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Developers are the hardest audience to sell to and the easiest to find. They gather in a handful of public places, and they reward tools that show real output instead of claims. Here is where to go first and exactly how to behave once you get there.

All guidesFor founders of an AI coding assistant

1. Post a Show HN on Hacker News

Show HN is for things people can try right now, so make sure there is a working install or demo with no signup wall. Title it plainly, for example: "Show HN: An AI coding assistant that runs your tests before suggesting a fix." In the first comment, explain why you built it, what it does badly, and how it differs from Copilot or Cursor. Stay in the thread for hours and answer every critical comment without getting defensive.

2. Answer questions in r/ChatGPTCoding

This subreddit is full of developers comparing AI coding tools and asking which one handles their stack. Search the sub for your use case, like "refactor legacy Python" or "monorepo context", and reply with useful help first. Mention your tool only when it fits the question, and say you built it. Read the sidebar rules before you post anything about your own product.

3. Share a real build in r/SideProject and Indie Hackers

Both openly allow founders to share what they made. Do not post a feature list. Post a short write-up with a screen recording, for example: "I used my assistant to migrate a 4k line Express app to TypeScript. Here is where it worked and where I had to step in." Ask for feedback on one specific thing, such as the onboarding or the pricing page.

4. Publish on the VS Code Marketplace and JetBrains Marketplace

If your assistant runs in an editor, these listings are where developers search when they are ready to install. Write the description around tasks, not adjectives: "Writes unit tests for the function under your cursor" beats "powerful AI pair programmer." Add a short GIF of the tool doing one real task. Ask your first users to leave an honest review, since early reviews strongly affect whether people install.

5. Write a teardown on dev.to

dev.to readers like practical posts with code. Pick a task developers hate, like writing regex, fixing flaky tests, or reading an unfamiliar codebase, and show your tool doing it step by step with real input and output. Tag the post with relevant tags like #ai, #productivity and the language you used. Put the link to your tool at the end, not the top.

6. Get listed in AI tool directories and awesome lists

Submit to free directories like There's An AI For That and Futurepedia, and search GitHub for "awesome ai coding" or "awesome ai tools" lists that accept pull requests. Follow each list's contribution format exactly, including alphabetical order and one-line descriptions. These rarely bring a flood of users, but they keep sending a slow trickle of people actively looking for a tool.

7. Join Discords where developers ask for help

Many frameworks and AI communities run active Discords, and the help channels are full of people stuck on problems your tool might solve. Help in the help channel, never drop links there, and only share your tool in a showcase or self-promo channel if one exists. A good showcase post reads like: "Built this for myself after fighting with test generation for Django. Free to try, would love to hear where it breaks."

8. Do it every day, in small doses

One good reply a day in each of these places beats one big launch you never follow up on. Keep a simple list of threads you replied to and check back for follow up questions. Hulby, an AI cofounder, can find these threads and draft replies for a founder each day.

People asking this right now

Real, public posts from the last few weeks. Each one is somebody you could help today.

Mistakes to skip

  • Posting the same launch text in ten subreddits on the same day, which gets you flagged as spam.
  • Claiming you are better than Copilot or Cursor without showing a side by side task.
  • Linking your product in help channels or replies where nobody asked for a tool.
  • Requiring signup or a credit card before a developer can see the tool work.

Want this done for your AI coding assistant, every day?

Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.

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Questions

Which place should I start with?

Start with r/ChatGPTCoding replies and a VS Code Marketplace listing. One gets you conversations, the other gets you installs from people already searching.

When should I post on Show HN?

When the install works smoothly for a stranger and you can spend the whole day in the comments. You only get a good first impression once.

Is it okay to say I built the tool?

Yes, and you should. Developers respect disclosure and react badly to founders pretending to be random users.

How do I know if a channel is working?

Track installs or signups by where they came from using a simple link parameter. Drop channels that bring nothing after two weeks of steady effort.