Can I post a link to my project's GitHub page?
The "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts" rule bans direct promotion, but technical write-ups on what makes a project technically challenging are allowed if the write-up is the focus.
Subreddit guides
r/programming rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/programming: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 6,920,636
- Verified
- September 18, 2026
- Category
- Technical product and developer communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- No LLM-Written Content: If you don't want to write it, we don't want to read it. This includes the use of LLMs for translation or summarisation. Moderators reserve discretion in ambiguous cases.
- AI-related posts must comply with the AI Policy: Content about LLMs and AI is generally considered off-topic unless they are *deeply technical*. Refer to our [wiki](/r/programming/wiki/ai-policy/) for more details.
- No Political Posts or Personal/Social Drama/Gossip: r/programming is not a place to share content with a primary focus on politics, personal drama, social gossip, or such. Examples of inappropriate topics would include: Please vote for net neutrality. Big Tech is being sued in Europe for blahdeblah. Grace Hopper Conference is now 60% male. Postgres is turning the freaking frogs gay. Linus Torvalds was a poopy-head on a mailing list. The People's Rust Foundation is arguing with the Rust Foundation For The People.
- No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content: r/programming is not a place to share AI content that has nothing to do with programming or is overly generic. Examples of inappropriate topics would include: Claude spent all my money at Vegas. Sam Altman created a bot that's gonna replace yer mum. Roiters in Barcelona were pacified by a soliloquy written by an AI.
- No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts: r/programming is not the place to post a project to get feedback, ask for help, or otherwise promote it. Technical write-ups on what makes a project technically challenging, interesting, or educational are allowed and encouraged, but just a link to a GitHub page or a list of features is not. The technical write-up must be the focus of the post, not just a tickbox-checking exercise to get us to allow it. This is a technical subreddit. We don't care what you built, we care how you build it.
- No Content Aggregators: No newsletters, listicles, or anything similar that aggregates content. If you found 15 open source projects that will blow my mind, post those 15 projects instead and we'll be the judge of that.
- No Surveys Or Job Postings: If it seeks to extract value from the sub without contributing anything, it isn't welcome. Check out /r/samplesize as an alternative place to submit surveys. Exceptions are made for high quality surveys hosted by established members of the software development community (really just the annual SO Developer Survey).
- No Support Questions or AskReddit-Type Questions: /r/programming is not a support forum. If you have a question, check out /r/learnprogramming, /r/cscareerquestions, or [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/). Similarly, if you'd see it on a programming-focused version of AskReddit, it doesn't belong here. Examples of inappropriate topics would include: What's your favourite programming language? Tabs or spaces? Does anyone else hate it when your CSS gets in your ASM and you recursion all over your Senior Developer?
- No Meta Posts: Examples of inappropriate topics would include: DAE think r/programming sucks? DAE think r/programming rocks? Why did you remove my post? Why did you ban this user that is totes not me I swear I'm just asking questions.
- No Images, Memes, Or Other Low Effort Posts: There's better subs for them, and if we allowed them they'd just flood the sub.
- No Blogspam: Don't post actual blogspam: blogposts that do nothing more than linking to a primary source. We may leave these up if they are the first post to get traction about a news event and they're the best discussion going on about the news event.
- No Extreme Beginner Content: Examples of inappropriate topics would include: What is a variable. What is a for loop. Making an HTTP request using curl. We may leave these up if they've generated a lot of healthy discussion.
- Comments: No Bots: Actual humans only, please and thank you.
- Comments: No Incivility: If you're unable to say something without calling someone names, don't say it at all.
Works well
- A technical write-up about the engineering challenges you solved in your project, written entirely by you, with the technical details as the focus of the post.
- A deeply technical post about an AI or LLM topic that complies with the community's AI policy and focuses on the programming aspects.
- A post that links to a primary source for a programming news event, without adding blogspam commentary that does nothing more than restating the source.
Avoid
- Do not post a link to a GitHub page or a list of features, as the "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts" rule bans it.
- Do not use an LLM to write, translate, or summarise your content, because the "No LLM-Written Content" rule forbids it.
- Do not post generic AI content that has nothing to do with programming, as the "No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content" rule removes it.
- Do not post surveys or job postings, because the "No Surveys Or Job Postings" rule bans them.
- Do not post support questions or AskReddit-style questions, as the "No Support Questions or AskReddit-Type Questions" rule removes them.
- Do not post images, memes, or low effort content, because the "No Images, Memes, Or Other Low Effort Posts" rule forbids it.
What r/programming Is For
This community is for computer programming content. The rules make clear that it is a technical subreddit where people care about how you built something, not just what you built. The rules exclude politics, personal drama, social gossip, support questions, beginner content, images, memes, and surveys, which means the focus is on technical discussion for people who already know how to program.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rules that matter most for a marketing-adjacent post are "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts", "No LLM-Written Content", "No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content", and "No Content Aggregators". The "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts" rule is the one that decides whether your project post survives, because it bans direct promotion but allows technical write-ups about what makes a project technically challenging. The "No LLM-Written Content" rule matters because it bans the use of LLMs for writing, translation, or summarisation, which means you must write every word yourself. The "No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content" rule matters because it removes AI content that is not deeply technical or has nothing to do with programming. The "No Content Aggregators" rule matters because it bans newsletters and listicles, which means you cannot aggregate content to promote your brand.
What To Post
A good post for a founder doing respectful Reddit marketing here is a technical write-up about a project you built, where the write-up is the focus of the post and not just a checkbox to get a link allowed. The "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts" rule says technical write-ups on what makes a project technically challenging, interesting, or educational are allowed and encouraged, so you should write about the engineering decisions, the problems you solved, and the technical details of how you built it. You must write the content yourself without using an LLM for writing, translation, or summarisation, because the "No LLM-Written Content" rule bans that. If your post touches AI, it must be deeply technical and comply with the community's AI policy, because the "AI-related posts must comply with the AI Policy" rule requires that. You should avoid politics, personal drama, and social gossip, because the "No Political Posts or Personal/Social Drama/Gossip" rule bans those topics.
What To Avoid
Avoid posting a link to a GitHub page or a list of features, because the "No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts" rule bans that. Avoid using an LLM to write, translate, or summarise your content, because the "No LLM-Written Content" rule forbids it. Avoid posting generic AI content that has nothing to do with programming, because the "No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content" rule removes it. Avoid posting newsletters or listicles, because the "No Content Aggregators" rule bans them. Avoid posting surveys or job postings, because the "No Surveys Or Job Postings" rule bans them. Avoid posting support questions or AskReddit-style questions, because the "No Support Questions or AskReddit-Type Questions" rule removes them. Avoid posting images or memes, because the "No Images, Memes, Or Other Low Effort Posts" rule forbids it. Avoid posting politics, personal drama, or social gossip, because the "No Political Posts or Personal/Social Drama/Gossip" rule bans it.
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Common questions about r/programming
Can I use an LLM to write or summarise my post?
The "No LLM-Written Content" rule bans the use of LLMs for writing, translation, or summarisation, so you must write every word yourself.
Can I post about my AI tool?
The "AI-related posts must comply with the AI Policy" rule allows AI content only if it is deeply technical, and the "No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content" rule bans generic AI topics.
Can I post a survey for my research?
The "No Surveys Or Job Postings" rule bans surveys, with an exception only for high quality surveys by established members of the software development community.
Can I ask a beginner programming question?
The "No Support Questions or AskReddit-Type Questions" rule bans support questions and suggests /r/learnprogramming or Stack Overflow instead.
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