developer-ecosystem-strategy skill (samber): decide whether to open your product to builders
Decides whether and how far a developer product should open to third-party builders, and what that obliges you to.
- Installs
- 12.7K
- on skills.sh
- Stars
- 7
- on GitHub
- Files
- 4
- besides SKILL.md
- Updated
- Nov 2026
- last repo commit
developer-ecosystem-strategy makes your agent test an ecosystem idea before anything is built. It forces a one-sentence hypothesis, runs readiness gates, walks a six-rung ladder from partner-built integrations to a runtime platform, tests the builders' economics and prices the obligations.
It triggers on "should we become a platform", opening extension points, starting an integration ecosystem, or why nobody builds on the API. A documented "no" is a valid result. It delivers a decision, a seeding plan and kill criteria, not an API spec or contract. The folder holds SKILL.md and three reference files and bundles no scripts.
Good for
- Founders and executives asking if the product should become a platform
- Product teams whose public API attracted no builders
- Teams swamped by integration requests they cannot build themselves
Install developer-ecosystem-strategy
Claude Code
- 1
Copy this prompt.
Install the developer-ecosystem-strategy skill in Claude Code. Run this command: /plugin marketplace add samber/developer-relations-skills /plugin install developer-relations-skills@developer-relations-skills Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.
- 2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.
The README recommends installing the whole collection because its skills reference each other, and developer-ecosystem-strategy names other skills in the collection to hand work to. The whole-collection routes add all 93 skills in the repo (counted from the git tree); the repo holds no hooks, agents, commands or MCP server files, and 14 of its skills bundle a script. Pick one route per agent.
From the project README. Source.
What's in the skill
When it loads
Decides whether, when and how far a developer product should open into a platform other companies build on - extension points, partner-built integrations, third-party apps, a complement ecosystem - and what that permanently obliges you to. Use whenever someone asks if the product should become a platform, whether to open extension points or an app model to third parties, how to start an integration ecosystem, why nobody builds on the API, whether partners should build the connectors, or how much value complementors must keep - even if they only say "we want an integrations story". Not marketplace operations or API design. Do NOT use for the revenue model - use samber/developer-relations-skills@devtools-business-model.
Sections in SKILL.md
- Typical invocations
- Interview
- Step 1 - State the ecosystem hypothesis in one sentence
- Step 2 - Gate on demand and readiness before designing anything
- Step 3 - Brainstorm the rung, do not jump to "platform"
- Step 4 - Test the complementor's economics and the value share
- Step 5 - Design the flywheel and the first turn
- Step 6 - Price the obligations you are signing
- Step 7 - Write the memo, validated section by section
- Hypothesis the one-sentence claim from step 1
- Evidence counted demand, with customers named
- Gates each gate: pass / fail / unknown, with the resolver for unknowns
- Rung the chosen rung, the rungs rejected, and why
- Complementor case the arithmetic per builder archetype, and the value-share principle
- Flywheel the loop, the subsidized side, the founding cohort, the minimum pool
- Obligations what we permanently owe outsiders, with owners
Key facts
- Author
- Samuel Berthe (samber)
- Installs on skills.sh
- 12,681 (as of Nov 2, 2026)
- GitHub stars
- 8 for the whole collection repo (Nov 2, 2026)
- Last commit
- Nov 1, 2026 (whole repo)
- skills.sh audits
- Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk pass
- Version in SKILL.md
- 1.0.4
- Collection size
- 93 skills in the repo (counted from the git tree)
What it includes
Asks up to thirteen questions one at a time until it can name product, gap and builder.
Answers 11 to 13 (date, one-off or compounding, effort ceiling) re-rank the rungs and can delete installable apps and the runtime platform.
InterviewForces a one-sentence ecosystem hypothesis with no vague blanks.
It must name the complement, the builder type, the surface, their return, the buyer and the mechanism. It also names the complement you commoditize.
Step 1 - State the hypothesisReports each gate as pass, fail or unknown.
