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Open source launch checklist
Ship a repo that earns stars, contributors, and trust — not crickets.
Pre-launch hygiene
- 01README that sells in 15 seconds. Hero sentence, animated demo GIF, one-liner install, badges for CI/coverage/license.
- 02CONTRIBUTING.md + CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md. Remove friction before anyone asks. Link a good-first-issue label.
- 03LICENSE file. MIT or Apache 2.0 unless you have a lawyer. No license = no rights.
- 04.gitignore, .env.example, clean commit history. Squash WIP commits. No secrets ever.
Launch day execution
- 05Write the Show HN / Reddit post. Lead with the problem, then the demo. End with “happy to answer questions.”
- 06Cross-post to relevant communities. Discord servers, Slack groups, Twitter threads, LinkedIn, Dev.to, Hashnode.
- 07Respond to every comment within 2 hours. Early momentum compounds. Thank people, fix bugs live, merge PRs fast.
Post-launch momentum
- 08Publish a “how it was built” post. Architecture decisions, stack choices, lessons learned. Engineers love this.
- 09Tag complementary projects. Integrations bring cross-audience traffic. Open PRs to their docs listing your tool.
- 10Ship weekly. Stale repos die. A changelog, a new feature, or a merged community PR keeps the flywheel spinning.
Pro tip: The best open source launches feel like a product launch. Treat your README like a landing page, your issues like support tickets, and your contributors like early customers.