r/softwarearchitecture rules, stats, and what to post

This community is for people who design, structure, and optimize software systems. The description asks for discussions on architectural patterns, best practices, and real-world experiences, so the room is full of engineers and architects who want to talk about how systems are built and why. It is a discussion space, not a marketplace. The rules make that clear with a ban on promoting personal or business services, a ban on job posts, and a ban on AI generated posts. If you show up as a founder who wants to trade honest experience about architecture decisions, you fit. If you show up to pitch, you do not.

The rule that decides most marketing outcomes here is “No promotion of personal/business services.”, which bans promoting services offered by an individual or a company. That covers your product, your agency, your consulting offer, and anything else you are selling. “No AI Generated Posts.” matters just as much, because the community has decided AI generated posts bring no value and removes them, so a post drafted by a chatbot is gone even if the topic is perfect. “Keep posts related to Software Architecture.” sets the topical bar, meaning every post must connect to designing or structuring software systems. “No job posts.” removes job ads, job board links, resumes, and any solicitation of employment, so hiring or job hunting posts are out. “No cryptocurrency - zero tolerance.” bans all cryptocurrency posts, though the topic of blockchain itself is allowed. “No flair abuse.” means you must pick the correct flair for your post on purpose. Finally, “Be kind.” sets the tone, so criticize ideas and never people.

A good post here is your own writing about a real architecture problem or decision. Walk through a system you designed, explain the tradeoffs you weighed, and share what happened next. Ask the community for their take on a specific architectural choice, like how to structure a service boundary or when to pick one pattern over another. Share a lesson from a migration, a refactor, or a scaling effort, focused on the architectural reasoning rather than the tool you sell. Keep the post on topic, pick the correct flair, write it yourself, and leave every promotional link out. If your product comes up in the comments because someone asks, answer honestly and plainly without turning the thread into a pitch.

The fastest removals come from breaking the promotion rule, so leave every link to your service, product, or company out of the post. Do not post job ads, resumes, or anything aimed at getting hired or hiring. Do not post anything written by AI, because the community removes AI generated posts on sight. Do not post about cryptocurrency at all, since that rule has zero tolerance. Keep every post tied to software architecture, use the right flair, and stay civil even when you disagree with someone in the comments.

The “No AI Generated Posts” rule is the one that stands out to me, because it means this community judges your writing, not just your ideas. I also like that blockchain is allowed while cryptocurrency is not, which shows the moderators drew a very deliberate line. With no observed top posts to learn from, I would start by reading what is on the front page before writing anything.