phy041/reddit-cultivate

Reddit Cultivation Skill (AppleScript Chrome Control)

Build and maintain Reddit presence by controlling your real Chrome browser via AppleScript. No Playwright, no Selenium, no API tokens.

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How It Works

Claude Code → osascript → Chrome (real browser, logged in) → Reddit

• AppleScript executes JavaScript in Chrome's active tab
• Chrome is already logged into Reddit → cookies sent automatically
• Same-origin fetch → no CORS, no detection, no IP blocks
• Reddit cannot distinguish this from human browsing

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Prerequisites

• macOS only (AppleScript is a macOS technology)
• Chrome: View → Developer → Allow JavaScript from Apple Events ✓ (restart Chrome after enabling)
• User logged into Reddit in Chrome

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Method Detection (Run First)

Chrome multi-profile can cause AppleScript to not see windows. Always detect first:

WINDOWS=$(osascript -e 'tell application "Google Chrome" to return count of windows' 2>/dev/null)
if [ "$WINDOWS" = "0" ] || [ -z "$WINDOWS" ]; then
    echo "Use Method 2 (System Events + Console)"
else
    echo "Use Method 1 (execute javascript)"
fi

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Method 1: AppleScript Execute JavaScript (Preferred)

Works when count of windows > 0.

Navigate

osascript -e 'tell application "Google Chrome" to tell active tab of first window to set URL to "https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/rising/"'

Execute JS & Read Result (document.title trick)

# Run JS that writes result to document.title
osascript -e 'tell application "Google Chrome" to tell active tab of first window to execute javascript "fetch(\"/api/me.json\",{credentials:\"include\"}).then(r=>r.json()).then(d=>{document.title=\"R:\"+JSON.stringify({name:d.data.name,karma:d.data.total_karma})})"'

# Wait, then read title
sleep 2
osascript -e 'tell application "Google Chrome" to return title of active tab of first window'

JXA for Complex JS (avoids escaping hell)

osascript -l JavaScript -e '
var chrome = Application("Google Chrome");
var tab = chrome.windows[0].activeTab;
tab.execute({javascript: "(" + function() {
    // Complex JS here — no escaping needed
    fetch("/r/SideProject/rising.json?limit=10", {credentials: "include"})
        .then(r => r.json())
        .then(d => {
            var posts = d.data.children.map(p => ({
                title: p.data.title.substring(0, 60),
                score: p.data.score,
                comments: p.data.num_comments,
                id: p.data.name,
                url: "https://reddit.com" + p.data.permalink
            }));
            document.title = "POSTS:" + JSON.stringify(posts);
        });
} + ")();"});
'

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Method 2: System Events + Console (Multi-Profile Fallback)

When AppleScript can't see Chrome windows (multi-profile bug), use keyboard automation.

Step 1: Copy JS to Clipboard

python3 -c "
import subprocess
js = '''(async()=>{
    let resp = await fetch('/api/me.json', {credentials: 'include'});
    let data = await resp.json();
    document.title = 'R:' + JSON.stringify({name: data.data.name, karma: data.data.total_karma});
})()'''
subprocess.run(['pbcopy'], input=js.encode(), check=True)
"

Step 2: Execute via Chrome Console Keyboard Shortcuts

osascript -e '
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "Google Chrome"
        set frontmost to true
        delay 0.3
        -- Cmd+Option+J = open/close Console
        key code 38 using {command down, option down}
        delay 1
        -- Select all + Paste + Enter
        keystroke "a" using {command down}
        delay 0.2
        keystroke "v" using {command down}
        delay 0.5
        key code 36
        delay 0.3
        -- Close Console
        key code 38 using {command down, option down}
    end tell
end tell'

Step 3: Read Title via System Events

sleep 3
osascript -e '
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "Google Chrome"
        return name of window 1
    end tell
end tell'

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Workflow

Step 1: Check Account Status

Get username, karma, verify login using /api/me.json.

Step 2: Scan Rising Posts

For each target subreddit, fetch rising posts:

/r/{subreddit}/rising.json?limit=10

Look for:

• Rising posts with < 15 comments (early = more visibility)
• Score > 2 (some traction)
• Questions you can answer or discussions with genuine insight

Step 3: Draft Comments

Rules:

• 1-3 sentences preferred. Sometimes 4 max. Short > long.
• Add genuine value (insights, experience, helpful info)
• No self-promotion, no links, no emojis
• Match the subreddit's culture
• Each comment must be unique

Anti-AI Detection Rules (CRITICAL):

Reddit users are very good at spotting AI comments. Follow these rules or get called out.

