devtools-business-model skill (samber): choose how a dev tool makes money

Chooses the business model for a developer tool, from open core to metering, and the go-to-market it forces.

Installs: 12.4K; on skills.sh
Stars: 7; on GitHub
Files: 4; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

devtools-business-model decides what a developer tool sells, who signs and what has to be true for money to arrive. It fixes three constraints (the licence already shipped, where the software runs, who signs), walks nine model archetypes, tests each candidate's paid boundary with five written questions, prices the go-to-market the model forces and sequences decisions by reversibility. It ends with a nine-heading memo and a validation plan.

It triggers on "how should a developer tool make money", "open core or managed cloud", "where is the line between free and paid" or "why is adoption high and revenue flat". It bundles no scripts. SKILL.md sends price points to devtools-pricing-strategy and refuses a business model canvas as a substitute for its steps.

Good for

Founders with high adoption and no revenue
Execs weighing open core against a managed cloud
Teams facing a cloud provider's managed version of their project

Install devtools-business-model

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the devtools-business-model 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 devtools-business-model 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

Chooses the business model for a developer tool - proprietary SaaS, open core, hosted open source, support and LTS subscription, dual licensing, source-available, consumption metering, marketplace take-rate, OEM licensing - and the go-to-market each one forces. Use whenever a founder or exec asks how a developer tool should make money, whether open core or a managed cloud fits better, where the line between free and paid belongs, whether to open-source the product at all, or why adoption is high and revenue flat, and on any monetization, revenue model or commercial open source question - even if they never say "business model". Not price points, packaging or free-tier limits - use samber/developer-relations-skills@devtools-pricing-strategy.

Sections in SKILL.md

Typical invocations
Interview
Step 1, Fix the constraints before exploring anything
Step 2, Brainstorm the model space, do not jump to an answer
Step 3, Put every candidate through the paid-boundary test
Step 4, Price the go-to-market the model forces
Step 5, Sequence by reversibility, then commit
Step 6, Write the memo, validated section by section
Constraints licence position, deployment reality, who signs
Rejected models ruled out, and the constraint that ruled each one out
Primary model what is sold, to whom, and the prerequisite it depends on
Paid boundary what is always free, what is paid, and why the line holds
Value metric what is counted, why the customer already counts it
GTM consequence motion, what must be built, first three hires or investments
Leading indicator the one number that moves before revenue, and where it is read
Risks top three, each with the signal that says it is happening

Key facts

Author: Samuel Berthe (named in SKILL.md metadata, LICENSE and the plugin manifest)
License: MIT (LICENSE file, SKILL.md frontmatter, plugin.json and marketplace.json agree)
Skill version: 1.0.2 (SKILL.md metadata)
Installs on skills.sh: 12,417 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 8 for the whole samber/developer-relations-skills repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Nov 1, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
What it includes: 5 files in the git tree: SKILL.md, evals/evals.json and 3 files under references/. No scripts.
Needs: SKILL.md lists nothing to install
Part of: The developer-relations-skills plugin: 93 skill folders in the git tree
Works in: The README documents installs for Claude Code, Claude.ai, Codex, Cursor and Gemini CLI, all for the whole set

What it includes

Asks 13 questions; answers 10 to 12 re-rank the models.
Asks 13 questions; answers 10, 11 and 12 (date, mandate, effort ceiling) re-rank the models.
Interview
States the licence already shipped, where the software runs and who signs.
Step 1: Fix the constraints
Walks nine archetypes and presents two or three candidates.
Walks nine archetypes, marks each possible, blocked or premature, and presents two or three candidates.
Step 2: Brainstorm the model space
Asks five written questions that test whether the free and paid line can hold.
Five questions: organization-only, defensible, observable trigger, cost-to-serve covered, licence-compatible.
Step 3: Paid-boundary test
Matches deal size to sales motion with LTV and CAC reference points.
Matches deal size to motion using unit economics and the Skok LTV and CAC reference points.
Step 4: Price the go-to-market
Tests reversible levers first and commits to one primary model.
Reversible, with-effort and effectively irreversible levers; commits to one primary and at most one secondary model.
Step 5: Sequence by reversibility
Writes nine headings, from constraints to revisit triggers.
Nine headings from constraints to revisit triggers.
Step 6: The memo
Requires seven checks, including cost-to-serve in currency and three triggers.
Seven checks, including cost-to-serve per free user in currency and at least three revisit triggers.
Pass threshold

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

devtools-business-model is interview and planning instructions with no scripts, and it may save notes to devrel-context.md.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

Financial and licence details go into the conversation
The interview asks about revenue, runway, cost per user and the licence you published. Share only what you are comfortable having in your Claude history. github.com
It may save notes to devrel-context.md
SKILL.md tells Claude to keep task and project context in devrel-context.md when memory lives in a file, or in the memory system your tool already uses. Check the file before you commit it. github.com
The whole-set install adds 93 skills, 14 with scripts
The README says to install every skill. The git tree has 93 skill folders, and 14 of them hold .py or .sh files. This skill bundles no scripts, and the tree holds no hooks, agents or MCP config files. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	SKILL.md describes no read-only mode.
Sign-in and keys	SKILL.md names no account, key or token.
Scopes	Claude writes a business model memo in the conversation Revenue, cost-to-serve and licence details you share go into the conversation Writes devrel-context.md when memory lives in a file

Questions

What does devtools-business-model do?

It helps you choose how a developer tool makes money. You get a memo with the rejected models and why, one primary model, the paid boundary, the value metric, the go-to-market it forces and the risks to watch.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top. The README says to install every skill in the repo, because the skills point to each other. The box shows the whole-set route for each app.

Does it set prices?

No. SKILL.md says it produces a model decision, not a pricing page, and routes price points, packaging and free-tier limits to samber/developer-relations-skills@devtools-pricing-strategy.

Can it help me relicense my project?

It puts any licence change on published code in the effectively irreversible group of its reversibility ladder. SKILL.md says relicensing is a decision of its own, and licence selection goes to samber/developer-relations-skills@oss-license-strategy.

Is it safe to install?

The skill bundles no scripts. Revenue, cost and licence details you share go into your conversation. The whole-set install adds 93 skills, 14 of which bundle scripts.

I maintain a library alone. Is this for me?

Probably not. SKILL.md says one project's maintainers with no company behind them belong to samber/developer-relations-skills@oss-monetization, and funding questions to oss-sponsors-fundraising.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: samber/developer-relations-skills
Folder: skills/devtools-business-model

samber/developer-relations-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

README · github.com
devtools-business-model SKILL.md · github.com
LICENSE · github.com