GitHub Repo Promotion

Systematic distribution workflow to drive traffic and stars to a GitHub sample repo. This drill covers initial launch promotion and ongoing distribution cadence.

Input

• Live GitHub repo URL: The repo created by the github-repo-setup drill
• Author's social accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter/X, dev.to, Hacker News username
• Email list (optional): Existing subscribers who might care about this sample
• Target communities: Subreddits, Discord servers, Slack groups where the ICP hangs out

Steps

1. Launch announcement sequence

Execute these within the first 48 hours of publishing the repo:

Day 1 — Social posts:

• LinkedIn post: problem-first framing, mention you open-sourced a solution, link to repo with UTM ?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=<repo>-launch
• Twitter/X post: short hook + code screenshot + repo link with UTM ?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=<repo>-launch
• Use linkedin-organic-posting fundamental for the LinkedIn post

Day 1 — Community posts:

• Post in 2-3 relevant subreddits (follow each subreddit's rules on self-promotion)
• Post in relevant Discord/Slack dev communities
• Format: describe the problem first, then mention you built an open-source solution, share the link
• UTM: ?utm_source=<platform>&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=<repo>-launch

Day 2 — Hacker News / dev.to:

• Submit to Hacker News as Show HN: <repo name> — <one-line description> with the GitHub URL
• Publish a dev.to article explaining the problem and how the sample solves it, with repo link
• UTM: ?utm_source=hackernews&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=<repo>-launch (note: HN strips UTMs on the submission URL, but your README CTA links retain them)

2. Email notification to existing list

Using loops-sequences fundamental:

• Send a one-time broadcast to relevant segments of your email list
• Subject: "We open-sourced [thing] — here's the repo"
• Body: problem statement, what the sample does, direct link to repo, ask for a star if they find it useful
• Tag clicks with source: github-sample-announcement

3. Set up traffic tracking automation

Using n8n-workflow-basics and n8n-triggers:

Build an n8n workflow that runs daily:

1. Call github-traffic-api fundamental to fetch views, clones, referrers, and star count
2. Send each data point to PostHog as custom events:
   • github_repo_views with properties: {repo, count, uniques, date}
   • github_repo_clones with properties: {repo, count, uniques, date}
   • github_repo_stars with properties: {repo, total_stars, date}
   • github_repo_referrer with properties: {repo, referrer, count, uniques, date}
3. Store the raw JSON in Attio as a note on the campaign record (backup)

This solves GitHub's 14-day traffic retention limit by persisting data in PostHog.

4. Publish the first release

Using github-release-publish fundamental:

• Create a v1.0.0 release within the first week
• Include a CTA in the release notes with UTM: ?utm_source=github&utm_medium=release&utm_campaign=<repo>-v1.0.0
• Attach any relevant binary assets

Releases trigger notifications to all stargazers — this is free re-engagement.

5. Set up ongoing promotion cadence

After the initial launch:

• Weekly: Check GitHub traffic via the n8n workflow. Identify top referral sources. Double down on the channel driving the most clones.
• Bi-weekly: Post an update, tip, or use case on social media that links back to the repo
• Monthly: Publish a new release (even if minor). Each release re-engages stargazers.

Output

• Launch announcement posted across 4+ channels
• n8n workflow persisting daily GitHub traffic data to PostHog
• First release published with CTA
• Ongoing promotion cadence documented

Triggers

Run once for launch, then follow the ongoing cadence. Re-run the launch sequence if you make a major update to the sample.