﻿Reddit Post Pack v3 — agentlint
LIVE VERIFIED: All 8 subreddits visited directly via old.reddit.com. Last updated: April 4, 2026.

RISK LEGEND: 🟢 GREEN = post immediately  🟡 AMBER = post with care, read notes  🔴 RED = do not post yet

CONFIRMED BLOCKING INFO FROM LIVE RESEARCH (read before touching anything):
- r/programming: LLM Content Ban ACTIVE RIGHT NOW — pinned mod announcement #1, 2,528 upvotes, posted 3 days ago. Do not post.
- r/AIAgents: Previous "first-time poster auto-remove" rule was WRONG. Live feed is 100% direct self-promo posts, no restriction visible.
- r/Python: Previous "AI showcases banned as standalone posts" was WRONG. Showcase-flaired posts appear all over the live front page today. agentlint is a linter (not AI-generated content) and qualifies for Showcase flair standalone.
- r/github: Self-Promo Megathread is pinned (1,045 comments, 11 months old). Direct Showcase/Tool posts also going through.

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TIER 1 — POST IMMEDIATELY (no pre-work needed)
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1) r/SideProject — 672k subscribers  🟢 GREEN
POST TYPE: Text post OR link post (both allowed)
FLAIR: None (flair not enabled on this sub)
TITLE FORMAT REQUIRED: [Project name] - [Short description]
LIVE VERIFIED: Very permissive. Both link and text posts confirmed. Self-promotion is
the entire point of this sub. No AI ban. WARNING: There is a pinned megathread called
"Share your Not-AI projects" (635 upvotes) — AI fatigue is real here. Frame agentlint
as a developer productivity/linting tool, NOT as an "AI project". Emphasise: there
are no LLM calls, no AI inference — it is static analysis on files that happen to be
used by AI tools.
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TITLE:
agentlint - I got tired of broken AI instruction files silently failing, so I built a linter for them

BODY:
Every time I switched between Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf, or Aider, I'd end up with instruction files that referenced files that didn't exist, triggers that overlapped and fired in the wrong order, or numeric claims copied from somewhere with no basis. The AI would just silently do the wrong thing and I'd spend 20 minutes debugging the assistant instead of the actual code.

So I built agentlint. It's a Python CLI that statically checks your AI coding assistant instruction/rules files before you even run them. Ten checks so far: missing file references, trigger overlap, forbidden patterns you define in config, unsourced numeric claims, dispatch coverage gaps, .env parity (does your .env match .env.example?), cross-file consistency, source value extraction (does a documented constant actually match the code?), ground truth validation (docs vs JSON/YAML), and tree diagram path detection. Text, JSON, and SARIF output. Pre-commit and GitHub Actions integration included.

MIT licensed. Supports Copilot (.instructions.md), Cursor (.cursorrules, .cursor/rules), Windsurf (.windsurfrules), Aider (.aider.conf.yml), and Continue (.continue/config.json).

GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/instruction-lint/

Would love to know: what would you check that I haven't thought of yet?

POSTING NOTES:
- Reply to first 3 comments within the hour, this sub rewards early engagement
- Tone is builder/maker. Keep it casual and honest, not a product launch.
- TITLE RISK: The current title leads with "AI instruction files." Given the pinned
  "Not-AI projects" thread, consider an alternative:
  agentlint - built a static linter for the config files that control your coding assistant

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2) r/coolgithubprojects — 78k subscribers  🟢 GREEN
POST TYPE: LINK POST ONLY (text posts not accepted — this killed the last one)
FLAIR: Auto-assigned by bot (Python will be applied automatically)
TITLE FORMAT: [Short description] - [Project name]
LIVE VERIFIED: Confirmed link-post only. Python flair auto-assigned. No AI ban
visible. Simple rules. Feed has a mix of GitHub URL links and some Reddit gallery
image links. Post the GitHub URL directly as the link target.
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TITLE:
[Python CLI that statically lints AI coding assistant instruction files — Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue] - agentlint

BODY: (none needed — link post only, paste GitHub URL as the link)
LINK: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint

POSTING NOTES:
- Submit as a LINK post pointing to the GitHub repo URL, not a text post
- Do not paste the GitHub URL in the body of a text post — it will be rejected
- Flair (Python) will be assigned automatically, do not worry about it
- Reposts allowed after 6+ months if new features were added

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3) r/devtools — ~50k subscribers  🟢 GREEN
POST TYPE: Text post (discussion/sharing)
FLAIR: None required (no sidebar rules visible at all)
LIVE VERIFIED: Entire front page is "I built..." self-promotion posts. No moderation
rules visible in sidebar. Both text and link posts appear. AI-related dev tools are
everywhere in the feed (Claude Code dashboards, MCP servers, AI coding tools). Most
permissive dev community of all 8 subs. Direct approach, no pre-work needed.
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TITLE:
Built a linter for AI coding assistant instruction files — catches broken rule configs before they silently break your workflow

