Subreddit Rules, AutoModerator, Mod Relations, and the Ethics Line
Copy-ready Claude prompt
Public rules for r/{{subreddit_name}}: {{paste_rules}}. Draft a short, honest ModMail introducing myself as {{your_role_and_affiliation}}, asking {{specific_question}}, concise, no pitch.Learning objectives
- Correctly interpret a subreddit's rules and self-promotion policy.
- Explain how AutoModerator works mechanically.
- Describe correct ModMail etiquette.
- State precisely the black-hat behaviors this course forbids and why.
Prerequisites: Lessons 1.3.1-1.3.2.
Core concepts
This lesson covers the per-community enforcement layer. Reddit's Spam policy defines spam as "repeated or unsolicited actions (whether automated or manual) that negatively affect redditors, communities, and/or Reddit itself", never allowed. Named prohibitions: mass-posting repetitive content for exposure/financial gain, mass-tagging or unsolicited DMs, reposting old content to farm karma, bots/generative-AI tools that facilitate spam, link-masking, and using multiple accounts to inflate a subreddit's subscriber count.
AutoModerator enforces much of this instantly, before any human sees your content. Built in natively since 2015 (a third-party bot since 2012), it runs on nearly every active subreddit. Rules are YAML on a wiki page, blocks separated by three hyphens. It filters on account age, karma (total and subreddit-specific), verified-email status, banned domains, and keyword/regex patterns. A common threshold: "7+ days old, 50+ karma to post", some subs add moderators_exempt: false to apply rules even to their own mods.
For anything AutoMod misses, human moderators are the final layer. Contact through ModMail, never individual DMs. Send a short, clear statement of intent, not a company backstory, mods on large subs read dozens of these. Clear contests/AMAs with mods in advance; expect slow responses on large subreddits.
Now the line that matters most: legitimate self-promotion is one disclosed account, following the 9:1 ratio, genuinely participating, occasionally and transparently mentioning affiliation. Forbidden, no exceptions: buying/farming aged accounts, proxy/anti-detect-browser fleets, coordinated multi-account upvoting or vote brigades, and undisclosed astroturfing with fake personas. These violate Reddit's spam, ban-evasion, and vote-manipulation policies simultaneously, and undisclosed sponsored messaging also violates FTC endorsement rules, where the max civil penalty rose to $53,088 per violation in 2025, each post counted separately. The line is scale, concealment, and deception, not self-promotion itself.
Video lessons
Supporting reading
- Spam, Reddit Help (https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043504051-Spam), authoritative spam definition; assigned reading.
- Responsible Builder Policy, Reddit Help (https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/42728983564564-Responsible-Builder-Policy), current rulebook for bots/AI agents.
- AutoModerator, Reddit Help (https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/15484574206484-Automoderator), official YAML rules reference.
- Ban evasion filter, Reddit Help (https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/15484544471444-Ban-evasion-filter), how alt accounts get linked.
- FTC's Endorsement Guides, ftc.gov (https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking), the legal backstop.
- Reddit for Business: Complete 2026 Marketing Guide, Foundation Inc. (same publisher) (https://foundationinc.co/lab/reddit-b2b-brands), ModMail etiquette and mod psychology.
- Reddit marketing without getting banned: 5 rules, RedShip (https://redship.io/learn/how-to-avoid-getting-banned-marketing-reddit), 90/10 rule plus the 2025 crackdown stat.
- Public Content Policy, Reddit Help (https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/26410290525844-Public-Content-Policy), how Reddit content/data may be used.
Exercise
Find the visible rules for one target subreddit; identify a concrete AutoMod-style gate (karma minimum, age, domain, or keyword filter).
Assignment
Draft a ModMail message (don't send unless needed) introducing yourself: short, honest, no company backstory.
Claude workflow
- Skill idea: a black-hat tripwire checker that reviews a planned tactic against the forbidden list and returns which specific policy it would violate.
- Automation: none for rule-bypassing. Legitimate use is a pre-post compliance check against a subreddit's stated rules, never auto-posting, which requires Responsible Builder Policy approval out of scope here.
Expected outcomes
- One subreddit's AutoMod-relevant gate identified and documented.
- Drafted, etiquette-compliant ModMail message on file.
- Can state the forbidden black-hat behaviors and which policy each violates, unprompted.
Pass the chapter quiz (70%+) to unlock the next chapter.