BANNED words (instant AI detection): delve, tapestry, nuance/nuanced, realm, robust, pivotal, leverage, comprehensive, enhance, facilitate, catalyst, intricate, furthermore, moreover, consequently, nonetheless, endeavour, utilize/utilization, crucial, vital, significant, landscape, underscore, streamline

BANNED phrases:

• "It's important to note that..."
• "Great question!"
• "In today's [anything]..."
• "plays a crucial role"
• "I hope this helps!"
• Starting with a compliment before answering

BANNED patterns:

• ❌ Uniform sentence length (mix short and long)
• ❌ Bullet points or numbered lists in comments
• ❌ Perfect grammar with zero contractions
• ❌ Generic "I had a similar experience" without details
• ❌ Compliment → answer structure

REQUIRED human patterns:

• ✅ Use contractions: "I've", "don't", "it's", "wouldn't"
• ✅ Use casual Reddit language: "tbh", "imo", "fwiw", "ngl"
• ✅ Include specific details: tool names, version numbers, time, what went wrong
• ✅ Hedge opinions: "not sure if this helps but", "take this with a grain of salt"
• ✅ Mix sentence lengths: short sentence. Then a longer one. Then short again.
• ✅ Mild frustration when appropriate: "honestly this took me way too long to figure out"
• ✅ Be opinionated — take a stance. Don't "both sides" everything.
• ✅ Sometimes just write 1 sentence.
• ✅ Occasional informal grammar: starting with "And" or "But", sentence fragments

THE BALANCE (CRITICAL):

Comments should sound like an expert talking to a friend at a bar — deep technical substance, casual delivery. Not corporate AI assistant, not lazy troll.

Think: expert knowledge, casual delivery.

• Specific numbers, tool names, architecture decisions, tradeoffs
• Contractions, hedging, sentence fragments, mild opinions
• People read it and think "this person clearly knows their stuff" — not "this is ChatGPT"

Example of GOOD comment:

ran into the same thing when we were building our pipeline. switching from euclidean
to cosine similarity fixed it -- the normalized space handles magnitude differences
way better when you're working with 768-dim embeddings.

one gotcha: make sure you L2-normalize before indexing, not at query time. saves you
~40ms per lookup at scale.

Self-Promotion Rules:

• ❌ NEVER directly namedrop your product in comments
• ✅ Use indirect references: "when building our brand consistency system", "in our production AI system"
• Follow 9:1 rule: 9 helpful comments for every 1 that hints at your work

Formatting (CRITICAL):

• ❌ NO blockquote format (> text) for multi-paragraph comments
  • Blockquotes render as one continuous block without paragraph breaks
• ✅ Use plain paragraphs with double newlines (\n\n) between them
  • Reddit renders these as separate <p> tags with visual spacing

Step 4: Post All Comments

Get modhash, then post each comment with 4s delay between posts.

// Get modhash first
let me = await fetch("/api/me.json", {credentials: "include"}).then(r=>r.json());
let uh = me.data.modhash;

// Post comment
let body = new URLSearchParams({
    thing_id: "t3_xxxxx",  // post fullname
    text: "Your comment here",
    uh: uh,
    api_type: "json"
});
let resp = await fetch("/api/comment", {
    method: "POST",
    credentials: "include",
    headers: {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"},
    body: body.toString()
});
let result = await resp.json();
document.title = "POSTED:" + JSON.stringify(result);

Step 5: Session Summary with Links

ALWAYS end with a summary table containing direct links to every comment posted.

The comment link format is:

https://www.reddit.com/r/{subreddit}/comments/{post_id}/comment/{comment_id}/

Example summary table:

| # | Sub | Post | Comment Link | |---|-----|------|-------------| | 1 | r/SideProject | "Post title" | https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/abc123/comment/xyz789/ | | 2 | r/indiehackers | "Post title" | https://www.reddit.com/r/indiehackers/comments/def456/comment/uvw012/ |

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Recommended Target Subreddits

| Priority | Subreddit | Why | |----------|-----------|-----| | High | r/SideProject | Project launches, very welcoming | | High | r/indiehackers | Revenue/growth discussions | | Medium | r/ClaudeAI | AI tooling audience | | Medium | r/coolgithubprojects | Open source visibility | | Medium | r/startups | Startup discussions | | Medium | r/entrepreneur | Business insights | | Medium | r/opensource | Technical audience |

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Retry & Repeat Rules

• ❌ Never post identical text to the same post
• ❌ Never retry more than once
• ✅ Multiple comments in the same subreddit = fine, as long as each has a different angle

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Rate Limiting

| Action | Limit | |--------|-------| | Between API calls | 2+ seconds | | Between posts | 4+ seconds | | Per session | Max 5 comments | | Daily | 10-15 comments max |

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Karma Milestones

| Karma | Unlocks | |-------|---------| | 100+ | Can post in most subreddits | | 500+ | Reduced spam filter triggers | | 1000+ | Trusted contributor status | | 5000+ | Community recognition |

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Algorithm Insights

• First 30 minutes determine if post reaches Hot page
• Early upvotes weighted 10x more than later ones
• 2 early comments > 20 passive upvotes
• Best posting time: Sunday 6-8 AM ET
• Upvote ratio matters: 100↑/10↓ (90%) beats 150↑/50↓ (75%)

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Troubleshooting

| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | count of windows = 0 | Chrome multi-profile bug → use Method 2 | | "Allow JavaScript" not working | Restart Chrome after enabling | | Modhash expired | Re-fetch from /api/me.json | | 403 response | Rate limited, wait 5+ minutes | | Comment not appearing | Check for shadowban: visit profile in incognito |

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Why AppleScript (Not Playwright/Selenium)

| Tool | Problem | |------|---------| | Playwright | Sets navigator.webdriver=true, detected instantly | | Selenium | Same detection issue | | Puppeteer | Same detection issue | | curl + API | IP blocked by Reddit after few requests | | AppleScript | Controls real Chrome, undetectable, cookies included |