developer-churn

Name: developer-churn
Author: jonathimer

66installs6forks

How to install developer-churn?

jonathimer/devmarketing-skills/developer-churn

$npx -y skills add jonathimer/devmarketing-skills --skill developer-churn

Installs into the current project.

Summary

When the user wants to understand, reduce, or recover from developer churn. Trigger phrases include "why developers leave," "churn rate," "win-back campaign," "at-risk users," "developer retention," "preventing churn," or "competitor switching.

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	# Developer Churn
2
3	This skill helps you understand why developers leave, identify at-risk users before they churn, and win back those who've already left. No guilt trips or desperate discounts — just honest understanding and genuine value.
4
5	---
6
7	## Before You Start
8
9	1. Load your developer audience context:
10	- Check if `.agents/developer-audience-context.md` exists
11	- If not, run the `developer-audience-context` skill first
12	- Understanding your developers' alternatives and pain points is critical for churn analysis
13
14	2. Gather your data:
15	- Current churn rate by segment
16	- Most recent churned users (last 30-90 days)
17	- Support ticket history for churned users
18	- Usage patterns before churn
19	- Exit survey data (if any)
20
21	---
22
23	## Understanding Developer Churn
24
25	Developer churn is different from typical SaaS churn:
26
27	\| Consumer/SMB SaaS \| Developer Tools \|
28	\|-------------------\|-----------------\|
29	\| Price sensitivity high \| Value sensitivity high \|
30	\| Features drive decisions \| DX drives decisions \|
31	\| Support tickets = engagement \| Support tickets = friction \|
32	\| Monthly churn cycles \| Project-based churn \|
33	\| Competitor marketing works \| Peer recommendations work \|
34
35	Key insight: Developers don't leave because of price. They leave because of friction, frustration, or finding something better.
36
37	---
38
39	## The 6 Reasons Developers Churn
40
41	### 1. Developer Experience (DX) Issues
42
43	Symptoms:
44	- High time-to-first-value
45	- Frequent support tickets on basic tasks
46	- Complaints about docs or SDKs
47	- "It's too complicated" feedback
48
49	Root causes:
50	- Poor documentation
51	- Buggy SDKs
52	- Breaking changes without migration paths
53	- Confusing authentication
54	- Missing quickstarts
55
56	Detection signals:
57	```
58	- Support tickets mentioning "confused" or "doesn't work"
59	- High signup-to-activation drop-off
60	- Long time between signup and first API call
61	- Multiple failed API calls before success
62	```
63
64	### 2. Pricing and Billing Friction
65
66	Symptoms:
67	- Downgrades before cancellation
68	- Usage dropping to stay under limits
69	- Questions about billing
70	- Requests for enterprise/custom pricing
71
72	Root causes:
73	- Unpredictable costs
74	- Expensive for early-stage
75	- No free tier or too restrictive
76	- Poor price-to-value perception
77	- Billing surprises
78
79	Detection signals:
80	```
81	- Sudden usage reduction after billing cycle
82	- Pricing page visits from logged-in users
83	- Support tickets about unexpected charges
84	- API calls stopping mid-month
85	```
86
87	### 3. Superior Alternatives
88
89	Symptoms:
90	- Sudden churn (not gradual)
91	- Multiple team members churning together
92	- Churning without complaints
93	- "We're going a different direction"
94
95	Root causes:
96	- Competitor launched better feature
97	- Open source alternative matured
98	- Bigger player entered your space
99	- Their stack changed (new language/framework)
100
101	Detection signals:
102	```
103	- Sudden stop in usage (no gradual decline)
104	- Competitor mentions in support/feedback
105	- Traffic to your docs from competitor domains
106	- Social mentions comparing you to alternatives
107	```
108
109	### 4. Project Death
110
111	Symptoms:
112	- Gradual decline to zero
113	- No support contact
114	- Ignores all communication
115	- Whole company churn
116
117	Root causes:
118	- Their project was cancelled
119	- Startup failed
120	- Prototype never went to production
121	- Budget cuts
122
123	Reality check: You can't prevent this. Don't waste energy trying.
124
125	Detection signals:
126	```
127	- Slow decline over weeks/months
128	- No login activity
129	- No response to any outreach
130	- Domain no longer resolves
131	```
132
133	### 5. Integration Failure
134
135	Symptoms:
136	- High engagement then sudden stop
137	- Technical support tickets unresolved
138	- "Doesn't work with X" feedback
139	- Stuck at implementation phase
140
141	Root causes:
142	- Your product doesn't fit their stack
143	- Missing integration they need
144	- Technical limitation they hit
145	- SDK doesn't support their use case
146
147	Detection signals:
148	```
149	- Lots of docs page views on specific integration
150	- Support tickets about specific tech stack
151	- API calls from testing environment only
152	- "Evaluation" mentioned in communications
153	```
154
155	### 6. Involuntary Churn
156
157	Symptoms:
158	- Churn after failed payment
159	- No other warning signs
160	- Often surprised when contacted
161
162	Root causes:
163	- Expired credit card
164	- Card fraud protection
165	- Changed payment method
166	- Forgot to update billing
167
168	Detection signals:
169	```
170	- Failed payment events
171	- Usage continues until hard cutoff
172	- Quick reactivation when contacted
173	```
174
175	---
176
177	## Identifying At-Risk Developers
178
179	### Engagement Scoring
180
181	Create a simple health score:
182
183	\| Signal \| Weight \| Calculation \|
184	\|--------\|--------\|-------------\|
185	\| API calls \| 30% \| This week vs last 4 week avg \|
186	\| Login frequency \| 20% \| Days since last login \|
187	\| F

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developer-churn

66installs6forks

View on GitHub

How to install developer-churn?

jonathimer/devmarketing-skills/developer-churn

$npx -y skills add jonathimer/devmarketing-skills --skill developer-churn

Installs into the current project.

