why |

|-----|-----|

| Type slowly | Audience needs to follow |

| Narrate what you type | "I'm creating a new handler..." |

| Explain errors | "This error means X, let me fix it" |

| Use snippets | For boilerplate, not core concepts |

| Show the result | Always run the code, show output |

| Checkpoint commits | git checkout checkpoint-1 |

---

Podcast Guesting

Finding Podcasts

| Approach | How |

|----------|-----|

| Direct search | "top [your tech] podcasts" |

| Guest networks | Podmatch, Matchmaker.fm |

| Peer asks | "What podcasts do you listen to?" |

| Twitter search | "[topic] podcast episode" |

| Listen Notes | Podcast search engine |

Pitch Template

Subject: Guest Idea: [Specific Topic] for [Podcast Name]

Hi [Host Name],

I've been listening to [Podcast] for [time] — loved your episode on [specific episode].

I'd love to come on and talk about [specific topic]. Here's the angle:

[2-3 sentences on what you'd discuss and why it matters to their audience]

A bit about me:
- [Relevant credential 1]
- [Relevant credential 2]
- [Link to past podcast/talk]

Would this be a fit?

[Your name]

Pre-Podcast Prep

| Prep Item | Details |

|-----------|---------|

| Research the show | Listen to 2-3 episodes, understand format |

| Research the host | Their interests, style, Twitter |

| Prep talking points | 3-5 main things you want to say |

| Prep stories | Specific examples, not generalities |

| Audio setup | Good mic, quiet room, headphones |

| Water nearby | You'll be talking a lot |

During the Podcast

| Do | Don't |

|----|-------|

| Tell stories with specifics | Give generic advice |

| Pause before answering | Um and ah nervously |

| Disagree respectfully | Always agree to be polite |

| Promote subtly | Hard sell your product |

| Be concise | Ramble without structure |

| Show enthusiasm | Be monotone |

Post-Podcast

| Action | Timing |

|--------|--------|

| Thank the host | Same day |

| Share when published | Immediately |

| Engage with comments | First week |

| Cross-promote | Your newsletter, blog |

| Stay in touch | Ongoing relationship |

---

Building in Public

What to Share

| Category | Content Ideas |

|----------|---------------|

| Progress | "Shipped X today, here's what I learned" |

| Challenges | "Stuck on X, tried Y and Z, here's what worked" |

| Decisions | "Why we chose X over Y" |

| Metrics | Revenue, users, growth (transparently) |

| Behind scenes | Team, process, tools |

| Learnings | "Mistake we made and how we fixed it" |

Build in Public Formats

| Format | Platform | Cadence |

|--------|----------|---------|

| Tweet thread | Twitter/X | Daily-weekly |

| Changelog | Blog, Notion, website | Weekly |

| Indie hacker posts | Indie Hackers, HN | Monthly |

| Video update | YouTube, Loom | Weekly-monthly |

| Newsletter | Email | Weekly |

| Livestream | Twitch, YouTube | Weekly |

What NOT to Share

| Avoid | Why |

|-------|-----|

| Customer data | Privacy, trust |

| Team conflicts | Professionalism |

| Security details | Vulnerability |

| Competitor attacks | Looks petty |

| Venting | Not productive |

---

Social Presence (Twitter/X)

Developer Twitter Playbook

| Content Type | % of Posts | Example |

|--------------|------------|---------|

| Value content | 60% | Tips, tutorials, insights |

| Engagement | 20% | Replies, retweets with commentary |

| Personal | 10% | Behind-the-scenes, personality |

| Promotion | 10% | Your product, talks, content |

Tweet Formats That Work

| Format | Example |

|--------|---------|

| Thread | "

… (full content is in the download package)