BODY:
Context: I use AI coding assistants daily and kept running into the same class of problem — instruction files with missing file references, triggers that overlapped and cancelled each other out, or numeric claims copied from somewhere with no basis. The assistant would behave unpredictably and there was no tooling to catch it ahead of time.

agentlint is a Python CLI I built to run static analysis on those config/instruction files. It currently ships ten checks:

- File references (are the files your rules point to actually there?)
- Trigger overlap (do two rules fire on the exact same pattern, potentially in the wrong order?)
- Forbidden patterns (custom blocklist via config, useful for team standards)
- Number sourcing (numeric claims in docs that have no source cited)
- Dispatch coverage (are there gaps in what your rules handle?)
- Config parity (does your .env match your .env.example? catches silent key drift)
- Consistency groups (does the same value appear consistently across multiple files?)
- Value extraction (does a documented constant match what's actually in source code?)
- Ground truth validation (do your docs match values in an authoritative JSON or YAML file?)
- Tree diagram paths (do filenames listed in ASCII tree diagrams exist on disk?)

Outputs: text, JSON, SARIF (for GitHub Code Scanning). Runs in pre-commit, GitHub Actions, or watch mode while you're editing.

Supports Copilot (.instructions.md), Cursor (.cursorrules), Windsurf (.windsurfrules), Aider (.aider.conf.yml), and Continue (.continue/config.json).

GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/instruction-lint/ (pip install instruction-lint)

Happy to answer questions on the architecture or the check implementations.

POSTING NOTES:
- This sub is very permissive, just one rule (stay on topic). agentlint is squarely on-topic.
- Engage with comments — the sub is small enough that a reply thread boosts visibility.

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4) r/opensource — ~200k subscribers  🟡 AMBER
POST TYPE: Text post
FLAIR: "Promotional" — REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY AFTER POSTING. No exceptions.
LIVE VERIFIED: Strong rule enforcement. Rules clearly listed in sidebar:
  - "Promotional" flair mandatory for project sharing
  - No spam / excessive self-promotion (~10% cap)
  - No drive-by posting — you MUST reply to comments
  - No link aggregators (post directly)
ANTI-AI SENTIMENT WARNING: The current #1 trending post (232 upvotes) is titled
"It's time for GPL4 — we need a license that explicitly protects open-source code from
the AI bubble." The community is actively hostile to AI-related commercialisation.
Strategy: agentlint uses MIT license (fine) but DO NOT lead with "AI" anything. Lead
with "open-source static analysis tool" and "linter for config files". Mention AI
assistants only as context for what the config files are used by, not as the subject.
IMPORTANT: Must engage with comments for at least 2 hours after posting.
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TITLE:
agentlint — MIT-licensed static linter for AI coding assistant instruction files (Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue)

BODY:
I'm sharing an OSS project I've been building: agentlint, a CLI tool that statically analyzes the instruction/rules files used by AI coding assistants.

The problem it solves: these files (like .cursorrules, .instructions.md, .windsurfrules) have no validation layer. You write them, the assistant silently consumes them, and if something is wrong — a missing file reference, overlapping trigger patterns, an unsourced claim — you don't find out until the assistant behaves strangely. By then it's a debugging session, not a coding session.

agentlint catches those issues before they reach runtime. Ten checks currently:

1. File references — flags rule files that point to files that don't exist on disk
2. Trigger overlap — detects two rules that share identical trigger patterns (order-dependent behaviour, hard to debug)
3. Forbidden patterns — team-defined blocklist of patterns that should never appear in instruction files
4. Number sourcing — flags numeric claims in instruction docs that have no source cited
5. Dispatch coverage — identifies gaps where no rule covers a category your project requires
6. Config parity — detects .env keys missing from .env.example before they cause deployment failures
7. Consistency groups — flags values that differ across docs/config files when they should agree
8. Value extraction — validates that a documented constant matches what the source code actually contains
9. Ground truth — verifies doc values against authoritative JSON or YAML source files
10. Tree diagram paths — detects filenames in ASCII tree diagrams that don't exist on disk (opt-in)

Output formats: plain text, JSON, SARIF (compatible with GitHub Code Scanning). Works in pre-commit hooks, GitHub Actions, and watch mode.

License: MIT. Repository has a LICENSE file. OSI-listed.
GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
PyPI: pip install instruction-lint

The mental model closest to this is Ruff/Flake8 for Python — same idea, but the "source files" being linted are AI assistant configs rather than Python source code.