Summary

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	# Developer Churn
2
3	This skill helps you understand why developers leave, identify at-risk users before they churn, and win back those who've already left. No guilt trips or desperate discounts — just honest understanding and genuine value.
4
5	---
6
7	## Before You Start
8
9	1. Load your developer audience context:
10	- Check if `.agents/developer-audience-context.md` exists
11	- If not, run the `developer-audience-context` skill first
12	- Understanding your developers' alternatives and pain points is critical for churn analysis
13
14	2. Gather your data:
15	- Current churn rate by segment
16	- Most recent churned users (last 30-90 days)
17	- Support ticket history for churned users
18	- Usage patterns before churn
19	- Exit survey data (if any)
20
21	---
22
23	## Understanding Developer Churn
24
25	Developer churn is different from typical SaaS churn:
26
27	\| Consumer/SMB SaaS \| Developer Tools \|
28	\|-------------------\|-----------------\|
29	\| Price sensitivity high \| Value sensitivity high \|
30	\| Features drive decisions \| DX drives decisions \|
31	\| Support tickets = engagement \| Support tickets = friction \|
32	\| Monthly churn cycles \| Project-based churn \|
33	\| Competitor marketing works \| Peer recommendations work \|
34
35	Key insight: Developers don't leave because of price. They leave because of friction, frustration, or finding something better.
36
37	---
38
39	## The 6 Reasons Developers Churn
40
41	### 1. Developer Experience (DX) Issues
42
43	Symptoms:
44	- High time-to-first-value
45	- Frequent support tickets on basic tasks
46	- Complaints about docs or SDKs
47	- "It's too complicated" feedback
48
49	Root causes:
50	- Poor documentation
51	- Buggy SDKs
52	- Breaking changes without migration paths
53	- Confusing authentication
54	- Missing quickstarts
55
56	Detection signals:
57	```
58	- Support tickets mentioning "confused" or "doesn't work"
59	- High signup-to-activation drop-off
60	- Long time between signup and first API call
61	- Multiple failed API calls before success
62	```
63
64	### 2. Pricing and Billing Friction
65
66	Symptoms:
67	- Downgrades before cancellation
68	- Usage dropping to stay under limits
69	- Questions about billing
70	- Requests for enterprise/custom pricing
71
72	Root causes:
73	- Unpredictable costs
74	- Expensive for early-stage
75	- No free tier or too restrictive
76	- Poor price-to-value perception
77	- Billing surprises
78
79	Detection signals:
80	```
81	- Sudden usage reduction after billing cycle
82	- Pricing page visits from logged-in users
83	- Support tickets about unexpected charges
84	- API calls stopping mid-month
85	```
86
87	### 3. Superior Alternatives
88
89	Symptoms:
90	- Sudden churn (not gradual)
91	- Multiple team members churning together
92	- Churning without complaints
93	- "We're going a different direction"
94
95	Root causes:
96	- Competitor launched better feature
97	- Open source alternative matured
98	- Bigger player entered your space
99	- Their stack changed (new language/framework)
100
101	Detection signals:
102	```
103	- Sudden stop in usage (no gradual decline)
104	- Competitor mentions in support/feedback
105	- Traffic to your docs from competitor domains
106	- Social mentions comparing you to alternatives
107	```
108
109	### 4. Project Death
110
111	Symptoms:
112	- Gradual decline to zero
113	- No support contact
114	- Ignores all communication
115	- Whole company churn
116
117	Root causes:
118	- Their project was cancelled
119	- Startup failed
120	- Prototype never went to production
121	- Budget cuts
122
123	Reality check: You can't prevent this. Don't waste energy trying.
124
125	Detection signals:
126	```
127	- Slow decline over weeks/months
128	- No login activity
129	- No response to any outreach
130	- Domain no longer resolves
131	```
132
133	### 5. Integration Failure
134
135	Symptoms:
136	- High engagement then sudden stop
137	- Technical support tickets unresolved
138	- "Doesn't work with X" feedback
139	- Stuck at implementation phase
140
141	Root causes:
142	- Your product doesn't fit their stack
143	- Missing integration they need
144	- Technical limitation they hit
145	- SDK doesn't support their use case
146
147	Detection signals:
148	```
149	- Lots of docs page views on specific integration
150	- Support tickets about specific tech stack
151	- API calls from testing environment only
152	- "Evaluation" mentioned in communications
153	```
154
155	### 6. Involuntary Churn
156
157	Symptoms:
158	- Churn after failed payment
159	- No other warning signs
160	- Often surprised when contacted
161
162	Root causes:
163	- Expired credit card
164	- Card fraud protection
165	- Changed payment method
166	- Forgot to update billing
167
168	Detection signals:
169	```
170	- Failed payment events
171	- Usage continues until hard cutoff
172	- Quick reactivation when contacted
173	```
174
175	---
176
177	## Identifying At-Risk Developers
178
179	### Engagement Scoring
180
181	Create a simple health score:
182
183	\| Signal \| Weight \| Calculation \|
184	\|--------\|--------\|-------------\|
185	\| API calls \| 30% \| This week vs last 4 week avg \|
186	\| Login frequency \| 20% \| Days since last login \|
187	\| F

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