Five gates: counted demand, architectural readiness, complementor supply, staffing and the envelopment threat. An unknown is not a pass.
Step 2 - Gate on demand and readinessRanks six rungs and presents two or three candidates.
Partner-built integrations, documented API and webhooks, vendor-built integrations, extension points, installable apps, runtime platform. Rungs your answers rule out are deleted.
Step 3 - Choose the rungTests the builder's arithmetic: demand, return, build cost and their alternative.
It suggests keeping the take-rate at zero until there is a market worth taxing, and labels that its own design rule.
Step 4 - Complementor economicsPlans seeding: subsidized side, a hand-picked founding cohort and a minimum credible pool.
It also lists what the bet depends on that you do not control.
Step 5 - Flywheel and first turnNames permanent duties with an owner each.
Surface stability, roadmap boundary, support and escalation, review and safety, and wind-down terms.
Step 6 - Price the obligationsWrites a nine-section memo, agreed one section at a time.
Hypothesis, Evidence, Gates, Rung, Complementor case, Flywheel, Obligations, Measurement and Kill criteria.
Try: “Should we build an app marketplace?”
Step 7 - Ecosystem memo
From the official docs
Permissions
Low risk
The agent can save notes about your company or project to a file called devrel-context.md, so check that file before you commit or share the folder.
What it can do
- Read your data
- Create and change things
- Delete things
- Read-only mode
Watch out for
Customer names may be saved in the notes file
The memo asks for counted demand with customers named, and SKILL.md says to store the demand list. Our advice: check devrel-context.md for customer names before you commit or share it. github.com
The plugin route installs the whole collection
The README's plugin and extension routes add every skill in the repo; its git tree holds 93. The repo has no hooks, agents, commands or MCP server files, and 14 of its skills bundle a script. Our advice: use the skills CLI command for this skill if you want only it. github.com
Security advisories
No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.
Technical details
| Turning on read-only | SKILL.md describes no read-only mode. |
|---|---|
| Scopes |
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Questions
How do I install developer-ecosystem-strategy?
The README says to install every skill in the collection, because its skills reference each other. In Claude Code that is the plugin route in the install box above, which adds all 93 skills in the repo. The skills CLI can add just this one. Our advice: pick one route per agent.
What do I get at the end?
A nine-section ecosystem memo ending in kill criteria. When the gates fail it writes a decline memo with reopen conditions instead, which SKILL.md says is the deliverable in that case.
Will it design the API or marketplace?
It will not. SKILL.md lists an API spec, a marketplace design and a partner contract as things it does not deliver, because they are downstream execution.
developer-ecosystem-strategy vs devtools-business-model?
Use this skill for whether outsiders should build on your product, and devtools-business-model for how you make money. SKILL.md says "Do NOT use for the revenue model", and the README describes the other skill as choosing the business model and the go-to-market it forces.
When does it say no?
When counted demand is missing, the architecture cannot expose stable interfaces, or abundance of complements would commoditize you. Step 1 says that outcome is valid, and a rung you cannot staff is refused.
Does developer-ecosystem-strategy need an API key, and where does it work?
SKILL.md names no API key, account or environment variable. The README documents installs for Claude Code, Claude.ai (add the repo as a plugin marketplace), Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and any Agent Skills-compatible tool through the skills CLI. The install box has the steps for each.
Is developer-ecosystem-strategy safe to install?
It is instructions plus three reference files, and the folder bundles no scripts. SKILL.md tells the agent to keep your demand list, chosen rung, accepted obligations and refused options in memory, with devrel-context.md as the file when memory is a file. Our advice: keep customer names from your demand list out of a folder you commit to a public repo.
Information
updated Nov 2, 2026
- Repository
- samber/developer-relations-skills
- Folder
skills/developer-ecosystem-strategy
Sources
Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.
Show all 2Hide
- developer-relations-skills README · github.com
- developer-ecosystem-strategy SKILL.md · github.com