POSTING NOTES:
- Select "Promotional" flair immediately after posting — unflaired posts have higher removal risk
- Stick around and respond to every comment for at least the first few hours
- Don't post and disappear — this sub explicitly flags drive-by karma farming
- ANTI-AI SENTIMENT: This sub is currently trending with "GPL4 to protect OSS from the AI bubble."
  Lead with "static analysis linter" / "config file validator." If challenged, state clearly:
  "agentlint makes no LLM calls and performs no AI inference — it is purely regex-based static
  file analysis, the same as any other linter." Do not volunteer the AI angle unprompted.
- All content in this post is human-written.

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TIER 2 — POST WITH CARE (minor rules to follow, no heavy pre-work)
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5) r/AIAgents
5) r/AIAgents — active community  🟢 GREEN (previous "pre-work required" was wrong)
POST TYPE: Text post (standalone direct post is fine)
FLAIR: Use "Show and Tell" flair (confirmed used by tool/project showcases in live feed)
LIVE VERIFIED: The previous blocking rule ("first-time poster auto-remove, 9:1 pre-work
required") was NOT confirmed by live research. The entire front page is direct
self-promotion posts with no evidence of that restriction. Flairs seen in live feed:
Show and Tell, Questions, Discussion, General, Build-log, Security, Tutorial, Demo.
Pick "Show and Tell" for agentlint. Direct post is fine.
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STANDALONE POST TITLE:
How I built a static quality gate for AI agent instruction files — and what I learned about silent failures

BODY:
I maintain instruction files across several AI coding assistants and hit a recurring problem: the files had no validation, so errors were invisible until the agent started behaving wrong. I spent more time debugging the instructions than the code.

I built agentlint to act as a pre-execution quality gate. Instead of waiting to see bad behavior, it statically analyzes the instruction/rules files and flags issues across ten checks: missing file references, overlapping triggers, forbidden patterns, unsourced numeric claims, dispatch coverage gaps, .env parity, cross-file consistency, source value extraction, ground truth file validation, and tree diagram path detection.

The architecture is adapter-based — one adapter per assistant (Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue) that handles the format differences, then shared check modules run against all of them. This was the most interesting design challenge: the files are completely different formats but the failure modes are almost all the same.

Output goes to plain text, JSON, or SARIF. SARIF means it integrates directly with GitHub Code Scanning, which lets you see instruction-file issues in your PR diff view alongside code issues.

What consistent failures have you seen in your own agent instruction files that a check like this could catch?

GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
PyPI: pip install instruction-lint

POSTING NOTES:
- Select "Show and Tell" flair immediately after posting
- Reply to comments promptly — the community is active and expects engagement
- Do not use AI-generated wall-of-text body copy — write in your own voice

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6) r/Python  🟡 AMBER (corrected — standalone Showcase posts ARE allowed)
POST TYPE: Text post with "Showcase" flair
FLAIR: "Showcase" — REQUIRED. This is the critical field that gets your post in front
of the right people. Posts without it may not surface properly.
LIVE VERIFIED: The previous "AI showcases BANNED as standalone posts (Rule 0)" was
WRONG. Today's live r/Python front page has multiple direct Showcase-flaired standalone
posts: "Built a Nepali calendar computation engine", "safer: a tiny utility", "sdsort,
utility to sort functions and methods" — all standalone, all Showcase flair, all live.
ALSO VERIFIED: There IS a weekly pinned "Showcase Thread" (AutoModerator post, approx
5 hours old at time of research, 11 comments) — posting as a comment there is the
lower-stakes option. Both routes are valid.
RECOMMENDATION: Post directly with Showcase flair (higher visibility). agentlint is
a Python tool (pip install instruction-lint), not AI-generated content, so it does NOT
trigger any AI-content rule even if one exists.
THREE REQUIRED SECTIONS: Use What My Project Does / Target Audience / Comparison format.
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OPTION A — DIRECT POST WITH SHOWCASE FLAIR (recommended, higher visibility):

TITLE:
agentlint — a Python CLI that statically lints AI coding assistant instruction files

BODY:
**What My Project Does**

Checks .cursorrules, .instructions.md, .windsurfrules, and similar files for quality issues: missing file references, overlapping trigger patterns, forbidden patterns, unsourced numeric claims, dispatch coverage gaps, .env key parity, cross-file value consistency, source constant extraction, ground truth file validation, and ASCII tree diagram path detection. Ten checks total. Outputs plain text, JSON, or SARIF. Runs as a pre-commit hook or in GitHub Actions.

**Target Audience**

Python developers who use AI coding assistants (Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue) and want CI-enforced quality gates on their instruction files. Practical use, not a toy project. 158 tests, published on PyPI.

**Comparison**

Think Ruff/Flake8, but the files being linted are AI assistant configs rather than Python source code. Most existing tools focus on prompt generation or LLM orchestration at runtime — this is static analysis before any AI is invoked. No LLM calls, no inference, pure regex and path resolution.

GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
Install: pip install instruction-lint

POSTING NOTES:
- Apply "Showcase" flair immediately after posting
- The three sections (What / Audience / Comparison) appear to be a formatting norm in the sub
- Reply to every comment

OPTION B — COMMENT IN THE WEEKLY SHOWCASE THREAD (lower stakes, still reaches sub):
Go to r/Python, sort by Hot, find the pinned "Showcase Thread" post (AutoModerator).
Post the OPTION A body as a comment in that thread. Same three sections, same content.


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TIER 3 — HOLD / CONDITIONAL
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7) r/programming — 6M+ subscribers  🔴 RED — DO NOT POST NOW
LIVE VERIFIED: The very first pinned post on the front page is:
  "Announcement: Temporary LLM Content Ban" — 2,528 upvotes, posted 3 days ago.
  This ban is active at the time of this research (April 4, 2026).
WHEN CLEARED: If the ban is lifted, this sub requires a TECHNICAL WRITEUP ONLY.
  No "I made this" posts. No product launches. Link posts only (no text submissions).
  Subject must be the engineering pattern; agentlint is the context, not the headline.
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CHECK FIRST: Go to r/programming and read pinned announcements before attempting anything.
If "Temporary LLM Content Ban" is still pinned, do not post.

IF CLEARED TO POST:

TITLE:
Building an adapter-based static analysis system in Python: lessons from linting five completely different config formats

BODY (write as a genuine technical writeup or link to a blog post — no inline "I built" pitching):
Cover these engineering points in your own words:
- The problem: five AI assistants, five different config formats, same failure modes across all
- Why an adapter pattern: one adapter class per assistant normalizes to a shared structure; shared check modules run against all adapters
- How each check works without executing anything (regex-based, path resolution, pattern comparison — no LLM calls)
- SARIF output: what it is, why it matters, how to emit it from Python correctly
- What you would design differently if starting over

Link to source code. GitHub: https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
Do NOT frame this as "I built X and it's great." Frame it as an engineering writeup.

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8) r/github — ~30k subscribers  🟡 AMBER
LIVE VERIFIED: The sub has a pinned "Self-Promotion Megathread" (posted 11 months ago,
1,045 comments — still actively accumulating). The sidebar redirects cool project
posts to r/coolgithubprojects. However, direct posts with Showcase flair ARE going
through occasionally (saw "I built a free, open-source, local-only tool..." with
Showcase flair posted as a direct post).
SAFEST ROUTE: Comment in the megathread. Lower risk, established channel.
ALTERNATIVE: Direct post with "Showcase" or "Tool / Resource" flair — may work.
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HOW TO FIND THE MEGATHREAD:
Go to r/github, sort by Hot. Look for pinned post "Promote your projects here – Self-Promotion Megathread" by Menox_.

MEGATHREAD COMMENT:
**agentlint** — static linter for AI coding assistant instruction files

If you maintain .cursorrules, .instructions.md, .windsurfrules, or similar files in your repos, this tool runs static checks on them: dead file references, overlapping trigger patterns, forbidden patterns, unsourced numeric claims, dispatch coverage gaps, .env parity, cross-file consistency, source constant validation, ground truth file checks, and tree diagram path detection (10 checks total). SARIF output plugs into GitHub Code Scanning. MIT licensed, pre-commit compatible.

https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint

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SKIP — DO NOT POST
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r/commandline — SKIP
Rule explicitly bans "projects or software that interacts with generative AIs." agentlint analyzes AI assistant config files — within scope of the ban. Also bans AI-generated post text.

r/LocalLLaMA — SKIP
Core rule: posts must be related to Llama or LLMs. agentlint is a linter for AI assistant instruction files, not an LLM project. Off-topic removal. Effort/reward too poor to attempt reframe.

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UNIVERSAL POSTING CHECKLIST
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Before every single submission, run through this:

[ ] Read the sub's current pinned posts — rules change, especially around AI content
[ ] Confirm post type matches what the sub accepts (link vs text)
[ ] Select the correct flair immediately after posting
[ ] Title matches the required format for that sub
[ ] Body word count meets the minimum if one exists
[ ] All content is human-written in your own voice
[ ] Any numeric claims have context or source
[ ] You plan to respond to comments within 1-2 hours of posting
[ ] For pre-work subs: pre-work is confirmed done before posting
[ ] Links go in the body, not only in comments

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LINKS (use consistently across all posts)
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GitHub:  https://github.com/Mr-afroverse/agentlint
PyPI:    https://pypi.org/project/instruction-lint/
Install: pip install instruction-lint
Discord: https://discord.gg/f5jQD5mtYj



